Hey!

AI Overviews can feel unpredictable.

One day your site appears in search results. The next day an AI-generated summary answers the question before anyone clicks.

So where do those summaries actually get their information?

According to recent Ahrefs research, the pages cited inside AI Overview responses tend to already rank extremely well in traditional search.

In fact, the URLs referenced in AI Overviews show a median ranking of position 3 in Google’s search results, and the primary cited source typically ranks around position 2.

In other words, AI isn’t pulling answers from obscure corners of the internet.

It’s largely referencing the same pages that already perform well in search.

That means the fundamentals of SEO still matter.

Pages that earn strong rankings—through credibility, authority, and relevant backlinks—are the same pages most likely to be cited when AI summarizes information.

So while search is evolving, the underlying signals haven’t changed as much as people think.

The brands that invest in credible visibility across the web are the ones most likely to show up—whether someone is reading a search result or an AI-generated answer.

Best,
The SEOJet Team