Google’s AI Overviews Now Cite Fewer Top-Ranking Pages Post-Core Update

California: The March 2025 core update by Google prompted BrightEdge to find significant changes in how AI Overviews select content references according to their research. Research indicates that high-ranking pages experience a slight decrease in AI Overviews citations from 16% to 15%, indicating regular search results receive fewer mentions in these generated summaries.

The industry plays a significant role in altering these patterns. Citations of regular search engine results in the travel industry escalated by 6.6 percent during the March 2025 Google core update (from 12.9% to 19.5%). Answers generated by AI improved reference quality for movie entertainment and dining restaurant content by 4.9 and 4.6 percentage points, respectively.

The new trend demonstrates that Google AI answers expand their content sources beyond the existing top search page results. Websites that previously did not make it into the top ten search results can now gain more opportunities to receive citations in AI Overviews.

Google’s search enhancements introduce numerous complexities to users. The overall intention of AI Overviews is to improve user experience, but their traffic provides minimal engagement with the referenced content, which frequently leads to zero clicks. The number of visitors clicking through organically has decreased because users obtain the information they need from AI summaries.

Google’s insertion of links within AI Overviews directs users to search result pages on its website, creating more obstacles for content creators to maintain visibility and receive attribution.

During a Google interview, John Mueller acknowledged that AI Overviews are affected by core updates, thus demonstrating that these modifications form part of Google’s broader algorithmic procedures.

SEO expert Jim Yu from BrightEdge recommends making content predictable and addressing subsequent questions so search engines can cite it. Pursuing high ranking and citation should not be considered separate objectives in your approach. The most significant advantage is seeing how websites perform in two types of search result rankings at once.

As AI continues to reshape the SERP landscape, staying agile and optimizing for organic and AI-driven elements will be key to maintaining relevance.

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