Everything about Google AI Overviews: How Things Have Changed from SGE to Now
AI is being integrated into every field, and Google is no exception. The company actively uses this technology across its innovations, including search pages. That’s right—we’re talking about the popular AI Overviews!
We’ve put together a hub article with everything about AI Overviews—how they work and how they’ve changed over time. We’ll keep it updated with the latest changes, so bookmark it and stay in the loop!
What are AI Overviews?
AI Overviews (AIOs) are AI-powered snippets that appear at the top of the Google SERP and offers an immediate, extended answer to the user’s query. Google pulls information from various sources to provide insights directly on the search page, eliminating the need to click through multiple websites.
A look at the history of AI Overviews
- On 10 May 2023, Google announces the launch of Search Generative Experience (SGE) experiment during the annual Google I/O.
- On 25 May 2023, Google opens access to SGE for users who signed up for the waitlist.
- On 22 March 2024, Google starts testing AI Overviews in the main Google Search results, even if you had not opted into SGE.
- On 14 May 2024, at 2024 Google I/O, SGE was released from beta for the US market and rebranded into AI Overviews.
Its launch marked a shift in traditional search, kicking off a new era of SEO, where the focus is shifting toward optimizing websites for AI Overviews.
What is Search Labs and how does it relate to AI Overviews?
Search Labs is Google’s innovation testbed—a program where users can try early-stage Google Search experiences and provide feedback. AI Overviews is one of these experiments that allows you to see AI Overviews on more Google searches and access additional generative AI features in search.
Alongside AI Overviews, other experiments include Google Vids, Ask Photos, Gen AI in Chrome, Help Me Script, and more. Search Labs is available only in Google Chrome, in 7 languages, and across over 120 countries.
AI Overviews share in search
According to a November SE Ranking study, 18.76% of keywords trigger AI Overviews in US desktop SERPs. The SE Ranking team extended their analysis of AI Overviews to the UK, using the same keywords. Results show AIOs appear in UK SERPs 19.23% of the time. From this, we can conclude that the functionality of AIOs remains consistent across different countries.
As shown in the chart, the current share of AIOs in US is nearly the same as in January 2024 but has doubled since June and July 2024. Compared to August 2024, it has grown by approximately 1.5 times.
The niches with the highest percentage of AI Overviews include Relationships (54.84%), Business (38.84%), Food and Beverage (37.14%), Technology (33.67%) and Self-Care (29.58%).
While the numbers might not seem significant, it’s important to remember we are at the dawn of the AI era. As time goes on, it’s likely more queries will generate AI snippets.
Queries that trigger AI Overviews
AI Overviews are often observed for longer, mainly informational queries. According to SE Ranking’s studies, long-tail keywords consistently triggered AI Overviews, with queries of 4+ words, resulting in AIOs 60.85% of the time in November.
AI Overviews are reserved to answer complex questions, where Google feels it can add value beyond the search results.
According to seoClarity Research, over 96% of AIOs are triggered by informational user intent, while they appear in transactional queries only 1.2% of the time.
CONFIRMED: AI Overviews still almost entirely INFORMATIONAL in intent
— Mark Traphagen 🏳️🌈 (they/them) (@marktraphagen) September 17, 2024
We looked at over 1 million keywords from our @seoClarity Research Grid (US) and found that over 96% have informational user intent.
AIOs show in purely transactional queries only 1.2% of the time. pic.twitter.com/I4rlpkdplM
SE Ranking’s November research shows that AIOs appear more often for keywords with a search volume of 50 or less. Keywords with a search volume between 0 and 50 triggered AIOs 35.42% of the time. As search volume soars, AI Overviews become less common. This is because very specific long-tail keywords—which are more likely to trigger AIOs—usually have low search volumes.
So, you’re less likely to see AIOs for broad terms like “attorney vs lawyer,” but they’re more likely to show up for detailed queries like “difference between attorney and lawyer.”
Our AIOs & YMYL topics study shows 65.89% of queries with AIOs were questions. Search queries starting with “how,” “what,” “when,” and similar question terms were more likely to trigger an AI Overview. Most questions started with “how” (46.98%) or “what” (46.48%).
Locations where you can see AI Overviews
Current situation (November 2024)
In October 2024, AI Overviews were rolled out in over 100 countries and territories worldwide, no longer requiring Search Labs access. According to Google, with this latest expansion, AI Overviews will reach more than 1 billion global users every month.
