The KLIX blogGEO & AI
Why your agency does not appear in Google's AI Overviews
A Brussels agency we follow comes first in a ChatGPT answer, but not in Google's AI Overviews. The reason is simpler than it looks.
By Mehdi, Lead Technology & Development 4 min read
AI Overviews are the written answers Google shows above the results for some searches. They cite a few websites with a link. Many agencies think a special technique is needed to get in. Google says the opposite.
What Google says about AI Overviews
According to Google, there are no additional requirements or special optimisations needed to appear in AI Overviews: SEO best practices still apply. To be shown as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet. Source: Google Search Central, retrieved 31 October 2026.
Our reading: an agency missing from the regular results for a search is unlikely to be cited in the AI Overview for that same search. The work therefore starts with basic SEO.
What we measured
In October 2026, for an agency in western Brussels, we recorded three things within the same month:
- ChatGPT named it as its first answer for an agency search in its municipality;
- in Google's regular results, it only came 9th for its main search;
- it was missing from the French-language AI Overviews on the searches we tracked.
ChatGPT and Google do not draw on the same sources in the same way. Being cited by one says nothing about the other: both must be measured separately.
A mistake AI tools copy
During that tracking, we found a review widget that attached the agency's reviews to an old, inactive domain name. ChatGPT sometimes repeated that domain in its answers. AI tools copy what they find: a wrong detail on your own website can end up in their answers.
Where to start
- Check that your important pages are indexed by Google.
- Write short, precise answers to your clients' questions, with sourced and dated figures.
- Use exactly the same name, address and phone number everywhere.
- Measure ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews separately, every month.
That is the work of our GEO & AI Overviews service, which tracks your presence in AI answers.
How we measure every month
We track a fixed list of searches, the ones a seller or buyer in your area actually types, in French and in Dutch. For each one we record three things: your position in the regular results, your presence in Google's AI Overview, and ChatGPT's answer.
All three measurements are dated and kept from one month to the next. That is the only way to know whether a change on your website had an effect, rather than judging on an impression. When a platform could not be checked, we write “not measured”, without estimating.
AI tools readily cite what can be checked: a precise address, a dated figure, a named source. A page claiming to be “the best agency in the area” gives them nothing to quote. A page explaining, with sourced figures, how a sale works in your municipality gives them a lot. It is also what a seller comparing agencies expects: the same effort pays off twice, for readers and for the tools that inform them.
What a client says
« Excellent service avec de très bon résultats ! » (Translated from French: “Excellent service with very good results!”)
What to remember
- Google asks for no special technique for AI Overviews.
- A page must first be indexed and rank well in the regular results.
- ChatGPT and Google are measured separately.
- A wrong detail on your website can be repeated by AI tools.
Want to know where your agency appears in AI answers? We track ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews, search by search. Request a free audit or get in touch.
