Ghosted by Google: Why Your Business Isn’t Showing In AI Overviews

Ranking well but still invisible in AI Overviews?

This could signal that you’re not meeting Google’s new standards for content credibility, clarity, and extractability.

Google’s Gemini-powered AI summaries now dominate the most prominent position in many search results, often appearing above ads and traditional listings. Failing to be cited here

can dramatically reduce your brand exposure, even if you rank well organically.

Let’s explore why your business is being overlooked and how you can strengthen your chances of being featured in AI Overview in 2026.

What are AI Overviews?

AI Overviews are Google’s AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of some search results.

Because these summaries often sit at the very top of the results page and occupy the top 75% of a mobile screen, they command immediate visibility from users. This presents a huge opportunity for businesses to capitalise early-stage attention and trust, but many are struggling to secure a place in them.

An AI Overview only cites 3-5 sources prominently. So how does it choose its sources?

Where do AI Overviews pull their information?

The information you see in AI Overviews is pulled from multiple trusted pages across search results. Google’s Gemini AI identifies the content that best answers a query and summarises it into a short overview. It relies on pages Google already considers high-quality, relevant, and credible.

If you’re already ranking highly on Google’s organic results, you might expect to be automatically included. But that’s a common misconception.

While higher ranking pages may be more likely to get cited, that doesn’t guarantee inclusion. If your page doesn’t meet Google’s standards for clarity and extractability, even a high ranking page might not be enough to be featured.

Reasons your business may not be showing up in AI Overviews

Failing to appear in AI Overviews is rarely due to one single issue. It’s more often the result of how Google evaluates your content overall.

Your website foundations are poor

AI can’t cite what it can’t crawl or understand. Poor site structure, slow speeds, or missing schema can reduce visibility, even if the content itself is strong.

Poor on-page SEO can also limit your chances of inclusion.

Before diving deeper into your content, you must first make sure the technical foundation is there.

Get a technical SEO audit

Your content doesn’t clearly answer a query

AI Overviews prefer clear, direct answers. If your page is vague, promotional, or avoids the actual question, it’s unlikely to be cited.

Your content is poorly structured

Google’s AI scans for hierarchy. Without a logical flow, the system can't confidently summarise your page. You are likely missing:

• H2 and H3 tags that mirror common search queries.
• Bullet points for quick data extraction.
• Concise paragraphs that focus on one idea at a time.

Your content lacks authority  

Even if your topic is relevant, thin or surface-level content can limit visibility in AI Overviews. The AI has no reason to cite you if you repeat what’s already on Wikipedia or a competitor’s site.

Pages that provide shallow summaries without explanation, examples, data, or context may be overlooked in favour of more comprehensive resources.

The topic is too niche, too new, or too risky

Some queries are simply too niche, too new, or too sensitive. In those cases, Google may avoid generating AI Overviews or rely only on highly established sources.

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AI search is constantly changing

As Google updates its models and policies, the way content is selected and cited in AI Overviews will continue to evolve.

At authentic, we track AI updates, test visibility across tools, and adapt strategies to keep our clients discoverable.

Get an AI visibility audit →

Smart ways to improve your AI Overview visibility  

There’s no guaranteed trick or optimisation hack to get featured in AI Overviews.  

That said, there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of getting featured, and it will usually require a deeper look at your content and SEO strategy.

Lead with the answer

Google’s goal is to give its users the most helpful, direct answer possible. That should be your priority, too.

Before creating content, ask:

• What is the user actually trying to solve?
• How much detail do they need?
• Are they looking for an explanation, steps, a comparison, or a definition?

When answering a query, always lead with the answer. Keep the key “nugget” of information at the top of the page, then expand with supporting detail.

Users and Google’s AI don’t like a "hard sell" or a long-winded story before they get the information they need. Someone searching how to fix a leaky tap isn’t looking for a 500 word history of plumbing before they get the answer.

Getting to the point quickly makes it easier for the AI to "clip" your content and show it to the user.

To improve clarity and extractability:

• Use clear, question-based subheadings that mirror how users actually search
• Write short, declarative paragraphs
• Use lists where they improve readability
• Place definitions immediately after relevant headers

Explore our copywriting service

Create content with unique value

Does your content sound like everything else out there?

That’s one way to get ignored by Google’s AI. If your article could be swapped with ten others without changing the meaning, it’s unlikely to be treated as a primary source in an AI Overview.

To stand out, your content needs original substance. That might include:

• First-hand experience or observations
• Specific examples, data, or edge cases
• Clear opinions grounded in expertise (not hot takes)
• Explanations that go beyond what to cover why and how
• Writing that appeals to humans, not just machines (no AI-isms)

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You don’t have to navigate this on your own.

Our SEO programmes bring together technical optimisation, structured content, and AI visibility strategies to ensure your brand remains discoverable as search continues to evolve.

Learn more about our SEO programmes →

Make your expertise and brand unmistakeable

Google has repeatedly emphasised the importance of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).

AI Overviews favour content that sounds experienced and grounded in evidence rather than promotional and hyped. Pages that perform well here tend to explain topics clearly and objectively, using the kind of language experts use when speaking to peers.

Content is more likely to be surfaced when it includes:

• Links to original research, government data, or official documentation
• A unique data point or case study not already repeated across top-ranking pages
• First-hand insights (“In practice…”, “We’ve seen this work when…”)
• Author bios where relevant, or links to professional profiles
• Consistent brand messaging that helps Google trust your business as an entity

Keep your content fresh

Google’s AI systems prioritise information that appears accurate, relevant, and up to date. This means you should review your content regularly, ideally every 6 months, to ensure your information, statistics, examples, and recommendations still reflect current realities. Refreshing your pages can signal that your content is maintained and trustworthy.

Follow SEO best practices

While ranking high on Google in the traditional sense won’t automatically guarantee inclusion in AI Overviews, that doesn’t mean traditional on-page SEO no longer matters.

Well-optimised title tags, descriptive meta information, structured headings, keyword-aligned copy, internal links, and schema markup all help clarify what your page is about and who it’s for.

Importantly, AI Overviews are no longer limited to informational blog posts. Visibility is increasing across commercial and transactional queries, meaning your service pages, comparison pages, FAQs, and product listings must also be structured clearly, well optimised, and built for extractability.

If you’re unsure how to optimise your website for stronger search and AI visibility, our team can help you build the right foundations.

Earn your place in AI Overviews

There’s no shortcut to appearing in AI Overviews. It takes a careful and considered approach that aligns your content, structure, and authority with how Google’s AI actually evaluates information.

Creating quality content that gets you seen in the AI era is the type of work we do every day at authentic. We take no short cuts to content strategy and AI Optimisation.

Through our AI Optimisation services, we can work with you to:

• Audit your brand’s presence in AI tools like Chat GPT, Gemini, Claude, and others
• Identify gaps or misrepresentation in how your brand appears
• Restructure content and create copy that is clear and extractable
• Build ongoing optimisation strategies that align with how AI coverage evolves

Talk to our SEO team today to see how we can improve your AI visibility.

Book an AI Visibility Audit

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