In the past 15 months, Google has reshaped how it provides information. First, they launched AI Overviews (AIOs) in May 2024, once again altering the face of the search engine results pages.
Then in May 2025, Google began rolling out AI Mode outside of Search Lab.
Unfortunately, most marketers don’t realize that AI Overviews and AI Mode are each a distinct surface with their own behavior. Since both AIOs and AI Mode are Google search surfaces powered by Gemini, it seems natural to assume that they operate similarly or to conflate the two. And yet the way they cite sources carries real weight for anyone focused on answer engine optimization (AEO).
We ran a study to unpack these citation differences and discovered that visibility in one surface doesn’t guarantee visibility in the other.
In this article, I’ll share:
- What AI Overviews and AI Mode are.
- How we studied citation overlap across 1,540 queries.
- Key findings on where the two experiences diverge.
- Lessons to apply to your AEO strategy.
What Are AI Overviews and AI Mode?
AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that may appear at the top of Google search results pages, depending on the query. Our team has also seen AIOs in spots 2-4 and in People Also Ask boxes. AIOs highlight a limited number of sources and provide expandable information, generally behind a “show more” button.
AI Mode is a conversational search experience that users access by navigating to it at the top of particular SERPs or within an AI Overview. It produces scrollable responses and allows follow-up questions. AI Mode is available with more searches than AIOs are.
How We Analyzed Citation Overlap Between AIOs and AI Mode
To better inform our AEO strategies, we studied 1,540 real-world queries across both informational and transactional intent to understand how each Google AI search surface handles citations.
For each query, we:
- Recorded all the domains cited in AI Overviews.
- Recorded all the domains cited in AI Mode.
- Compared them to measure overlap and divergence between the platforms.
We analyzed the:
- Percentage of AI Overview citations that also appeared in AI Mode.
- Query-level ratios showing how closely the two aligned.
- Average number of unique URLs cited per experience.
This gave us a structured way to answer a simple but high-stakes question:
Do AI Overviews and AI Mode reward the same content, or are they playing by different rules?
Our Findings: Distinct Platforms, Distinct Citations
While we expected AIOs and AI Mode to have some citation differences, we were surprised by how large those differences were.
We found:
1. There’s little overlap between AI Overviews and AI Mode.
On average, only 30–35% of URLs cited in AI Overviews also appeared in AI Mode. Two-thirds of citations in Overviews did not carry over, so visibility in one experience doesn’t guarantee visibility in the other.
2. Most domains appear in only one surface.
When we zoomed out to the domain level, 77% of unique domains showed up in only one surface, while just 23% carried across both. This suggests Google is rewarding different sources depending on the experience.
3. No query produced identical citation lists.
Even when there was a strong overlap between citations in both surfaces, the lists diverged somewhere. This suggests Google uses separate retrieval systems to generate citations for each surface.
Since these are two distinct experiences, treating them as interchangeable surfaces means missing optimization opportunities in one or the other. Your AEO strategy needs to account for how these different surfaces discover and highlight sources, or you risk missing significant visibility opportunities.
4. AI Mode cites a broader range of sources.
AI Mode cites about nine domains per query compared to AI Overviews’ 7.7 domains per query. AI Mode appears to draw on a broader set of references, while AIOs provide a more selective highlight reel.
4 Lessons for Your AEO Strategy
So what does this mean if you’re optimizing for AI-driven search?
1. Treat AI Overviews and AI Mode as separate channels.
Since visibility in one doesn’t predict visibility in the other, set up monitoring for both experiences, and track performance in each independently.
Not every query will result in an AIO, but most will result in an AI Mode experience. Prioritize the queries you track by business impact.
2. Monitor citation frequency as a core metric.
Traditional SEO focuses on rankings and traffic, but in AI search, citation frequency across both surfaces is just as important. Create dashboards that track your domain’s appearance in both AI Overviews and AI Mode for your desired queries.
If you must prioritize one of the other, consider which platforms your audience uses. Right now, AI Mode adoption is low, while AIOs are visible without needing to navigate to another page.
3. Expand your competitive analysis.
Track which competitors appear on each surface to identify gaps and opportunities. If they have a higher citation share, analyze their content to see if there are specific tactics they’re using to get cited.
For example, do they have how-to schema on instructive posts? Perhaps their content is well formatted for retrieval or extremely comprehensive. Test out updates to your own content to see if you can claim some of their citations.
4. Testing will help you stay ahead.
There are no hard and fast rules right now. AI search optimization is a new frontier. Doing your own research and testing different content formats can help you expand your visibility while your competitors remain stagnant. For example, look for patterns in your own content. Do certain formats or optimizations impact where the page is cited?
Enhance Your AI Visibility
AI search isn’t a homogeneous experience, and our data proves it. Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, despite both being powered by Gemini, have distinct citation behaviors — and your visibility strategy needs to account for both.
The marketers who build systems to track, analyze, and optimize for both surfaces now will spot emerging patterns first, adapt their content strategies faster, and capture visibility opportunities that others miss.
Ready to optimize for both Google AI surfaces and additional platforms? Our AEO services can help you build upon your SEO strategy and brand visibility so you appear everywhere people are searching.
