How to Rank in Google AI Overviews

Originally published on depra.ai on 15 September 2026.

Google's AI Overviews, the AI-written summaries above the normal search results, link to pages in Google's index. They do not need special markup or AI-specific files. We captured 60 Google results pages from India on 15 September 2026 for 10 shopping queries, each in English and in Hinglish (Hindi and English mixed, typed in Latin letters). Hinglish searches showed an overview in 28 of 30 captures, and English searches in 18 of 30.

What decides which pages AI Overviews cite?

According to Google's AI features documentation, a page must be "indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet" to appear as a supporting link. No special schema.org markup or machine-readable file is required.

Ordinary SEO is still the foundation: let Googlebot crawl the page, link internally, put the important content in text, use good images and video, keep structured data consistent with the visible page, and keep merchant and business profile information current.

Google also uses "query fan-out", running related subtopic searches to build a fuller answer. That means a page can be cited even when it does not rank for the exact search term.

In our dataset of 41 overviews that loaded, there were 274 distinct linked pages:

• 95 links (34.7%) pointed to pages that ranked on page one for the same search.
• 40 of 41 overviews included at least one page-one result.
• 16 of 41 linked the top-ranking regular result.
• In English searches, 26.7% of links were page-one results. In Hinglish, 40.9% were.

Even so, 179 of the 274 links went to pages beyond page one, which fits Google's description of fan-out.

How often do AI Overviews show for Indian shopping questions?

We used 10 shopping queries (5 skincare, 5 fashion) with no brand names, each in English and Hinglish, and captured each three times: desktop, mobile, and desktop again.

Question (English wording, shortened)	English	Hinglish
Face wash for oily skin under ₹500	3 of 3	3 of 3
Sunscreen with no white cast	3 of 3	3 of 3
Vitamin C serum for dark spots	0 of 3	3 of 3
Moisturizer for dry skin in winter	3 of 3	2 of 3
Serum for acne-prone skin under ₹700	3 of 3	3 of 3
Men's jeans under ₹2000	1 of 3	3 of 3
Running shoes under ₹3000	2 of 3	3 of 3
Women's kurta sets online	1 of 3	3 of 3
Men's formal shirts	1 of 3	3 of 3
Wedding sarees on a budget	1 of 3	2 of 3
Total	18 of 30	28 of 30

Three patterns stood out:

1. English fashion queries rarely produced an overview. English skincare showed an overview in 12 of 15 captures, and English fashion in only 6 of 15. Hinglish was steady at 14 of 15 in both categories.
2. English pages without an overview showed a product carousel instead. All 12 English captures with no overview had Google's product carousel with prices. No Hinglish capture showed that carousel.
3. The same query gave different results between captures. Four English questions produced an overview in only 1 of 3 captures, taken roughly 20 minutes apart.

Which sites did AI Overviews cite?

The 41 overviews with readable links cited 68 distinct websites. These are the top 10:

Site	Overviews citing it (of 41)	English (of 16)	Hinglish (of 25)
youtube.com	18	7	11
amazon.in	17	7	10
nykaa.com	16	8	8
flipkart.com	15	7	8
reddit.com	11	5	6
myntra.com	10	1	9
instagram.com	9	5	4
dotandkey.com	6	6	0
plumgoodness.com	6	6	0
shop.skinaa.com	6	6	0

In total, 34 of 41 overviews cited at least one marketplace (Amazon.in, Flipkart, Nykaa or Myntra). Video or social platforms appeared in 24 of 41, and community platforms (Reddit or Quora) in 14 of 41.

Of the 274 linked pages, 75 (27%) sat under blog paths and 76 (28%) had "best" or "top" in the URL. Buying guides dominated, with addresses like "10-affordable-face-serums-under-500-in-india" and "top-jeans-brands-in-india-men". Brand sites were cited too: Skinaa, Dot & Key and Plum each appeared in 6 English overviews. Skinaa was linked through its own blog buying guides, while Dot & Key and Plum were mostly cited through category pages that matched a buyer need.

Two language-specific observations:

• Hinglish overviews were mostly written in Hindi script. 21 of 25 Hinglish overviews with loaded text were mainly in Devanagari, even though the searcher typed in English letters.
• Google translated English pages for Hinglish searchers. 19 of 25 Hinglish overviews linked at least one English page through Google Translate, which was 49 of 154 links.

Google's shopping listings also showed up inside answers: 17 of 18 English overviews and 16 of 25 Hinglish overviews contained product cards that open Google's shopping product viewer.