Plus, users could get them in any of the currently supported languages, including English, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Google also begins showing AI Overviews for Incognito mode and users who are not signed in. However, monitoring still shows that full availability for logged-out users is currently limited mainly to the US market, with gradually increasing appearances in other announced and unannounced markets.
What was it like before?
- May – August 2023: 🇺🇸United States with Search Labs only
From the initial launch of the first version of SGE until August 2023, it was available exclusively in the US and only to Search Labs users enrolled in the experiment.
- August 2023 – May 2024: 120+ countries with Search Labs only
In August 2023, the generative AI experience in Search Labs was expanded to India and Japan. By November 2023, it had been rolled out to more than 120 additional countries and territories.
- May – August 2024: 🇺🇸United States without Search Labs and other 120+ countries with Search Labs only
After the official launch, AI Overviews became available to all users in the US. Others had to enable Search Labs to access these AI-powered results.
- August – October 2024: 6 countries without Search Labs
Google announced on August 15th 2024 that AI Overviews were rolling out in:
- 🇺🇸United States
- 🇬🇧United Kingdom
- 🇧🇷Brazil
- 🇲🇽Mexico
- 🇮🇳India
- 🇮🇩Indonesia
Typical AI Overviews layouts
Current view (November 2024)
The typical layout of AI Overviews closely resembles a featured snippet. The most common format appears as follows:
On the left, most of the screen is occupied by the answer, displayed on a white or semi-transparent blue background. The response is often presented as formatted text, including paragraphs, bullet points, headings, and more.
To the right of the answer is a list of sources from which the response was generated. Both the answer and sources are often partially hidden to save space in the search results for users who want to explore other results. If a user is interested in the AI-generated answer, they can expand it by clicking Show more, Show all, or a More button (in mobile version).
Google generative AI shows links with "references" tag and expandable 'More'/'Fewer' buttons.
— Shameem Adhikarath (@shemiadhikarath) September 12, 2024
Cc: @rustybrick pic.twitter.com/U4CDt0wce7
Below the response, you will see a note:
Generative AI is experimental.
For YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) queries, disclaimers are included, encouraging users to seek professional advice. For example:
To the right of the disclaimer, users can also rate the generated response.
With Search Labs, you can save AI Overviews, and when you perform the same search again, the same AI Overview will appear in your results. Google also allows you to copy or export the text.
There are countless AI Overviews layouts, depending on the query and niche. Here are a few examples:
- Plans:
- Tables with images:
- Shopping-focused results, described in more detail below.
- Text with an image or video:
Note: Google is now testing out a Highlight button that allows users to highlight text within the snippet that then triggers another related search (with citations) for continuous learning.
Whoa, this makes things interesting for AI Overviews on Google. A new 'Highlight' button is showing that allows users to highlight text within the snippet that then triggers another related search (with citations) for continuous learning. More details: https://t.co/frcuz4TdVh pic.twitter.com/ponxODidON
— Brodie Clark (@brodieseo) November 1, 2024
Google is now experimenting with a new format for its AI Overviews.
This version organizes answers to broader queries into categories, displayed in card-style blocks. These blocks show a new AI Overview or provide a link to additional search results.
Google is testing a new AI overview box with a clickable '>' symbol. It provides concise info and lets users refine their search, redirecting them to a more specific SERP. @rustybrick @gaganghotra_ @SERPalerts pic.twitter.com/7CnLFQpK5I
— Sachin Patel (@SachuPatel53124) November 22, 2024
We’ll see if this catches on or remains just another experiment.
What did it look like before?
- SGE era
Previously, the AI-generated reply to the user query block had a different design. Here are key differences:
1. There was a different icon to indicate an AI-generated response. Additionally, a disclaimer was displayed next to it:
Generative AI is experimental. Info quality may vary.
A similar phrase can now be seen at the bottom.
2. There was an Ask a follow-up button that allowed users to ask any question related to the topic. Additionally, there were generated questions provided, which could be selected to receive answers.
4. As you may have noticed from the screenshots, the generated responses were highlighted in different colors. This is no longer the case.
5. Previously, for certain queries, a Generate button was available in cases where the AI-generated output didn’t appear automatically. Our study revealed that in 45,111 instances (45.1%), Google offered to generate an SGE answer via the Generate button.
6. The disclaimers for Your Money or Your Life queries were slightly different in the past. However, the core message remained consistent: Google is not the final authority, and users should consult qualified professionals.
