Google is shifting from search engine to answer engine — and your content has to keep up.
AI Overviews are now live for millions of users. Instead of ranking full pages, Google’s AI pulls and summarizes the best content chunks.
This post is both a guide and a working example. The format may be new, but it’s still traditional SEO under the hood: content quality, structure, and crawlability still win.
AI Overviews aren't about ranking full pages — they're about extracting the best content blocks. Here's how to optimize your blog posts and site pages so they surface in Google's AI-generated results:
Break your content into clear question-and-answer blocks.
Use headers like <h2> and <h3> that mirror real search queries.
Answer each question clearly in 2–3 sentences.
Add structured data (schema markup) to help Google identify FAQs, how-tos, products, and more.
Label summaries with 'Quick Answer' or 'TL;DR' to guide extraction.
Meta Note: This TL;DR is not just a summary — it's formatted to be extracted by Google's AI.
AI Overviews don’t show a list of links — they generate a direct answer. Instead of ranking full pages, Google pulls specific content blocks from multiple sources and summarizes them into a single response.
Meta Note: This is a direct, AI-friendly answer block — exactly how your site content should be structured.
Google’s AI looks for clearly labeled content chunks — especially question-based headers with short, factual answers. It prefers content that is conversational, well-structured, and easy to summarize.
Meta Note: The structure of your content matters—think “answers” instead of “articles.”
Use <h2> or <h3> headings for each real question people search for.
Write short, clear answers directly below.
Add a "TL;DR" section at the top of the post.
Inject FAQPage schema into the page header.
Meta Note: This blog post does exactly that — you're reading an optimized, AI-ready format in action.
Yes — apply the same structure to your site pages. Break up your content with clear questions as subheadings, followed by short, scannable answers. This helps Google extract relevant chunks from service pages, just like blog content.
Meta Note: Even pages like “Pricing,” “Features,” or “About” can rank in AI Overviews if they’re formatted clearly.
Edit the page or blog settings.
Scroll to "Advanced Options > Additional code snippets."
Paste your JSON-LD schema into the "Head HTML" box.
Example FAQPage schema:
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "FAQPage",
"mainEntity": [{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How do you add schema to a HubSpot page?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Paste a JSON-LD snippet into the head HTML section of your page in HubSpot's settings."
}
}]
}
</script>Need a deeper dive on schema? Check out our Schema Markup Guide for more examples.
There is no perfect tool yet, but here are the best current methods for checking your visibility in AI-powered search results:
Manually search your target keywords on Google with AI Overviews enabled. See if your content is paraphrased, cited, or linked in the generated summary.
Test platforms like Perplexity, ChatGPT (with web browsing), or Brave Search to see if your content is being pulled into AI responses across tools.
Use web analytics tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to watch for traffic spikes from new, long-tail queries.
Use experimental tracking tools to monitor which queries trigger AI Overviews and whether your domain is cited — though full access often requires a paid plan and the data is still emerging.
Meta Note: Right now, this process is mostly manual and directional. Stay updated as tools evolve to support AI visibility tracking.
We help brands optimize their blog posts, service pages, and overall site structure for Google's AI Overviews.
To improve your visibility in AI-generated search, focus on:
Targeting long-tail, question-based queries instead of broad keywords.
Answering search intent directly with clear, structured sections.
Using schema.org markup (FAQPage, HowTo, Product, etc.) to clarify content context.
Incorporating multimedia like diagrams or video to enhance user and AI understanding.
Ensuring your site is AI-accessible — clean HTML, open robots.txt, semantic markup.
Considering an LLMs.txt file — a new, optional standard designed to communicate how AI models can use your content. While most AI systems don’t crawl or enforce this file yet, publishing it shows intent and positions your site for future developments, much like the early days of robots.txt.
Want to give your site the best chance to show up in AI Overviews?
It really comes down to two things:
A site that’s easy to update — so you can keep content fresh, structured, and aligned with real search queries.
Best-practice SEO + schema — clear formatting, relevant answers, and structured data that helps Google (and AI) understand your content.
We help brands rebuild sites in HubSpot to be both editable and AI-ready — from smart content strategy to implementing the right schema.
👉 Let’s talk about making your site AI-friendly