A new SEO study analyzed over 11,000 queries and found that AI Overviews appeared for 21% of them.

This figure is higher than previous studies have indicated, suggesting that AI Overviews are becoming increasingly common in search results.

With AI Overviews appearing in one out of five searches, optimizing for them is becoming essential for maintaining visibility in search results.

Citation Patterns in AI Overviews

The study revealed interesting patterns in the sources cited by AI Overviews:

- YouTube: 6.4%

- Wikipedia: 1.5%

- Southern Living: 1.5%

Diversifying your content across different platforms, especially video content on YouTube, could increase your chances of being cited in AI Overviews.

The Relationship Between Rankings and AI Overview Inclusion

One of the most significant findings was the correlation between a website's ranking position and its likelihood of being included in AI Overviews:

- 1st position: 53% chance of inclusion

- 2nd-6th positions: 40+% chance of inclusion

- 10th position: 36% chance of inclusion

While AI Overviews do cite content from throughout the SERPs, there's a clear advantage to ranking in the top positions.

This reinforces the importance of traditional SEO practices.

Overlap with Organic Search Results

The study found significant overlap between AI Overview citations and traditional organic search results:

- 46% overlap with organic search results

- 60.4% overlap when including "Related Queries"

AI Overviews are largely drawing from content already ranking well in organic search.

This suggests that focusing on organic SEO strategies can also improve your chances of being included in AI Overviews.

So, what now?

Here's what I recommend doing.

1. Create Good Content That Satisfy Search Intent

With higher-ranking content more likely to be cited, quality is priority.

2. Optimize for Video & YouTube

Given YouTube's high citation rate, incorporating video content into your SEO strategy could pay dividends.

3. Target Top 5 Rankings

While being on the first page is good, aiming for those top spots could significantly increase your chances of AI Overview inclusion.

4. Introduce Omnichannel Content Marketing

Creating content across various platforms and formats could improve your overall visibility in both traditional search results and AI Overviews.

5. Monitor and Adapt Your Rankings

Keep a close eye on your rankings and AI Overview inclusions for your target keywords. Be prepared to adjust your strategy as this feature continues to evolve.

AI SEO Tools I Currently Swear By

Note: This contains affliate links and I will earn a commission with no extra charge on your end. Keeps my coffee mug nice and warm for me to write content for you!

Let's talk about the tools that have been making my life easier recently. I've tried a ton, but these four have really stuck so far:

• SEMrush AI Writing: This is my go-to for pretty much everything SEO. Pretty much starting to beat Ahrefs in all areas lately. Their Writing Assistant is like having a really smart friend looking over your shoulder as you write. It's helped me nail the right keywords without sounding like a robot.
• Topical Map AI: I love this one. It's like having a mind-map on steroids. It helps me make sure I'm covering all the bases on a seed topic, sub-topics. Since using it, I've seen my content get picked up more often in those AI Overviews + achieving topical authority.
• Cuppa AI: This little sleeper gem has saved me hours of creating SEO-optimized, humanized content at SCALE. It requires some custom prompting, and smart presents to get a solid output.
• Stealthwriter AI: This one humanizes your AI-optimized SEO content. It helps us avoid AI content detections. We still manually edit & verify our content before publishing.

These tools have been a big part of why I've been able to keep up with all these Google changes. They're not magic bullets, but they sure make the job a lot easier.

If you're feeling lost in the AI search shuffle, give these a shot.

It saves time, effort, and money.