How the Google results page: AI Overviews and special blocks is calculated

In short

Rankings alone no longer tell the whole story: Google often shows an AI Overview, a map, People also ask or news above the organic results. Every month Actavero checks Google's results page for your 100 most-searched relevant non-branded keywords and records which special blocks appear, which sites the AI Overview cites, who answers People also ask, and which sites take the organic top 10. From that it shows each brand's share of AI Overview citations and suggests where to focus.

Formula

Block share = keywords whose results page shows the block ÷ keywords checked × 100
AI Overview citation share of brand b = AI Overviews citing b's website ÷ keywords with an AI Overview × 100
Focus · Get cited in the AI Overview: an AI Overview cites other sites, not you, while you rank in the top 10
Focus · Push into the top 3: you rank 4–10 and the page shows at most one block above the results (AI Overview, featured snippet, map, top stories)
Focus · Win the featured snippet: you rank 1–5 and the featured snippet is someone else's (only where Google shows them)

How it is calculated, step by step

1. Take the measurement's relevant, non-branded keywords and keep the 100 with the most searches.
2. Fetch Google's results page for each (desktop, the market's location and the keyword's language), including the AI Overview and one click on People also ask.
3. Record the special blocks, the domains cited in the AI Overview and People also ask answers, the featured snippet's domain and the organic top 10.
4. Match domains to the tracked brands' websites (including subdomains).
5. Calculate block shares, citation shares, the other sites in the top 10 and the focus lists.

What goes into it

Keywords

The 100 most-searched relevant non-branded keywords of the SEO measurement.

Brand websites

The website of each tracked brand.

Data sources

• DataForSEO SERP API (Google organic, advanced, with AI Overviews), in the workspace's market.

How often it is updated

With every SEO measurement: monthly, and on demand at most once a week.

How to read it

• A high AI Overview share means many searchers get an answer before the organic results; being cited there matters as much as ranking.
• Sites that often take the top 10 but aren't tracked (comparison sites, media, government) are where your audience also looks: partnerships, PR or content for them can pay off.
• Keywords to push into the top 3 are worth most where few blocks sit above the results.

Example

Of 100 keywords, 60 show an AI Overview. Your website is cited in 23 of them (38%), a competitor's in 14 (23%).

Limitations

• One check per keyword per month on desktop; results pages change daily and differ on mobile.
• AI Overviews vary between searches; a citation that isn't there today may be there tomorrow.
• Only the 100 most-searched keywords are checked, to keep the cost reasonable.

Frequently asked questions

Related

• SEO share of voice — Your share of the estimated search clicks of all tracked brands: monthly search volume × expected click-through rate of each brand's Google position, per keyword.
• GEO share of voice (AI answers) — Your share of brand mentions in AI answers to a fixed set of buyer questions, asked monthly to Claude with web search; a citation of your own site counts extra.
• Keyword gap — Keywords where a competitor ranks in Google's top 10 and you don't, sorted by the extra visits per month you would get at the best competitor's position.
• Competition pressure and head to head — Of the keywords where any tracked brand ranks in the top 3, top 10 or top 20, how many of your competitors rank there too, and per competitor who ranks ahead on the keywords you share.