Glossary
What are AI Overviews?
AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that Google Search adds to some results pages. This page covers how they work, what they link to and how to keep a fair record of them.
What an AI Overview is
An AI Overview is a summary written by generative AI that Google Search places among its results. Google describes it as a quick snapshot of key information. It comes with links for people who want to read further.
The same page is open about the limits. Google says AI Overviews can and will make mistakes. It asks people to check important information in more than one place and to send feedback when something looks wrong.
How AI Overviews link to websites
Google says AI Overviews include links to web resources that support the information they give. Its guidance adds that, while a response is being built, its models identify more supporting pages to link.
Google also says AI Overviews may use a technique called query fan-out. Query fan-out means running several related searches across subtopics and data sources to build one response.
To be eligible as a supporting link, Google says a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet in Search. It adds that meeting every requirement still does not mean a page will be crawled, indexed or served.
How AI Overviews are counted in Search Console
Search Console is Google's reporting tool for site owners. Google says sites in AI Overviews are included in the overall search traffic it reports. The figures sit in the Performance report, under the Web search type.
The Search Console help page sets out the counting rules. Clicking a link to an external page in an AI Overview counts as a click. The standard impression rules apply to the overview too.
How Carqo relates to AI Overviews
Carqo's AI visibility dashboard is built to count how often saved AI answers named your business and linked to your website. A mention is an answer that names your business. A citation is a source link attached to an answer.
You can record an AI Overview you saw by hand, on its own page. Enter the search word for word, paste the full text, and add the date, whether it named you and the website it linked to.
In practice
- Save the exact search Type the search a customer would use and keep the wording exactly as entered. Small changes in wording make a different search.
- Note whether an overview was there Record the date, device and country, and whether an AI Overview was present. A search with no overview is still a result worth keeping.
- Keep the text and the links Copy the full overview and list each page it linked. Open each page and check which statement it actually supports.
Common questions
Do I need special markup or an AI text file for AI Overviews?
Google says no. Its guidance states there are no additional technical requirements and no special schema.org structured data to add. The same SEO basics that apply to Search apply here too.
Can a site owner limit what AI Overviews take from a page?
Google points site owners to its existing controls. Robots.txt rules for Googlebot manage crawling for Search. The nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex controls limit what is shown from a page. Google says changes need time, because the page has to be crawled again.
Can an AI Overview be wrong about my business?
Yes. Google's help page says AI Overviews can and will make mistakes. If one states something incorrect about your business, keep a copy of the text and the pages it linked. Then check those pages for the detail it got wrong.
Do I need special markup or an AI text file for AI Overviews?
Google says no. Its guidance states there are no additional technical requirements and no special schema.org structured data to add. The same SEO basics that apply to Search apply here too.
Can a site owner limit what AI Overviews take from a page?
Google points site owners to its existing controls. Robots.txt rules for Googlebot manage crawling for Search. The nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex controls limit what is shown from a page. Google says changes need time, because the page has to be crawled again.
Can an AI Overview be wrong about my business?
Yes. Google's help page says AI Overviews can and will make mistakes. If one states something incorrect about your business, keep a copy of the text and the pages it linked. Then check those pages for the detail it got wrong.
Sources
- Google Search Central, AI features and your website Link checked 29 October 2026
- Google Search Help, AI Overviews in Google Search Link checked 29 October 2026
- Search Console Help, What are impressions, position, and clicks? Link checked 29 October 2026