AI Overviews
Google's AI answer box appearing at the top of search results. Every SEO Weekly story on AI Overviews, newest first. 32 stories since September 2026.
- Google's missing AI answer links look like a test
Two SEOs see two different things, which usually means Google is trying it out on some people and not others.
- AI answers now show on most searches, even your brand name
Three separate data sets put AI Overviews above 80% of queries, and brand name searches are not exempt.
- Lists that rank your own product first may vanish from AI answers
Florian S. Kluge says his self-ranked lists lost AI Overview citations in October while their normal rankings stayed put.
- Google says you need no special code for AI answers
Google published a guide on getting mentioned in its AI features and labelled four popular tactics as myths.
- Your About page may be your best page for AI answers
One SEO found a plain, human-written company history beating every other page in Google's AI results.
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- Google lists the ways to keep pages out of AI answers
The help page now gathers the existing settings in one place, and nothing about your site has changed.
- Google is dropping the "AI Overview" label from some answers
Unlabelled AI answers may be why tracking tools suddenly show fewer of them.
- More site owners can now see their AI Overview numbers
The report counts appearances inside Google's AI answers, but it does not count clicks.
- Google is unlikely to ever label its AI traffic for you
Two SEOs say the fix would be easy, and that is exactly why they expect it never to arrive.
- Google is putting more links inside its AI answers
Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode will link out more often, and place some of those links higher in the answer.
- Google's AI answers now show up on weather and sports searches
One SEO says the AI answer box is spreading to the quick, everyday searches that used to get a simple direct answer.
- Video subtitles may be feeding Google's AI answers
One SEO says to treat your video transcripts as pages Google can read, not just captions.
- AI answers now appear on 93% of brand name searches
Four SEOs now say Google's AI answer box has spread across searches for company names, and it can point to other companies.
- AI answers on brand searches sit below the normal results
Two more SEOs checked the finding that Google now writes AI answers when people search a company by name.
- Ranking yourself first in your own "best of" list is backfiring
New numbers across about 100 queries suggest these pages now help competitors more than the brand that wrote them.
- Google's AI answers now link out in over a quarter of cases
Google keeps adding outbound links to its AI answers, and SEOs disagree about whether that helps your site.
- A new Search Console report shows if AI answers use your pages
The rollout is widening, but the numbers are impressions only, not clicks.
- Links inside Google's AI answers may be rising again
A fresh report points to another jump in outbound links, and one well known SEO says his own checks match.
- Some AI answer links now open more AI, not your site
A link inside Google's AI answer can now lead to another Google AI answer.
- SEOs pile on after research says AI answers cut clicks
Lily Ray says the findings confirm what people in search have been saying all along.
- Google is testing payments for content used in AI answers
The pilot runs through Search Console, and Barry Schwartz says it was first spotted back in April.
- Same rankings, less traffic, as Google adds more boxes
Google's first page now splits roughly in half between normal results and its own features, according to one SEO's comparison.
- Google is testing an AI summary inside its news feed
A new button in Google's phone feed sends readers to a summary page first, and it starts with videos.
- Google's business info box is turning into an AI answer
Three well known SEOs say the box that shows your hours and reviews is starting to include an AI summary.
- Google is testing ads that look like normal links in AI answers
Sponsored links written as plain text inside AI Mode answers blend in with the rest of the answer.
- Nearly every "people also ask" answer is now AI
The related questions under Google's results now open into AI written summaries instead of links to sites.
- News sites fell in France after AI answers arrived
Shopping and property sites mostly held up, so the pattern is not the same for every kind of business.
- Google says normal SEO is all you need for AI answers
No bot-written text, no special AI files, no scattered mentions, according to a new Google post.
- AI answers are turning up on local searches
Two SEOs posted sightings within days of each other, including one AI answer with a map inside it.
- Your Google position number may not mean what it used to
Google's John Mueller says the old idea of ranking one to ten is hard to map onto search results now.
- Google's AI search briefly stopped linking to websites
A new Gemini model went live in AI Mode with almost no citations, and Google called it a bug.
- Google is building simple free tools into its answers
A working character counter now appears inside Google's AI answer box, and SEOs say any simple tool site could be next.
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