Does Ranking High on Google Increase Your AI Overview Visibility?

As Google continues to evolve with AI-powered search features, businesses and SEO professionals are asking a new question: Does a high Google ranking translate to visibility in AI Overviews?

We set out to answer that by analyzing over a million keywords that triggered AI Overviews and comparing the top three citations within those summaries to their organic search rankings. The results are clear, but nuanced.

Let’s break down what we discovered - and what it means for your SEO strategy.

The Relationship Between Traditional Rankings and AI Overviews

To start, we pulled 1 million keywords that displayed AI Overviews in search results. From those results, we extracted 1.9 million citation links that appeared in the first three citation positions of the AI Overview.

We then looked at two key correlations:

• Whether higher-ranking pages in traditional Google search were more likely to be cited in AI Overviews.
• Whether those high-ranking pages appeared more prominently in the AI Overview citations.

Ranking Helps - But It’s Not a Guarantee

We found a moderate positive correlation between ranking well in Google’s organic top 10 and being cited in an AI Overview. In other words, higher-ranked pages do have a better chance of appearing in AI Overviews, but it’s far from a sure thing.

In fact, even if a page ranks #1 in organic results, it only shows up in the top three cited links in AI Overviews about 50% of the time.

That means traditional SEO remains important, but AI citation behavior isn’t just a copy-paste of the top search results. Ranking helps - but it doesn’t automatically secure you a spot in Google’s AI answers.

When You’re Cited, Rank Still Matters

The study also found a second, stronger correlation: when a high-ranking page is cited in an AI Overview, it tends to be cited more prominently.

Put simply:

• If your page ranks well in traditional search and gets included in an AI Overview, it’s more likely to show up in one of the top citation slots.
• Pages lower in the SERPs may still be cited, but they’re often relegated to less visible positions.

This shows that while AI Overviews don’t rely exclusively on search rankings, Google seems to treat higher-ranking content as more trustworthy or relevant when deciding where to place citations.

What Else Influences AI Overview Citations?

So, if high rankings only account for part of the equation, what else drives visibility in AI Overviews?

Some possible factors include:

• Brand recognition and entity authority – Well-known brands or frequently mentioned sites may be preferred.
• Topical relevance – Even lower-ranking content might be favored if it addresses the query in a highly specific or nuanced way.
• Freshness – Timely, recently updated content might be prioritized, especially for trending queries.
• Citation history – Pages that have previously been used in AI Overviews may continue to be pulled due to implicit reinforcement.

These AI systems are designed to go beyond surface-level ranking and incorporate multiple signals - many of which are still opaque to the public.

What This Means for Your SEO Strategy

For business owners and marketers trying to understand how to get more AI Overview citations, here’s the takeaway:

1. Ranking well still matters. It increases your chances of being cited and gives your page a better shot at top citation placement within the Overview.
2. But it’s not enough on its own. You also need to optimize for depth, clarity, and authority in your content.
3. Diversify your visibility. Building brand awareness and web mentions may help boost your AI citation chances in ways pure SEO cannot.
4. Monitor your AI visibility. As AI search continues to expand, tools that track citations in AI results (like Brand Radar) will become essential for understanding your true digital footprint.

Final Thoughts

While higher Google rankings correlate with greater AI Overview visibility, the relationship isn’t linear or guaranteed. You might rank #1 and never be cited. Or you might rank #5 and still show up in the AI Overview’s top slot.

AI Overviews use more than just search signals - they reflect a broader ecosystem of content quality, brand strength, and contextual relevance.

If you want to stay competitive in the AI-driven future of search, continue investing in SEO fundamentals - but also think beyond rankings. Build content that earns trust, answers nuanced questions, and positions your brand as a credible voice.

Because in this new landscape, authority and relevance go hand in hand - both in search results and AI-driven answers.