How to Get Google AI Overviews to Appear

To see a Google AI Overview, you simply need to perform a search on Google for a topic that is likely to trigger a generative answer. These are often complex, long-tail, or comparative queries that the AI can answer by synthesizing information from multiple sources. While Google does not publish a definitive list of what queries trigger AI Overviews, they are most common for informational topics, “how-to” guides, product comparisons, and summaries of complex subjects.

For example, a query like “what are the best places to visit in Philadelphia in the spring” is more likely to trigger an AI Overview than a simple search for “Philadelphia.” The feature is served by default for many users and is not something you have to “get” or enable. For businesses, the goal is to optimize their content to be the source that Google’s AI uses to generate these overviews. Arc Intermedia helps businesses understand the types of queries that trigger these overviews and creates content specifically to rank for them.