7. The links were also displayed differently (explained in the next section).
Here are additional examples of what the initial first of AI Overviews (SGE) may have looked like:
- For local queries with a map:
- With a source block after each bullet point:
- Lists
You can find even more historical data in Barry Schwartz’s tweet.
I'm in! Google SGE here I come, for the next couple of hours! pic.twitter.com/GZqzJ7rwdw
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) May 25, 2023
- June 2024
The interactive feature of AI Overviews was no longer available—users could no longer ask follow-up questions, and the generated questions at the end have been removed.
Feeling a little dumb because I watch AI Overview results every day but only just noticed that they seem to have lost the interactive part: the ability to ask a follow-up question, along with the suggested follow-up questions. pic.twitter.com/TAmHZtAj2B
— Mark Traphagen 🏳️🌈 (they/them) (@marktraphagen) July 31, 2024
Google also tested the Original/Simpler option. It’s the two-tab result with different content and sources (links) in the snippet.
Links in AIOs: placement, number, and sources
Current situation (November 2024)
In addition to the list of sources shown earlier on the right, you can also see small favicons within the response opposite to every bullet. When tapping the icon, users will see links which used to generate that part of the answer.
Here’s how it looks on mobile devices: all links are accessed through site icons. You can tap a group of favicons to see pages where the AI sourced the answer from.
Moreover, Google is testing real blue anchor text hyperlinks in its AI Overviews, which are expected to replace the favicons.
With these tests, the number of links can vary, reaching up to 20.
But now, according to our November research, the average number of links in AI Overviews is 6.82. The top six niches with the highest average number of links in AI Overviews are:
- Career and Jobs: 7.43 links
- Fashion and Beauty: 7.38 links
- Relationships: 7.29 links
- Business: 7.26 links
- Travel, Education: 7.22 links
Our latest data also shows that in 61.90% of cases, AI Overviews sources pull from pages that rank in the organic top 100 for the same keywords. In 63.19% of these cases, the match aligns with the top 10 organic pages.
When both featured snippets and AIOs appear together in the SERP (30.80% of the time), the link in the featured snippet matches one of the links in the AI Overviews 66.03% of the time.
What was it like before?
- SGE era
The snippet included websites on the right side. Each link card featured an image, a title (or H1), and a link (without any description). Unlike the current list format, these blocks were displayed as a carousel.
- January 2024
Carousels with links on the right started to disappear. Instead, link cards began appearing either beneath the AI response or embedded within it (accessible by clicking the arrow).
Sometimes, a carousel on the right and links within the response were present. Users could see additional carousels placed after every paragraph that get displayed upon clicking an arrow.
- June 2024
Google tested AI Overviews with link cards at the top, making those links more visible and more likely to be clicked.
However, it never moved beyond the testing phase.
Regarding the number of links in the AI snippet, our data showed the typical number of links in SGE in February 2024 was 8. Data from July 2024 showed that the average number of links in AI Overviews was 7.2, compared to 5.5 links in June.
Shopping results
Current situation (November 2024)
Another AI Overviews feature with the potential to transform the e-commerce industry is Google Shopping results/products integration into the AI Overviews results for e-commerce queries. It looks like Google is actively building an e-commerce search ecosystem where generated information is combined with products users can buy directly.
For commercial queries, you’ll most often see an AI-generated response that includes product carousels.
The AI Overview generates a browsable list that, when opened, displays clickable product carousels. Every product card includes info about rating, the number of reviews, price and URLs.
When clicking the product card, you will see a bigger, more detailed one on the right side with the product description, photos, descriptions, reviews, etc. Here, you can choose the website where you want to buy a product.
Google also provides query suggestions below the carousel. Clicking on them takes you to a new search results page for the selected query.
That’s because this new generative AI shopping experience is built on Google’s Shopping Graph, which has more than 35 billion product listings—making it the world’s most comprehensive dataset of constantly-changing products, sellers, brands, reviews, and inventory out there.
Initially, Google tested similar product carousels for a significant share of commercially focused queries but did not include them in the production version. Now, that’s changing!
🚨 Alert Retailers: Product Carousels in AI Overviews are back for Commercial Queries 👀👇
— Aleyda Solis 🕊️ (@aleyda) September 9, 2024
I've identified product carousels getting again triggered for product focused queries with a mix of commercial/informational intent, which are right now ranked by a mix of guides and… pic.twitter.com/ab3sfsrYdG
Additionally, Google Shopping is testing a new AI Overview feature titled Researched with AI. It now looks more like product selection tips, with sources listed below and on the right side.
