How to get cited in AI Overviews

Google's AI Overviews answer questions by reading information from existing web pages. A citation is the link that appears beneath the answer, pointing to the source page the AI used. Your goal is to have your business mentioned on a page that the AI deems a reliable source for a relevant query.

This is not a matter of tagging your site with special code or submitting to a directory. It is classic public relations and content marketing, applied to a new class of target. The target is a page that already ranks for informational queries in your niche and is written with enough authority that Google's AI selects it as a source.

Start by searching for the broad informational questions your potential customers ask. Think 'how to choose a project management tool' for a software company, or 'what to look for in a hiking backpack' for an outdoor retailer. Type these questions verbatim into Google and note which ones generate an AI Overview box at the top of the results.

For each query that triggers an Overview, click the 'Show more' link at the bottom of the AI answer. This expands the list of source citations. These are your target pages. Copy the URLs of every source listed for queries relevant to your business.

Open each source page. Your job is to understand why the AI chose it. Look for comprehensive, well-structured content that directly answers the query. Common formats include definitive guides, comparison articles, expert roundups, and curated lists of resources or tools.

Disqualify any page that is purely promotional, thin in content, or from a domain with low authority. A good target page is educational first. It aims to inform the reader, not to sell a single product. For example, a page titled 'The 10 Best CRM Platforms for Small Businesses in 2026' is a potential target for a CRM company. A page titled 'Buy Our Amazing CRM Software Now' is not.

This is the most critical filter. Honestly assess whether your business is a legitimate fit for the page's topic and criteria. If the page is a list of the 'best' tools, is your tool genuinely among the best for that specific use case? If it is a roundup of expert advice, do you have the credentials to contribute?

If the answer is no, move on. Pitching a product that does not fit damages your reputation and wastes the site owner's time. The goal is a citation that feels natural to a reader, not a forced insertion.

Find a contact email, often in an author bio, a 'contact us' page, or via a tool like Hunter.io. Your pitch must be concise and focused on value for the page's readers, not for you.

Introduce yourself briefly. Reference the specific page you are writing about and compliment its usefulness. Clearly state why your business is a relevant addition. Provide a short, factual description and a link to your site. Never ask for a 'backlink' or mention SEO. Frame it as helping them keep their resource list current and comprehensive. A realistic response rate for a well-targeted, honest pitch is between 5% and 15%. Most will not reply.

If your first wave of pitches goes unanswered, do not blast the same list again. Revisit your targets. Were they truly relevant? Was your pitch too generic? Consider creating a piece of content that itself could become a source, such as a deeply researched guide that answers a common question in your field.

This process is manual and slow. The research and judgment phases are what separate a potential citation from a ignored email. A tool like Mentionry can automate the discovery of these source pages. You give it your domain, and its 'Earn' engine systematically finds pages Google's AI reads for queries in your category, judges whether your business is a fit, and drafts a tailored pitch into your own connected mailbox for you to review and send.

Do not pay for a link on a source page. Google's link spam policy explicitly prohibits buying links that pass ranking signals, and a penalty can demote your entire site in search results. Do not use automated, templated spam. Do not claim expertise you do not have. The integrity of the citation is what makes it valuable.