AEO · 18 December 2025 · 12 min read
AI Overviews citation patterns: 420 SERPs analysed
We analysed 420 SERPs across 14 industries. Three traits explain most AI Overviews citations.
We pulled 420 SERPs across 14 industries between October and December 2025 and analysed every page cited inside the AI Overviews block. The patterns were strong enough to base a strategy on.
Headline findings
This breaks down into a handful of concrete points. Work through them one by one and note any that apply to your own site.
- 78 percent of cited pages ranked in the top 3 organic positions.
- 65 percent had FAQ or HowTo schema.
- 82 percent had question framed H2s for the cited paragraph.
- Average cited paragraph length: 47 words.
What this means
Classic SEO ranking remains the dominant predictor of AI Overviews citation. AEO tactics (schema, question H2s, paragraph length) explain most of the rest. The data does not support "AEO is replacing SEO" framing.
Differences by industry
Citation patterns were not uniform across the 14 industries sampled. Categories with clearer factual answers showed higher citation rates than categories dominated by opinion or comparison content.
- Health and finance pages showed the strongest preference for pages with named, credentialed authors.
- Software and technology queries cited comparison and pricing pages more than definitional ones.
- Local service queries rarely triggered AI Overviews at all, favouring the map pack instead.
- Travel and lifestyle queries cited a wider spread of sources per answer than other categories.
How we ran the analysis
Transparency on method matters for a study like this, since citation behaviour changes over time and any snapshot has limits.
- Selected 30 queries per industry across informational and commercial intent.
- Captured the AI Overviews block and every cited URL for each query.
- Cross referenced each cited URL against its organic ranking position on the same day.
- Coded each page for schema type, heading structure and paragraph length.
Questions
420 SERPs across 14 industries is a reasonable working sample, but it is a snapshot, not a permanent benchmark, and results will shift as Google updates AI Overviews.
It makes citation less likely but not impossible. The large majority of citations in our sample came from top 3 positions, with a smaller share from further down the page.
No. Add it only where genuine question and answer content exists. The correlation with citation does not mean schema alone causes it.