Does Rating Larger on Google Imply You will Get Cited in AI Overviews?

In the event you rank nicely in conventional search outcomes, does that imply you’ll get cited in AI Overviews?

We determined to seek out out.

We pulled a million key phrases that triggered AI Overviews and extracted the highest three hyperlinks cited inside these AIOs: a complete of 1.9 million quotation hyperlinks in our database.

We then analyzed the connection between:

The place web sites ranked in Google’s conventional prime 10 outcomes
Whether or not and the place those self same web sites received cited in AI Overviews

We calculated the Spearman correlation between rating within the prime 10 and being cited within the prime 3 AI Overview outcomes. The correlation was 0.347.

It is a constructive average correlation, which means that greater SERP rankings are related to a better chance of being cited in AI Overviews.

Nonetheless, it’s not a assure.

Percentage of pages cited in AI Overviews by Organic ranking position

Even pages rating #1 solely seem within the prime three cited hyperlinks in AI Overviews about 50% of the time. So sure, whereas it’s true that when you rank #1 within the SERPs, you’re extra prone to be cited in an AI Overview than when you have been ranked decrease.

However that probability is a coin flip at greatest.

Right here’s the place it will get attention-grabbing. We additionally regarded on the correlation between the place of the cited URL versus their natural rating positions.

The correlation was 0.445.

In different phrases, pages that rank greater within the SERPs don’t simply have a greater probability of being cited; in addition they are usually cited extra prominently within the AI Overview after they’re included.

Wrapping up

From our analysis, evidently Google does use some overlapping alerts for each conventional rankings and AI Overviews choice. However the correlations inform us that AI Overviews aren’t merely repackaging the highest search outcomes.

website positioning nonetheless issues. Larger rankings enhance your possibilities of AI Overview citations. And when you can rank excessive and get cited, you’re extra prone to be featured prominently within the AI Overview.

Nonetheless, our research additionally means that there is one thing past conventional website positioning. Whereas we don’t but know all of the components Google makes use of for AIO choice, it’s clear they’re not merely lifting the highest search outcomes.

Possibly, as our analysis suggests, it’s all about your model and internet mentions.