As of December 2025, Google’s AI Overviews appear in about 15% of search results according to Semrush Sensor.
And many of those summaries pull from platforms like Reddit, Quora, and YouTube—often before they cite traditional websites.
Because Google Search Console doesn’t report AI Overview impressions or mentions, it’s hard to know when your brand is included, how often you’re cited, or which competitors are gaining visibility you’re not.
Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit fills that gap. It reveals where your brand appears across AI platforms—including Google’s AI Overviews—shows which pages and topics are being cited, and uncovers the prompts and competitors shaping that visibility.
This guide walks you through how to analyze your current presence, find new opportunities, and track your AI Overview performance using Semrush. So you can build a strategy based on real data, not guesswork.
Step 1: Benchmark Competitor AIO Visibility
Before diving into metrics, start by establishing a baseline for what “good” looks like in your niche.
A competitor benchmark helps you understand who’s leading, where you stand, and where you can realistically gain ground. Without that baseline, your own numbers won’t have much context.
There are a few ways to evaluate how a domain/brand is visible in AI Overviews:
- Mentions - instances where a brand name is mentioned in the AI Overview’s text summary
- Cited Pages - pages from the domain are cited as sources in AI Overviews
- Keywords - search queries where a domain is cited/ranking in the AI Overview
To quickly check a competitor’s AI Overviewmentions and cited pages, enter their domain into the Semrush search bar to open Domain Overview.
At the top you’ll see metrics from the AI Visibility Toolkit showing this domain’s AI search presence.
Look for the AI Overview row to check this domain’s current number of mentions and cited pages within Google’s AI Overviews.
In this example, the domain has 114 mentions and 1,200 pagescited in an AI Overview.
These numbers give you a high-level benchmark to now compare your own site to.
Next, to see how many keywords trigger AI Overviews for that domain, go to Organic Research.
Tip:You can open Organic Research by clicking on the blue number under “Organic Traffic” in the Domain Overview.
From Organic Research, click on the “Positions” tab. Then filter by the “SERP Features” button.
With the SERP Features filter, select “Domain ranks” → “AI Overview”
This tells you the number of keywords where that domain ranks within the AI Overview. In the example above, it's 640 keywords.
By now, you have three different benchmark metrics about this domain’s AI Overview visibility:
- 114 mentions
- 1,200 cited pages
- 640 keywords
Repeat those steps for a few competitors (and your site) to get a benchmark of the overall competition for AI Overviews in your niche.
Step 2: Discover Your AI Overview Keyword Opportunities
Once you’ve outlined the competitive landscape, the next step is to identify keywords that trigger AI Overviews and align with your site’s strengths.
These terms represent your highest-opportunity chances for visibility and inclusion inside AI-generated summaries.
Use the Organic Research Tool
In Organic Research, scroll down to the “Organic Search Positions” table to see the exact 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, use a few key filters:
- "Advanced filters" > "Exclude" > "Keyword type" > "Branded" > “Apply” to remove branded searches from your list. This leaves you with non-branded keywords—terms where you have a better chance to compete.
- “SERP Features” > “SERP Features on SERP” > “AI Overview:”This filter displays all of your competitor’s keywords where an AI Overview appears. This includes those where the competitor is not featured, even if they rank elsewhere on the SERP.
Explore the table of keywords, or export the list to save your research.
Use the Keyword Magic Tool
With a database of over 25 billion keywords updated in real time, the Keyword Magic Tool is ideal for spotting the most promising and relevant keywords for your business.
For example: “keeping bees.”
Click "Advanced filters" and select "SERP Features." Check "AI Overview," then click "Apply."
Once you’ve applied the AI Overview filter, you’ll get a list of keywords that trigger AI Overviews along with their 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.
Use Prompt Research Inside Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit
Prompt Research inside Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit reveals the exact prompts users type into AI platforms, including Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, and ChatGPT.
To access it, launch the AI Visibility Toolkit. From the left-hand navigation, click “Prompt Research.”
Next, enter a seed topic, industry, or product category into the search bar, then click “Analyze.”
You’ll get a comprehensive report with metrics for the entered topic. And a list of related prompts.
To focus specifically on Google AI Overviews, select “AI Overview” from the drop-down.
For the entered prompt, the report includes:
- Related Topics AI Volume: Estimated traffic the topic can generate within the selected AI platform
- Topic Difficulty: How competitive it is to gain visibility for that specific topic
- Brands Mentioned: Brands cited in AI platform responses across the analyzed topic
- Intent Breakdown: Percentage distribution of informational, commercial, navigational, transactional, and task-based prompts
Scroll down to find a list of related topics.
To see the prompts that make up each topic, click the carrot icon to the left of the Topic name or jump to the Prompts tab.
