AI Overviews (launched generally in May 2024) are the most consequential GEO surface for English-speaking markets, they sit on queries that already had Google traffic, and they suppress the ranked-link CTR underneath. Pew Research measured top-link CTR falling from 15% to 8% when an Overview was present; in worst-case publisher submissions to the UK CMA, DMG Media reported a roughly 89% desktop CTR drop on Overview-affected queries. Tracking Overview citation specifically is now table stakes for any GEO tool.
GEO glossary
AI Overview
AI Overview is the AI-generated summary that appears at the top of a Google search results page, replacing or preceding the traditional ranked links.