What was it like before?
- SGE era
Previously, shopping results could also be seen in AI Overviews in a different format. Usually, it was a list of products at the end of the response, like here:
You also got product descriptions that included relevant, up-to-date reviews, ratings, prices, and product images.
There was also a layout with multiple product cards sans descriptions.
According to Barry Schwartz’s observations, commercial queries included a layout like this featuring online stores:
In April 2024, Google also tested clarification tabs. However, we haven’t noticed this layout recently.
🆕 Google testing clarification bubble links with the SGE. pic.twitter.com/bFqCOQdIBJ
— Khushal Bherwani (@b4k_khushal) April 7, 2024
With SGE and AI Overviews, this is the first time organic shopping results have taken precedence over ads. Recently, Google started introducing ads into AI Overviews.
Ads in AIOs
Current situation (November 2024)
After several months of testing, Google introduced ads within AI Overview snippets in October 2024. These ads are now available to mobile users in the US. In November, they were spotted. Here’s what they look like:
Ads labeled as Sponsored appear below the generated response, highlighting ads are not the primary focus in this context. However, this is just the start, and we can expect many changes ahead. We’ll be keeping a close eye on developments.
What was it like before?
Before the launch of AI Overviews in May 2024, there were no ads at all. Following the launch, testing began, and reports started emerging that ads would soon appear in AIOs.
- May 2024
In May, the first mention appeared that Google had been testing ads in AI Overviews. It stated that the company is moving forward with a full rollout because it helps people “quickly connect with relevant businesses, products, and services to take the next step at the exact moment they need them.”
- July 2024
Google said it again, that it will soon test ads within its AI Overviews.
- September 2024
The Verge shared news about ads in AI Overviews. The article explained AI-generated responses will include tips and suggest products to help.
AI Overviews placement
Google isn’t stopping with AIOs at the top of regular search results and has been testing out AI Overview snippets outside of the standard placement. You could see them in such places as:
- Shopping tab, described in the previous section
All versions resemble a simplified version of regular AIOs—a summary with links.
Other AI SERP elements
In addition to AI Overviews, during Google I/O 2024 the company announced the rollout of new Search Labs AI features, including planning capabilities, AI-organized search results, and a new Google Lens ask-with-video feature.
- Plan trips, activities, places to go
Google introduced a new feature that provides enhanced tourism recommendations through the traditional search bar. For instance, for a query like “5-day travel itinerary in Andalucia, Spain,” Google provided a detailed day-by-day plan with places to visit—including photos and ratings!—you can click to explore further.
A map below shows the results that reveal each location and the city as a whole.
Here’s something interesting: you can even interact with these results without leaving Google.
Don’t like the suggested activities? Simply customize them using the Replace and Add buttons.
Google also provides hotels options.
- Categorizing search results
The new AI-organized search results have started rolling out in the US. Google wrote:
“We’re rolling out search results pages organized with AI in the U.S.—beginning with recipes and meal inspiration on mobile.”
This includes search results organized by web, including articles, videos, forums and more.
For example, for the query “vegetarian appetizer ideas,” Google displays various interactive blocks featuring recipes, ingredients, and more. Each block is clickable, directing you to the respective website. You can also save the recipe.
- Ask with Video in Google search
Users can now ask questions in video format. If a single picture isn’t enough to capture what you want to search for, Google Lens now lets you record a video and use your voice to ask about what you’re seeing. This new feature generates an AI Overview and search results based on the video’s content and your verbal question. It’s available in Search Labs.
Google showcased how it works:
For example, if something breaks down, you can point your phone at it, open Google Lens, and hold down the shutter button to record the issue. While recording, you can ask questions like, “Why is it broken? How can I fix this problem?” Google Lens, powered by the Gemini AI model, will analyze the video and provide an answer, as shown in the video above. The goal is to make it quicker and easier to tell Google what you’re looking for. With a simple video, you can show Google everything it needs to assist you.
Wrapping up
As you may have noticed, AI Overviews are constantly evolving. Google adds new elements, changes the design, removes unnecessary features, expands locations, and more. To keep optimizing your content effectively, stay on top of these updates.
To do so, simply revisit this article periodically. It will always have the latest updates.
You can use our AI Overviews Tracker to monitor AI Overviews for specific keywords. This tool helps you track AI Overviews for your keywords, identify linked sources, uncover new keyword opportunities related to AIOs, analyze your competitors’ performance, and so much more.
