Best Practices for Increasing Brand Citations in AI-Powered Search Overviews

In the world of AI Overviews (AIOs), visibility is everything. But AIOs play by slightly different rules. They pull information from multiple sources and then generate what they believe is the most accurate, trusted answer.

AI is now taking the role of an average searcher.

To get seen, you need to capture AIO’s attention. Here are the best practices for increasing brand citations in AI-powered search overviews.

1. Establish Undeniable Authority (E-E-A-T)

E-E-A-T is still important in the AI search world—in fact, it might be more important than ever. AIOs aren’t infallible, so people continue to check the sources behind the AI answers.

So how do you establish E-E-A-T?

• Experience: Share your experience through various content such as case studies, blog posts, press releases, and interviews with other sites.
• Expertise: Create bios for your team members, strengthen your About Us page, and use sources from .gov, .edu, or peer-reviewed studies. You can also create helpful data by gathering information about your business operations (which overlaps with experience).
• Authority: Write detailed content that explains various topics within your industry through how-to guides, opinion pieces, and backlinks from other sites.
• Trust: Provide quality content and product/service to your customers, and receive positive reviews.

Recommended: When Quality PR Shapes the Algorithm: The Path to Claiming AI Search Authority

2. Talk in a Way AI Understands

AI has its own way of thinking and speaking, and your content should reflect that. AI likes immediate answers to questions that are simple to understand.

Example: “Do cats need baths? No, cats don’t need baths because they groom themselves.” You can then further expand the answer to provide a detailed explanation.

You should also break up your text into smaller, more scannable sections and use headings appropriately (kind of like we are with this piece). Bullet points and tables also help with this.

Also, don’t be afraid to mention your brand when it’s relevant, like “Does NAME offer discounts? Yes, NAME does offer discounts for loyal customers.”

3. Keep Up with Technical SEO

You can’t forget about technical SEO if you want to be cited by AIOs. A few examples (of many) include:

• Quick loading speeds
• A sound structure and navigable site
• Clear and thorough schema implementation
• Fully responsive webpages

4. Connect Your Brand to Specific Topics

Another key way to get cited more often by AI Overviews is to establish your brand as an authority on relevant topics. It’s important not to be spammy when you create this type of content and to stick with what’s most relevant to your business.

The best way to do this is to create content that addresses “query fanouts,” which are different elements and semantic words connected to the topic. Let’s use “solutions for headaches” as an example.

A single piece of content can cover:

• At-home solutions for headaches
• At-home solutions for migraines
• Medication for headaches
• Medication for migraines
• What causes headaches
• A diet that can help with headaches

A single, well-written piece of content can get you cited for all those topics and further strengthen your brand authority. As you build more content around “headaches,” you can internally link the articles to each other to further emphasize that you are the go-to source.

Citations Are One of Many AI Visibility Metrics to Track

As you can see, there are many ways to help your brand earn citations in AI Overviews. However, it’s important to note that citations aren’t the only metric to track. You should also track branded search volume growth, organic SEO rankings, and other traditional metrics for a complete view of your brand’s visibility performance.

In this space, visibility is everything, and it takes a holistic approach. Big Leap can help with all your AI SEO needs.