Search Generative Experience (SGE) / AI Overviews

Search Generative Experience (SGE) was the Search Labs experiment Google announced in May 2023. AI Overviews began their general US rollout on 14 May 2024. SGE is useful as a historical term; use AI Overviews when referring to the current summary feature.

For publishers, Google's current guidance on AI features states that:

• AI Overviews provide a summary and links to supporting information. They do not appear for every query.
• A page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet to qualify as a supporting link. Eligibility does not guarantee selection.
• Existing SEO practices apply; Google specifies no additional technical requirements or special optimisation for these features.
• AI Overviews and AI Mode can use different models and techniques, so their responses and supporting links can vary. Record the specific product when measuring visibility.

This guidance does not establish a universal percentage of queries showing AI Overviews or a ranking formula for citations across engines. Compare results using a dated, defined query sample rather than assuming that Google, ChatGPT and Perplexity select the same sources.

See GEO vs AEO vs LLMO vs SGE: An Honest Taxonomy for the distinction between these terms.

Review and correction — 21 October 2026: removed unsupported prevalence and cross-engine citation-weighting claims, and replaced a link to an unpublished article. This AI-assisted revision checked the official sources linked above; it is not a new visibility measurement. Next review: 20 November 2026, or sooner if Google's publisher guidance changes.