For each prompt, you’ll find:
- AI Response: AI-generated answer for the selected platform. Click “View full response” to open the full response
- Brands Mentioned: The number of brands cited in that response
- Sources Cited: The pages referenced by the selected AI tool to generate the answer.
If a prompt is relevant to your business, you can create content in one click, as it integrates directly with Semrush’s Content Toolkit.
Or send one or more prompt(s) to Prompt Tracking, which lets you track visibility for that specific prompt.
Next to the “Prompts” tab, you’ll also see:
Brands tab: Shows which competitors are mentioned most frequently across all prompts
Sources tab: Highlights the domains AI platforms cite most often across all prompts
This information tells you two important insights:
- Which brands does Google see as the most relevant to recommend in this topic?
- Which domains does Google trust the most as sources to cite across the topic?
Use the brands list to benchmark where you fall within the current order of recommended brands.
Use the source domains as outreach targets. Think about how you can have your brand mentioned positively on those sites.
If those trusted sources start to mention your brand often, chances are AI Overviews will echo those recommendations.
Use Competitor Research for an AI Overview Gap Analysis
Competitor Research within Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit lets you compare your AI visibility against up to four competitors. This can help you pinpoint the exact prompts where competitors are mentioned and where your brand is missing.
To get started, enter your domain along with your competitors’ domains, then click “Run Competitor Analysis.”
Once the report loads, select “AI Overviews” from the drop-down.
Scroll down to the “Topics & Prompts” tab.
This shows you the topics where your competitors are mentioned in AI Overviews, and you’re not.
In the screenshot above, Asana is currently beating Monday for the AI Overviews across these specific topics.
To compete for those topics where your competitor is beating you, you can:
- Audit your current content (if you already cover any of these topics) and update any relevant pages to be more unique, well-structured and targeting long-tail conversational queries
- Plan a new campaign around a topic that’s relevant to your business where you currently have little content or association established
Read more: How to Rank in Google’s AI Overviews: 7 Pro Tips
Step 3: Monitor AI Overview Citations with Position Tracking
Once you’ve gathered competitor benchmarks and keyword opportunities, you can set up daily tracking.
It’s helpful to check your data at least weekly to spot patterns. Signs of progress include:
- More keywords triggering AI Overviews where your domain appears
- Improved positions on SERPs that include an AI Overview
- New citations or mentions showing up in an AI Overview
Position Tracking lets you monitor your AI Overview presence over time so you can measure whether your optimizations are actually working.
Launch a new project, set Google as your target, and add the keywords you’re targeting for AI Overviews.
Once your campaign is set up, open the “Overview” tab and click “SERP Features.”
To isolate keywords that trigger AI Overviews for your site, choose “[Domain] Ranks on SERP” > “AI Overviews.”
In the chart, use the buttons to view your visibility, Share of Voice, and estimated traffic for your keywords.
In short, it shows whether your AI Overview strategy is working.
Are you showing up more often, outranking your competitors, and getting any meaningful traffic from this visibility?
Scroll down to the “Rankings Overview” table to dig into specific keywords. You’ll see where your content appears on AI Overview-influenced pages, how rankings have shifted, and what kind of traffic those terms could bring in.
To see where you still need 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 you can prioritize in your content strategy.
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.
This isn’t random. Google often includes experience-based and community-validated sources when generating AI Overviews.
As a result, platforms where real people share detailed answers and discussions are more likely to be cited in an AI Overview.
For brands, this creates an opportunity. Having a presence on the UGC platforms Google already trusts can increase your chances of appearing in AI Overviews—even when your main site isn’t ranking yet.
Be careful not to get overly promotional. Reddit and other UGC communities are famously skeptical of marketing.
Instead of pushing products, focus on social listening, engaging respectfully where appropriate, and learning from what people naturally say about your brand.
Here’s how to find specific keywords where AI Overviews feature UGC:
Go to Organic Research and enter quora.com. Then filter for Domain ranks > AI Overview and add a keyword filter for your topic (e.g., “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 impact of AI Overview visibility.
The value is less about direct search traffic and more about signaling brand reputation and authority.
When your brand is cited in an AI Overview about your niche, you gain a valuable moment of visibility over your competitors.
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.
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 brand awareness ads to spark interest around your name. Like when Lego and Adidas teamed up for this eye-catching partnership:
- Posting on credible external platforms: Google often cites content from LinkedIn Pulse and similar sources. Share insights on LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, Quora, or industry blogs to broaden your footprint. Like this AI Overview that cites multiple Reddit and Quora pages:
- 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. For example, see how much this AI Overview cites various media sources for its 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.
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.
Ready to see where you stand? Start tracking AI Overviews with Semrush today.