AI finding
Google shows an AI Overview for a tracked keyword and does not cite the site
AI Warning Severity: Medium
Part of the audit AI Overviews for tracked keywords. Finding id: ai.overviewWithoutCitation.
What it costs you
The overview sits above the normal results and answers the question there. Searchers who read it see other sources and fewer of them reach your result.
What to do
Compare your ranking page with the cited sources. Make sure it answers the question in plain text near the top and can be crawled.
What it checks
- Website cited in AI Overviews
- Competitors cited in AI Overviews
How to fix it
Compare your page with the cited sources
- Search for "[keyword]" and open the sources the overview cites.
- Note what they state that [ranking url] does not: a direct answer, figures, a date, an author.
- Add what is missing to your page, in the text and not only in images or scripts.
- Check the other AI findings for [ranking url]: crawler access and content without JavaScript.
How to check: Look at this keyword again after the next rank check. Overviews change from day to day, so judge over several checks.
A real case
Researchers at Pew Research Center found that Google users who saw an AI summary clicked a regular search result in 8% of visits, against 15% for users who saw none. A link inside the summary itself was clicked in 1% of visits.