---
title: "What Is a Google AI Overview? Definition & Impact"
description: "A Google AI Overview is the AI-generated summary shown at the top of some search results, synthesizing an answer from cited sources — and reducing clicks to organic results."
canonical: https://aiovsseo.com/glossary/ai-overview.html
date: 2026-06-07
---
# What is AI Overview?

Definition

A Google AI Overview is the AI-generated summary that appears at the top of some search results, synthesizing an answer from multiple cited sources instead of sending the user straight to links.

A **Google AI Overview** (formerly Search Generative Experience) is a generative summary placed above the classic results for a query. It pulls from multiple web sources, cites several, and aims to answer the user directly on the results page.

## Impact on traffic

On queries where an AI Overview appears, clicks to the top organic result drop by around 58% (Ahrefs, 2025), up from 34.5% earlier that year. They appear overwhelmingly on informational queries.

## How to be cited

AI Overviews favor crawlable, helpful, well-structured content with clear answers. Despite common claims, schema markup has little measurable effect on AI citations — the levers are content quality and authority. See [metadata LLMs actually read](/articles/metadata-llms-read.html).

## Frequently asked questions

**Do AI Overviews reduce website traffic?**

Yes. Studies show clicks to the number-one organic result fall by roughly 58% when an AI Overview is shown, and the effect is growing. Informational content is most affected.

**How are AI Overviews different from featured snippets?**

A featured snippet quotes a single source verbatim in a box; an AI Overview generates a new answer synthesized from several sources and cites them. See AI Overviews vs featured snippets.