AI Overviews Explained: The Ultimate Guide to Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE)

Google Search Generative introduced Google AI Overviews on May 14, 2024, that can now match one or more of the webpages from the top 10 Google organic search results 99.5% of the time. 

This data is based on the study analysis of 36,00 keywords.

Let’s say that you search for something on Google and get instant summarized results exactly based on your keyword instead of scrolling through several web pages. This is Google AI Overview, a Generative AI search that provides accurate and context-rich answers within seconds. 

With Google almost processing 100,000 searches per second, Google AI Overview emerges as a breakthrough providing users with crisp summaries related to their search along with relevant source links. 

1. But how do AI overviews work? 
2. How is it beneficial for businesses and SEO experts?

Let’s understand how AI overviews (SGE) are transforming the future of search.

What is Google SGE?

Google SGE (Search Generative Experience), now called Google Overviews, generates AI-powered snapshots to answer consumers with supporting citations to dive deeper across the web. 

For instance:

When you search for something on Google, you will get an AI-generated answer above the actual search results. 

Google usually names this as: “Generative AI is experimental,” followed by other results for your query. 

The answer is usually displayed in a search box with reliable links from where the information is taken. Moreover, you can follow up with an additional question to get similar information for your searched query. 

Some of the main benefits of SGE include:

• Instant AI-generated answers: Provides concise, context-rich responses above search results.
• Citations included: Displays reliable links to sources for further reading.
• Enhanced user experience: Reduces the need to scroll through multiple pages.
• Improved search efficiency: Delivers quick answers, saving users time.
• Interactive follow-ups: Users can ask related questions for more detailed information.
• Business adaptation: Content must be optimized for AI-driven summaries.
• SEO impact: Prioritizes high-quality, authoritative content and structured data.
• Competitive advantage: Staying updated with AI overview changes is crucial for SEO strategies.

What are AI Overviews?

Google AI Overviews, a new name for SGE introduced on May 14, 2024, synthesizes top results from Google to provide users with clear, actionable answers for their queries. These always appear at the top of the SERP and can be after or before paid results, depending on your input query. 

You might not know but 52% of the sources mentioned by Google AI overviews usually rank in the top 10 results of the Search Engine Result Page. 

Gemini, Google’s foundational AI model, has been incorporated into various Google Cloud services. The AI Overview employs multi-step reasoning to holistically address multifaceted questions, rather than dividing a given question into multiple searches. 

This allows for the user to field questions with an added complexity that includes many of the fine points and caveats which may impact a given answer. This is especially helpful now when users are employing voice dictation to carry out their search, using natural language as it comes to mind from the user’s description of the query.

Note: The results of AI overview can vary. It can be in the form of mini tables, articles or even lists.

For example: 

You making a search for the best laptops for gaming in 2025. Here is the step-by-step guide on how Google AI Overview analyzes it: 

• Step 1: User Search

The process begins when a user types a query, like “best laptops for gaming in 2025,” into the Google search bar.

• Step 2: AI Analyzes the Query

Google’s AI uses natural language processing to understand the query’s intent. It identifies key elements such as the year (2025), the product type (laptops), and the user’s purpose (gaming) to generate the most relevant response.

• Step 3: AI Gathers Data

Next, Google’s AI scans the web for top-ranking sources that provide detailed information. It looks at product reviews, expert opinions, specifications, and user feedback to gather a comprehensive set of data.

• Step 4: Synthesizing Information

The AI synthesizes the gathered data into a clear and concise summary. It filters out the most essential information, such as laptop names, key specifications (e.g., graphics card, RAM, display quality), and performance rankings. This is then presented as an AI Overview.

• Step 5: AI Overview Displayed

The AI Overview appears at the top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). It may be placed before or after paid ads, depending on the query. The overview gives a quick summary, such as a list of the best laptops, highlighting important details like performance or features.

• Step 6: User Can Explore Further

If the user needs more information, they can click on the links that appear below the AI Overview. These links lead to detailed reviews, full specs, or comparisons on other websites.

Example:

When searching for “best laptops for gaming in 2025,” the AI Overview might display:

• Laptop A: Best overall, powerful RTX 3080, 16GB RAM
• Laptop B: Affordable, great for budget gamers, 144Hz display
• Laptop C: Best battery life, lightweight design for competitive gaming

Also Read: Top 14 ChatGPT Plugins Every Marketer Should Use in 2025

How to Turn On Google SGE?

To activate Google SGE (Search Generative Experience), follow the steps below:

• Login to Your Google Account: Create an account if you don’t have one.

• Go to Google Labs at https://labs.google.com/search/.

• Look for the Search Generative Experience among the available experiments to select it.

• Toggle the option to activate and start using AI-powered search features.

Note that this is in an experimental phase, so not all users may get access immediately.

How To Access AI Overviews?

To better rank in AI overviews, it’s important to get access. It can be done through:

• Create a Google Account – Go to Google’s sign-up page and fill in your details.
• Sign in – Log in with your Google Account.

• Start searching – Use the search bar to find AI overviews and related content.

Note: You cannot turn off AI Overview in your search results, but there are browser extensions to rid them. 

Google SGE vs. AI Overviews

Although both AI overviews and SGE are used as subsets of each other some differences need to be considered:

SGE is the Google Labs version of AI overviews, so it contains additional features that are not usually available in the AI overviews. 

1. Follow-up Questions.

Google SGE: AI-generated follow-up questions allow for an interactive search experience in its own right, allowing a user to further investigate a topic and keep his search journey alive.

