AI Overview Rankings from followers increase citation opportunities by 161%: Study
Pages that rank for Google’s AI “Fan-out” queries are more likely to be mentioned than those that only rank for the main search query, according to data from Surfer SEO.
- An analysis of 10,000 keywords found a strong correlation (Spearman 0.77) between how many fan queries a page has and its likelihood of being cited in Google’s AI Overviews.
In numbers. Pages ranking for exit queries are 161% more likely to be mentioned than pages that rank for the main query alone. Also:
- 76% of sample keywords triggered AI Overview.
- 33,000 follower questions were released using Gemini.
- Page quality for both is a key question and at least one follower accounts for 51% of AI Overview citations.
- Pages rated only for the main query accounted for just under 20%.
Fan turnout defeats the main question. Outbound queries rank 49% more likely to earn a coupon than keyword matching alone. Where Google AI Overview cites natural results:
- About 20% of the cited pages only list the main question.
- About 30% of cited pages only rate fan inquiries.
Most AI overview quotes are inconsistent. About 68% of the cited pages did not rank in the top 10 of Google for the main query or any of the follower queries. Among the top three visible quotes, that share drops to about 46%.
Yes, but. As always, correlation is not causation. Also:
- The level of follower exit queries does not warrant an AI overview quote.
- Follower exit varies by user context and personalization, with only about 27% remaining constant across repeated runs.
- Native SEO alone does not fully explain how citations are selected.
Why do we care. If you want a quote from Google AI Overview, don’t rush the fan questions. Title holder. Surfer SEO recommends creating in-depth articles related to key topics, publishing content that naturally answers a variety of related questions, and letting AI Overviews find your relevance to all types of followers.
Report. Posting Multiple Follower Queries Greatly Increases Your Chances of Getting Citations in AIOs (173,902 URLs Read)
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