# AI Overviews

> Google Search's AI-generated answer summaries, shown above the classic links, which cite the sources they synthesize.

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- **term:** AI Overviews
- **category:** optimization
- **short_def:** Google Search's AI-generated answer summaries, shown above the classic links, which cite the sources they synthesize.
- **long_def:** Launched in the US on 14 May 2024 at Google I/O as the rebrand and general-availability release of Search Generative Experience (SGE, previewed May 2023). AI Overviews synthesize an answer from multiple pages and link the sources, expanding zero-click search and making source citation — the GEO/AEO target — the new prize for content owners.
- **see_also:** geo, aeo, zero-click
- **etymology_origin:** Launched in the United States on 14 May 2024 at Google I/O as the general-availability rebrand of Search Generative Experience (SGE), which Google had previewed on 10 May 2023.
- **related_to:** geo, aeo, zero-click, grounding, share-of-model
- **contrast_with:** Unlike a featured snippet, which quotes one source verbatim, an AI Overview synthesizes an answer across multiple pages and cites several — so the optimization goal is being one of the cited sources, not owning a single box.
- **example:** Google launched AI Overviews in the US on 14 May 2024, rebranding the Search Generative Experience it had previewed in May 2023.
- **source:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_Overviews
- **status:** active
- **why_it_matters:** AI Overviews are where most users now first meet AI-synthesized answers; being cited in them is a primary, measurable GEO outcome for a content owner.
- **sameAs:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_Overviews
- **bridge_entity:** geo
- **last_verified:** 2026-06-15
- **md_twin:** /glossary/ai-overviews.md