AI Overviews
AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google Search results, assembled from pages in Google's ordinary Search index.
Because Overviews are generated from the same index that produces normal results, there is no separate index to be admitted to. Being crawlable and indexable by Googlebot is the prerequisite — you generally cannot appear in an Overview for a query you cannot rank for at all.
Google-Extended, often confused with this, is a separate control governing whether your content is used to train Gemini models. Blocking it does not remove you from Search or from Overviews.
Why it matters
AI Overviews reach more people than any standalone assistant, simply because they appear inside the search everyone already uses. They are also the surface where conventional SEO work translates most directly into AI visibility.
An example
A page ranking seventh for a question about renewing a passport can still be the source Google summarises in the AI Overview above the results, because the Overview is assembled from pages in the ordinary index rather than only the top result. A page that is not indexed at all cannot be used, however good it is.
Common mistakes
- Blocking Google-Extended to try to leave AI Overviews. That token governs Gemini training, not Overviews, which are built from the Search index.
- Chasing Overviews with content that cannot rank at all. Indexability and relevance for the query are the entry requirements.
Questions
- Can I opt out of AI Overviews?
- Not separately from Search. Controls such as nosnippet limit what Google may show from a page, which also limits its use in Overviews, but there is no switch that removes a page from Overviews while keeping it in ordinary results.
- Do I need special markup to appear in AI Overviews?
- No. There is no Overview-specific markup. Clear content, accurate structured data and being indexed are what make a page usable.