Get cited in Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, where 59% of searches now end before anyone reaches the organic results.
AI Overviews now appear on around 59% of searches, and click-through on the top organic position has fallen from roughly 1.76% to 0.61%. Worse, ranking well does not get you cited: a page at position one has about a 31% chance of appearing in the AI Overview, and a page at position four has around 2.6%. Meanwhile roughly 90% of cited pages rank beyond position 20 — citation runs on relevance to the specific question, not on your position. So you can hold every ranking you fought for and still watch the traffic disappear.
Deliverables
Process
Establish current AI visibility from the Search Console Generative AI report where available, plus manual query testing across your commercial terms.
Move the answer to the top of every important page. This is the single highest-return change on most sites — Google scans for chunks and will not dig to your tenth paragraph.
Extend pages to cover the entities, attributes and questions the cited sources cover, so your page becomes a credible thing to draw from.
Relevant links and, more importantly, unlinked brand mentions. This compounds slowly and it is what separates cited brands from uncited ones.
Outcomes
Citations in AI Overviews for your commercial queries, independent of organic position
Rising branded search and direct traffic as your name appears inside answers
Visibility you can actually measure, rather than inferred from ranking reports
Proof
Legal
One of the first accounts to receive Search Console’s Generative AI report — and the data confirmed AI visibility that had previously only been inferred.
Read the case studyBeauty & Local Services
One physical location, visibility across several neighbouring towns — through a fully maxed Google Business Profile and genuine location pages.
Read the case studyPharmaceutical Export
A non-manufacturing exporter competing against manufacturers for US-facing export queries — now cited in the AI Overview and ranking organically for its head term.
Read the case studyFAQ
It overlaps heavily but the target is different. Traditional SEO optimises for position; this optimises for citation. The two diverge sharply — around 90% of pages cited in AI Overviews rank beyond position 20, and a page ranking fourth has roughly a 2.6% chance of citation. Same site, different mechanics.
No, and anyone guaranteeing it is selling you something. What I can do is make your pages genuinely eligible: answer-first structure, real entity coverage, question-shaped titles, and the brand signals Google draws on. That is what moves the probability.
Often not on that query — and that is the wrong place to look. Being cited puts your brand name in front of the user, and they search for you afterwards. The return shows up as branded search and direct traffic in GA4, not as a click on the original query.
Yes, and it should. Organic ranking still matters and still feeds the citation process. This is an additional layer of work on the same site, not a replacement strategy.
Free audit
Send me your domain and I’ll reply with the three issues costing you the most organic traffic right now. No pitch deck, no obligation.
You work with me directly — no account managers, no offshore handoff, no junior taking over after the sales call.