8 steps to get your pages into AI Overviews

1. Let Googlebot crawl the page. AI Overviews link to pages in Google Search's index, which Googlebot fills. Check robots.txt, firewall settings and CDN configuration, then test with URL Inspection in Search Console.
2. Treat Google-Extended separately. Google's documentation says Google-Extended controls whether content is used for Gemini training. It does not affect inclusion in Google Search and is not a ranking factor, so disabling it will not remove you from overviews.
3. Keep snippets working. Google's eligibility rule needs a page that can be shown with a snippet. A nosnippet tag or a restrictive max-snippet value limits what Search can show, so use them only on pages you really want to exclude.
4. Rank well for the exact query. In our data, 40 of 41 overviews included page-one results. Compelling titles, intent-matched pages and internal links from relevant content still matter.
5. Answer directly in the opening text. Put the main answer in the first two sentences and the supporting detail after it. Google treats text-based content as a core practice, and answers that exist only in images or video are harder to quote.
6. Write real buying guides. 28% of linked pages had "best" or "top" in the URL. Include product names, prices, who each product suits, and publication dates. Brand-run pages can be cited too: Dr. Sheth's sunscreen guides and Plum's oily-skin collections both received links.
7. Be present on the platforms that get cited. Marketplaces appeared in 34 of 41 overviews, YouTube or Instagram in 24, and Reddit or Quora in 14. Keep your Amazon.in, Flipkart, Nykaa and Myntra listings complete, keep Merchant Center data current, publish on YouTube, and answer buyer questions on Reddit.
8. Test Hinglish searches separately. Hinglish showed overviews in 28 of 30 captures against 18 of 30 for English, and 40.9% of Hinglish links were page-one results against 26.7% for English. If your audience searches in Hinglish, test it on its own, and keep your English guides translation-friendly: shorter sentences, product names in text, and prices as numbers.

How to check whether an AI Overview shows for your queries

A manual check:

1. Open a private browser window so your history does not influence the results.
2. Go to google.co.in and type the question exactly as customers would, in English and in Hinglish.
3. Note whether an overview appears. If it does, expand it and record every linked site.
4. Repeat on mobile and later in the day. Five of our 10 English questions changed between the 3 captures.

Search Console only gives aggregate data. Google counts AI features traffic inside the overall Performance report, under the Web search type.

Manual checks stop being practical beyond a handful of queries. Depra AI's Google AI Overview tracker monitors buying questions daily on real Google results pages from your location, and records whether an overview appeared, whether your brand was mentioned, and which pages were linked, in English and Hinglish. Overview frequency is tracked separately from brand visibility, so a week with fewer overviews does not look like a drop in visibility.

What are the limits of this data?

• One day, one short window. The 60 pages were captured on 15 September 2026 between 13:50 and 14:11 IST. Google changes when it shows overviews often, so read this as a snapshot.
• Ten questions in two categories. Skincare and fashion buying queries with no brand names. Informational or local searches may behave differently.
• India, logged out, country level. Searches ran from India with an English interface and no account. Searchers in other regions, or signed in, may see different results.
• Three captures per version. Desktop, mobile and a desktop repeat show the variation but are not enough for a precise rate.
• Retrieval gaps in the final pass. Three Hinglish overviews appeared with no text or links loaded, and two Hinglish pages showed no overview. Retrieval errors may mean the Hinglish count is slightly underestimated. Empty overviews count in the appearance tables but are left out of the citation analysis.
• How pages were counted. Google adds tracking tags (srsltid) to many shopping URLs, and they differ between links. We removed them before matching so each page counted once.
• What "page one" means. Seven to nine regular results, with the rest of the page taken up by overviews, videos, product rows and "People also ask" boxes.
• Links show citation, not causation. The counts show which sites and page types were linked. They do not prove that any specific change will get you included.
• Funding. Depra AI ran and paid for this analysis, and also sells AI Overview tracking.

You can start 7 days free on any plan, no card needed, and the first scan starts on signup.

FAQ

How do I get my website into Google AI Overviews?
Make sure Googlebot can crawl the page, that it is indexed, and that it can be shown with a snippet in normal Google results. Answer the exact question in plain text near the top of the page. There are no extra requirements, special markup or AI files. In our 15 September 2026 data, 40 of 41 overviews included a page-one result, which suggests traditional ranking still works.

Does schema markup help with AI Overviews?
There is no special schema.org requirement for inclusion. Google asks that any structured data you use matches the visible page. Structured data is still useful for other Google results such as product information, so keep it accurate.

Does blocking Google-Extended remove me from AI Overviews?
Google says Google-Extended does not affect Search inclusion or ranking signals. Overviews are part of Google Search and link from the standard index. To limit how you appear in Search, Google recommends nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex controls instead.

Do AI Overviews show for Hinglish searches?
Yes, and more often than for English in our test. Data from 10 Indian shopping questions on 15 September 2026 showed overviews in 28 of 30 Hinglish captures against 18 of 30 English ones. Most Hinglish overviews were written in Devanagari Hindi even though the question was typed in English letters.

Depra AI provides AI visibility tracking for Indian brands. Track ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overview mentions in English and Hinglish from ₹1,999 monthly. India-based, globally operational.