AI Overviews are Google Search's AI-generated answer blocks that appear above the organic results, synthesizing an answer with citations before any traditional listing is seen.
AI Overviews put an answer engine on top of the world's largest search engine. For commercial queries, the overview often includes named products with short justifications — an AI recommendation shown to search-scale traffic.
They also blur the SEO/GEO line: classic ranking still influences which sources the overview cites, but the brand names inside the overview follow the same generative dynamics as chat assistants.