Anyone searching on Google in 2024 saw something new appear: a blue or coloured block right at the top, with a summary of the answer to your question. No links to click, but a ready-made answer, composed by Google itself from multiple sources. This is called an AI Overview, previously also known as SGE.
What is an AI Overview?
An AI Overview is an automatically generated summary that Google shows in response to a search query. To build it, Google uses content from websites it considers trustworthy and relevant. The sources are shown small, to the side or at the bottom. The user reads the answer without having to click through.
Why is this so significant?
Position 1 in Google used to be gold. Now there is an AI answer above position 1 that draws attention before the user even sees a link. Research shows this strongly affects click-through behaviour. Anyone who is not used as a source in an AI Overview loses visibility — even if that same website ranks at position 1 in the regular results.
How do you become a source in an AI Overview?
Google selects sources based on relevance, authority and structure. In practice that means: pages that answer a question directly and factually, structured data such as FAQ schema, a clear heading structure, and proven trustworthiness in your niche. These are the same signals as with GEO, but aimed specifically at Google.
What does this mean for your business?
If your competitors are cited in AI Overviews and you are not, visitors lose sight of you before they have even seen your name. This is not a distant future: AI Overviews are active in the Netherlands now. The moment to act is now.
