AI Overviews are now less likely to cite pages that rank in Google’s top 10 organic positions, according to new BrightEdge data. This change was observed following Google’s March 2025 core update.
By the numbers. The overlap between AI Overview citations and Google’s top 10 organic positions dropped from 16% to 15% following the March 2025 core update. Shift by industry:
- Travel industry: 6.6 percentage point increase in regular result citations (from 12.9% to 19.5%).
- Entertainment: 4.9 percentage point increase (from 8.8% to 13.7%) for movie queries.
- Restaurants: 4.6 percentage point increase (from 9.5% to 14.1%) for dining content.
Why we care. Tens of millions of searches per day now feature AI-generated summaries that don’t cite the highest-ranked results from organic search. The good news? Pages ranking outside Google’s top 10 positions now have a better shot at being cited in AI Overviews.
But. This appears to be a major shift in how Google is synthesizing information via its AI-generated answers. The change could pose new visibility and attribution (and even more rank tracking) challenges. Other ongoing challenges:
The big picture. Google’s John Mueller confirmed that Google AI Overviews are impacted by core updates. BrightEdge’s latest finding seems to be further confirmation of that. Mueller said last August:
- “These are a part of search, and core updates affect search, so yes.”
What to do? Here are two areas to focus on, according to Jim Yu, founder and executive chair of BrightEdge:
- Create complementary content that answers the next logical question(s). Your content addressing follow-up questions now has better chances of being cited even if it doesn’t rank in the top 10 regular results.
- Don’t choose between ranking well or appearing in AI Overviews – aim for both. Track your presence in both areas to get a complete picture of your search visibility.
What’s next. We will continue to watch how Google’s AI Overviews and core updates impact organic traffic (that “necessary evil” which makes it possible for websites to exist and Google to have all the fresh, helpful content it needs).
Dig deeper. Google AI Overviews spiked during March 2025 core update
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About the author
Danny Goodwin is Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & Search Marketing Expo – SMX. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as Senior Editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land’s SME (Subject Matter Expert) program. He also helps program U.S. SMX events.
Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
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