Fact: Google shows an SGE for more than 86.83% of all search queries.

• AI Overviews: The feature is not available, and users get a summary one time without any exploration from there.

2. Conversational Mode:

Google SGE: Google can be directly conversed with when a user asks follow-up questions, giving more elaborate answers, and creating a more dynamic and personalized interactive search experience.

• AI Overviews: Provides static summaries mostly that do not follow an interactive conversational flow.

3. Vertical Search Experience:

Google SGE: Elevates searches native to certain industries like shopping, travel, etc. by generating AI summary text and product recommendations that improve the results for commercial queries.

• AI Overviews: Rarely provide most of the very general overviews without giving insights into the specific commodity or service being searched for like that of SGE’s vertical searches.

4. Image Generation:

Google SGE: Seamlessly merge text answers with images generated through AI tools by the user.

• AI Overviews: This is text-only, with no image-generating features, providing only text summaries and information.

5. Coding Assistance and Integrations:

Google SGE: Provides within-search results coding tips and insight for languages like JavaScript and Python, while also experimenting with integrations for Google Sheets and Gmail to further facilitate workflow.

• AI Overviews: Furthermore, it include no coding assistance or such integration; they simply give very generic large-scope overviews without integration of any tool functionality.

How Do AI Overviews Work?

Like Google search, the process to rank in AI overview includes a few important elements that make AI overviews work:

• Generalization of Information:

Google AI Overviews summarises what is mostly taken into pages and pages due to difficulty, into a high-level idea about the subject in a very short form and in a lot easier way.

• Broad Knowledge Base:

The extensive knowledge repository from Google, comprising articles, research papers, websites, and much more, will be tapped by AI to make overviews relevant to a broad spectrum of subjects.

• Natural Language Processing (NLP):

Through the NLP algorithms, AI would understand user queries and convert elaborate details into contents, which flow naturally as if they were written by a person.

• Search Intent

Google AI overviews work on 4 basic types of user intent:

• Commercial
• Navigational
• Transactional
• Informational

Real-Time Contextualization:

Not as personalized, perhaps, as Google SGE would offer, but again related, AI Overviews afforded contextualized content impelled by the search query, with the most relevant information available at the time being emphasized.

• No Follow-Up and No Conversation:

Unlike Google SGE, AI Overviews do not allow any follow-up questions or continuations. A one-time overview is given to the users based on which they will have to move forward with their queries without asking ‘tell me more’ or ‘expand’.

Also Read: The Role of AI in On-page SEO: Improving Organic Click-through Rates

What Are The Pros And Cons Of AI Overviews?

Benefits of AI Overviews:

For users:

• Summarizing complicated topics or concepts.
• Getting answers to questions faster.
• Receiving answers to predicted follow-up questions.

For SEOs:

• Gaining other ideas beyond the search intention
• Receiving additional exposure (if listed below the AI Overview)

• Increasing traffic and engagement (if further explored by users)
• Provides an opportunity for SEOs to go with changing trends 

Cons of AI Overviews 

For users:

• Presenting inaccurate or biased information.
• Citing unreliable sources.
• Disallowing the disabling of AI Overviews.
• Lower exploration
• Restrict understanding of complex topics

How To Get Started Raking In AI Overviews

To get a better spot in the AI overview rankings, you need to follow a strategic approach to ensure your content ranks in AI overviews. Here are some of the steps you need to follow:

1. Classify keywords according to intent. 

• Informational: Sought knowledge or understanding.
• Transactional: I wish to contact the payment for action.
• Navigational: Seeking specific websites or pages.
• Commercial: Examine different options for decision-making before making a transaction.

2. Content Analysis of  Some Competitors

Develop a targeted strategy for content that positions your brand to be viewed as an authority.

Best Performing Content Include:

• Clear Definitions or Definitions Straightforwardly.
• In-Depth Approach to Subject Matter.
• Address Learned and Real Customer Experiences and Values Proposition Used by the Brand.

3. Determining Contextual Value of Competing Results

• Breakdown Measurable Dimensions Like ROI or Steps in Process.
• Exemplifies a Direct Use Perhaps Demonstrated: 
• Includes an Example of a clear demonstration of how the subject matter works. 

Practice/Standard: 

• Have your content articulate best practices and processes to help with understanding or execution of the subject.
• Refine content to respond to the popularly asked questions with actionable answers. 

4. Intent-Driven Content Action: 

• Understand Competitive Jargon.
• This reflects all clear definitions and emphasizes importantly actionable steps to present optimized high-quality content for artificial intelligence overview.

Conclusion 

Google AI overview technically called Google (Search Generative Experiences) represents a new era of AI search that follows conversational search patterns to provide user-intended search queries. Whether you search for general information or product-related queries, Google AI overview displays AI-generated results at the top of SERP with reliable source links you don’t have to toggle through all the results on the page. 

However, it’s important to understand how AI works and how users ask questions to get relatable answers. That’s why it’s always important to partner with an SEO agency that knows all the tactics of Google to rank you up on the results page. 

At ResultFirst, we promise to deliver actionable insights based on the trending Google algorithms to make sure you are always visible whenever users search for particular information.

Choose ResultFirst and Embrace SEO AI with Google AI Overview for better rankings. 

Statistical Resources: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7231755937324101633/, https://seo.ai/blog/how-many-people-use-google, https://surferseo.com/blog/ai-overviews-study/, https://seo.ai/blog/search-generative-experience-sge-statistics