AI Overviews are Google’s AI-generated answers that appear at the top of many search results. As of June 2025, they show up on about 13% of SERPs, according to Semrush Sensor.
This means rankings alone are no longer enough.
AI Overviews are reshaping how users interact with search, diverting clicks from traditional organic listings, but also creating new opportunities for visibility. Brands that understand how to analyze and optimize for these features can gain an edge.
The challenge lies in understanding their impact on your specific market.
Unfortunately, Google doesn’t offer clear analytics on AI Overview performance. You’re left guessing which keywords trigger them, or if they’re stealing traffic from your pages.
Semrush fills this gap.
Semrush’s SEO Toolkit can show how Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs) are affecting your search landscape so you can spot content gaps, adjust your strategy, and take advantage of AIO visibility.
Step 1: Benchmark Competitor AIO Visibility
Start by analyzing how AI Overviews affect your competitors. This gives you a baseline for comparison, highlights visibility gaps, and shows where you’re likely to gain traction.
Open the Organic Research tool and enter a competitor’s domain.
Click on the “Positions” tab. Then filter by the “SERP Features” button.
In the “SERP Features Trend” table, select “AI Overviews.”
Use this to identify keywords where AI Overviews may be stealing visibility, even if your competitor isn’t featured.
Next, analyze the results.
Scroll down to see the “Organic Search Positions” table to see keywords where your competitor ranks alongside AI Overviews.
Look for:
- Relevant terms that align with your content strategy.
- Content gaps where you could create more useful or in-depth content.
- High-value topics with strong search demand.
To zero in on the most actionable opportunities, there are a few filters you can use:
- “Advanced filters” > “Exclude” > “Keyword type” > “Branded” > “Apply” to remove branded searches from your list. This will leave you with non-branded keywords—terms where you have a better chance to compete.
- “SERP Features” > “Domain Ranks” > “AI Overview:” This filter shows the exact keywords where your competitor is featured & linked to from the AIO.
- “SERP Features” > “Domain Doesn’t Rank” > “AI Overview:” This filter displays keywords where AI Overviews appear, but the competitor is not featured, even if they rank elsewhere on the SERP.
Use these keywords to guide and prioritize your upcoming content efforts.
Step 2: Discover High-Opportunity Keywords
Once you’ve mapped out the competition, shift your focus to finding keywords that trigger AI Overviews and align with your site’s strengths. These are the terms that offer the best chance to drive visibility.
Here’s how to do it:
Open Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool and enter a seed keyword related to your business or industry.
Click “Advanced filters” and select “SERP Features.”
Check “AI Overview” then “Apply.“
Once you’ve applied the AI Overview filter, you’ll get a list of keywords that trigger AI Overviews—plus search volume, keyword difficulty, and other key metrics.
Look for terms with a high search volume, high topical relevancy, and manageable keyword difficulty (KD%) for your site. This gives you a roadmap for the type of authoritative, comprehensive content you need to create to compete for AI Overview real estate.
Once you’ve identified promising keywords, you’ll want to see which competitors are already getting featured in their AI Overviews.
Click the magnifying glass under the “SF” column.
A new window will open, displaying a full SERP snapshot that shows the pages currently featured in the AI Overview.
You can use this to see what types of content are getting pulled into AIOs and which competitors are being featured.
Next, you can uncover AI Overviews in your market based on your competitor’s existing rankings.
Step 3. See What’s Working in AIOs with Keyword Overview
You don’t have to guess about what’s working in AIOs. You look at the actual Overviews in your space to see exactly what content formats, sources, and approaches are winning the visibility you want with Keyword Overview.
Enter a keyword of interest that triggers an AI Overview.
Scroll to the “SERP Analysis” section.
In the SERP Features list, look for the AI Overview row. Click the carrot (>) to see which domains are being linked from the AIO.
Then, click the “View SERP” icon(the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner) to view the full Overview text as it appears in search results.
What to look for:
- Content patterns: Are the featured sources how-to guides, listicles, or in-depth articles? This shows you the content format Google favors for this topic.
- Authority signals: Which types of sites get featured—industry publications, government sites, or newer blogs? This reveals the level of domain authority needed to compete.
- Content gaps: Is there information in the AI Overview that none of the sources cover comprehensively? These gaps represent content opportunities.
- Competitive positioning: If competitors are featured but you’re not, examine their content structure, depth, and unique angles to identify areas for improvement.
For example, if you’re analyzing the keyword “keeping honey bees,” the AI Overview cites several sources in the sidebar. This is where you’d want to compete to get brand visibility on this SERP.
Step 4. Monitor Your OIA Rankings Over Time with Position Tracking
If you’re not tracking how your site performs on AIO-triggering keywords, you’re missing critical visibility data. Position Tracking lets you monitor this over time and measure the impact of your strategy.
