2025 was the year AI Overviews went from experiment to expectation. I watched client after client see traffic patterns shift—pages ranking #1 getting fewer clicks while AI-generated answers dominated above the fold. The SEO playbook that worked for a decade needed a rewrite.
Now, heading into 2026, the question isn't whether AI Overviews matter—it's whether you've adapted your strategy to get cited. The brands that figured this out in 2025 are already seeing the benefits. Those still optimizing the old way? They're falling further behind.
Here's what I learned in 2025 and how I'm positioning my clients to win in 2026.
What 2025 Taught Us About AI Overviews
The data from 2025 tells a clear story. According to Advanced Web Ranking, AI Overviews appeared in 60.32% of U.S. Google searches by November 2025. That number will only grow in 2026.
More importantly, Seer Interactive's study of over 25 million organic impressions revealed the stakes:
| Metric | 2025 Impact |
|---|---|
| Organic CTR with AI Overviews | Down 61% (1.76% → 0.61%) |
| Paid CTR with AI Overviews | Down 68% (19.7% → 6.34%) |
| Organic CTR even without AI Overviews | Down 41% |
Here's the opportunity for 2026: when your content gets cited in an AI Overview, your organic CTR jumps 35% higher than non-cited results. The winners in 2026 won't fight AI Overviews—they'll get cited in them.
How AI Overviews Choose What to Cite
Understanding citation patterns is crucial for any AI overviews optimization strategy. Based on 2025 data and my own client work, here's what drives citations:
76% of cited URLs come from the top 10 organic results. AI Overviews favor already-ranking content. This means traditional SEO still matters in 2026. You can't shortcut your way to AI citations without first earning organic visibility.
Long-tail queries trigger AI Overviews more often. About 53% of searches with 10+ words produce an AI Overview, compared to just 8% of shorter queries. In 2026, expect this pattern to intensify as Google expands AI Overviews to more query types.
Authority signals weight heavily. Reddit, YouTube, Wikipedia, and established niche sites get cited disproportionately. Google's AI trusts the same sources its algorithm has always trusted—and that trust will carry into 2026.
The critical insight: you don't optimize for AI Overviews separately from regular SEO. You optimize for both by being the most authoritative, best-structured answer.
5 Strategies for AI Overview Success in 2026
1. Structure Content for Extraction
AI Overviews don't read content the way humans do. They scan for extractable answer blocks—self-contained segments that can be quoted directly. This was true in 2025, and it'll be even more important in 2026 as citation competition intensifies.
Format your content with these patterns:
- Definition blocks: H2 heading like "What is [topic]?" followed by a 2-3 sentence definition and 3-5 bullet key points
- Step-by-step blocks: Numbered lists with 1-7 concise steps, each step being 1-3 sentences
- Comparison tables: Clear headers comparing options, features, or approaches
- Checklists: Scannable bullet lists with concrete, actionable items
Keep key definitions and answers within 40-60 words. AI Overviews frequently quote verbatim from clean, structured segments rather than wading through dense prose.
2. Demonstrate E-E-A-T Through Format
Google's AI needs signals that you know what you're talking about. Here's how I make expertise machine-readable—and how you should prepare your 2026 content:
- Author bylines with credentials: Not just a name, but "10+ years in SEO" or "Managed $5M+ in ad spend"
- First-hand experience markers: "I tested…", "Based on my client work…", "In my experience…"
- Original data and observations: Screenshots, case studies, specific numbers from real campaigns
- Clear publishing and update dates: "Updated for 2026" signals freshness and ongoing relevance
These signals help Google's AI determine that your content comes from someone who's actually done the work—not just summarized what others have written.
3. Target Long-Tail, Complex Queries
AI Overviews appear most often for queries where users need synthesized answers. For 2026, focus on:
- Multi-step "how to" queries (like this article)
- "What's the best X for Y" comparisons
- "Is it safe/allowed/legal to…" questions
- Questions that require expertise to answer properly
Build content specifically around 10+ word queries and their variations. These are the queries where AI Overviews dominate—and where citation matters most. As AI Overviews expand in 2026, expect this long-tail advantage to grow.
4. Build Topic Clusters That Signal Authority
A single article doesn't signal expertise. A cluster of interconnected content does.
I use a hub-and-spoke architecture: one comprehensive guide (hub) surrounded by 5-20 supporting articles (spokes) covering specific sub-topics. Internal links connect everything, demonstrating topical depth.
For example, this article connects to my comprehensive guide to content optimization tools, which serves as the hub for my content optimization cluster. Google's AI sees this connected evidence graph and understands that MKDM has depth on this topic.
In 2026, I expect topical authority to become even more important as Google's AI gets better at evaluating content ecosystems rather than individual pages.
5. Expand Your Presence Beyond Your Site
AI Overviews cite content from across the web. If you're only publishing on your own domain, you're limiting your surface area.
Contribute thoughtfully on Reddit in relevant subreddits. Create YouTube videos that repurpose your best guides with detailed descriptions and chapters. Write guest posts for industry publications.
When you're cited in multiple places that Google's AI already trusts, your overall authority increases—even for your own site's content. This multi-platform presence will be a key differentiator in 2026.
Content Formats AI Overviews Prefer
Based on what I observed getting cited throughout 2025, certain content formats consistently outperform—and these patterns will carry into 2026:
- In-depth guides and explainers that thoroughly cover a topic
- How-to tutorials with clear numbered steps
- Original research, benchmarks, and data studies
- Comparison tables and "best X for Y" roundups
- FAQ sections with direct, concise answers
AI Overviews quote directly from numbered lists and comparison tables more often than prose paragraphs. Structure matters—and will matter even more as AI parsing capabilities improve in 2026.
Technical Optimization for AI Search
Don't neglect the technical foundation. Implement structured data that helps Google understand your content:
- Article/BlogPosting schema for main content
- FAQPage schema for Q&A sections
- BreadcrumbList for site navigation
- VideoObject for any video content
Maintain strong Core Web Vitals and mobile usability. Google has explicitly tied AI search performance to general page experience signals. Fast, mobile-friendly pages get cited more. This technical foundation will only become more important in 2026.
Tools That Help You Optimize for AI Overviews
The right content optimization software can streamline this process. Look for tools that include AI visibility tracking, content scoring against top SERP results, and structured data validation.
For a comprehensive breakdown of the best options—including those with GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) features—see my complete guide to content optimization tools.
Preparing for 2026: The Bottom Line
AI Overviews aren't replacing traditional SEO—they're built on top of it. The sites winning in AI search are the same ones that have always done content right: authoritative, well-structured, genuinely helpful.
The difference heading into 2026 is that structure matters more than ever. Format your content for extraction. Demonstrate expertise through concrete signals. Build topical depth through clusters.
The brands that mastered AI Overview optimization in 2025 have a head start. But the playbook is clear now. If you apply these strategies consistently in 2026, you'll be positioned to capture visibility while competitors are still figuring out why their traffic is declining.
The opportunity is there. Make your content the answer Google's AI wants to cite.
