AI Overviews replace the old "ten blue links" with a written answer for many informational queries, and the scale is no longer a side experiment: Google said at I/O in May 2026 that AI Overviews passed 2.5 billion monthly users. They cite a handful of sources alongside the summary, and those citations are the visibility you compete for.
AI Overviews are not the same thing as AI Mode: Overviews are the summary block on the standard results page, while AI Mode is Google's full chat surface — tapping "Show more" on an Overview now hands you into it. Google treats both as one eligibility surface, so the same content wins in either.
Appearing in an AI Overview is less about domain authority than about being the clearest, best-structured answer to the question. Google's own guidance states there is no special markup required to be eligible; standard helpful-content practices apply.