To get started, just choose your location, language, and device settings, and add the keywords you’re targeting for AI Overviews.
Once your campaign is set up, head to the “Overview” tab and click on the “SERP Features.”
To isolate words that trigger AIOs on your site specifically, choose “[Domain] Ranks on SERP” > “AI Overviews.”
In the chart, you can use the buttons to get an overall view of your visibility, Share of Voice, and estimated traffic for your keywords.
Scroll down to the “Rankings Overview” table to dig into specific keywords. You’ll see where your content appears on AIO-influenced pages, how rankings have shifted, and what kind of traffic those terms could bring in.
To see where you still have to gain visibility, filter for “[Domain] doesn’t rank > AI Overview.”
This shows keywords that trigger AI Overviews but don’t feature your content. These keywords are targets that you can prioritize in your content strategy going forward.
Now that you’re tracking your visibility, let’s take a closer look at what gets cited. Hint: it’s not always your competitors’ websites.
How to Find AI Overviews Featuring Quora, Reddit, and YouTube
Studies show that a few user-generated content (UGC) websites like Quora, Reddit, and YouTube get an overwhelming amount of visibility on Google’s AI Overviews.
By building your brand on those platforms, you could find a shortcut to getting seen in more AI Overviews.
Go to Organic Research and enter quora.com, for example. Then, filter for Domain Ranks > AI Overview and add a keyword filter for your topic (bees).
In this example, we can see that Quora.com has a position in the AI Overview for 1.5 thousand keywords related to “bees.”
Follow this link to see the keywords which Quora.com ranks for AI Overviews.
Estimating the Value of AI Overview Visibility
We’re still in uncharted territory when it comes to measuring the true impact of AI Overview visibility. AI Overviews can rack up impressions, but not always clicks. If you’re focused on performance metrics, that might feel like a loss.
But getting your brand featured in high-intent moments still counts, especially when it comes to trust, recognition, and influence.
In fact, Google has said that clicks from AI Overviews tend to be higher quality. People are more likely to stay on the page because they’ve found what they need. So even if the traffic is lighter, the impact can still be real.
You’re not just chasing clicks. You’re showing up where it matters.
As AI search keeps evolving, think less about volume and more about visibility. If your brand is being cited in answers to high-intent queries, you’re already in a position to win.
Turn AI Overview Insights Into Strategy
Identifying keywords that trigger AI Overviews is valuable, but it’s how you respond that makes the difference.
Don’t Treat All Keywords Equally
Some AIO-triggering keywords are worth your time. Others aren’t. Focus on:
- Keywords tied to commercial intent: Check the Traffic Cost in Organic Research to prioritize terms with business value.
- SERPs where no strong competitor is featured in the AIO: These are low-competition openings, especially when the AIO pulls from vague or non-authoritative sources.
- Your own mentions inside AIOs: If your brand is cited, even without a link, consider it a signal. Strengthen that page and expand its internal and external visibility.
Prepare for Keywords That Will Get AIOs Soon
Not every valuable query has an AI Overview yet. Use the Keyword Magic Tool to find high-volume, no-feature keywords with informational intent.
To future-proof your content:
- Structure pages with clear answers, headings, and bullet points.
- Add definitions and concise summaries that Google’s AI retrieval can easily extract.
- Build authority through backlinks and internal links.
If and when Google adds an AIO to the SERP, your content will already be optimized to appear.
Increase Off-Page Signals to Support Inclusion
Google doesn’t just pull from your site. It pulls from trusted sources, including third-party platforms. Boost your chances of being mentioned in an AI Overview by:
- Growing branded search and mentions: A higher branded search volume may increase AIO inclusion. Use partnerships, campaigns, and lead magnets to spark interest around your name.
- Posting on credible external platforms: Google often cites content from LinkedIn Pulse and similar sources. Share insights on LinkedIn, Reddit, Quora, Medium, or industry blogs to broaden your footprint.
- Running digital PR and outreach: Guest posts, podcasts, and media features build trust signals that improve your visibility, both in traditional rankings and in AI-generated results.
The result? More trust signals mean more chances to show up in both traditional and AI-powered SERPs.
Make AI Overviews Work for You
AI Overviews are changing how Google presents information, but this shake-up can be your opportunity if you know how to act.
The key is to stay proactive. Use Semrush to monitor where and how AI Overviews appear in your niche, uncover new content opportunities, and adjust your strategy based on actual performance, not guesswork.
AI Overviews aren’t going away, but neither are the fundamentals of good SEO. Focus on creating genuinely helpful, authoritative content that serves your audience, and use real data to guide what you publish next.
Want to know where you stand? Start tracking AI Overviews with Semrush today.
