AI Overview fan-out rankings boost citation odds by 161%: Study

Pages that rank for Google’s AI Overview “fan-out” queries are much more likely to be cited than those that rank only 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-out queries a page ranks for and its likelihood of being cited in Google’s AI Overviews.

By the numbers. Pages ranking for fan-out queries are 161% more likely to be cited than pages ranking only for the main query. Also:

• 76% of the sampled keywords triggered AI Overviews.
• 33,000 fan-out queries were extracted using Gemini.
• Pages ranking for both the main query and at least one fan-out accounted for 51% of AI Overview citations.
• Pages ranking only for the main query accounted for just under 20%.

Fan-outs beat the main query. Ranking for fan-out queries is 49% more likely to earn a citation than ranking for the head term alone. When Google AI Overviews cited organic results:

• About 20% cited pages that ranked only for the main query.
• About 30% cited pages that ranked only for fan-out queries.

Most AI Overview citations don’t rank. About 68% of cited pages didn’t rank in the top 10 of Google for either the main query or any fan-out query. Among the top three visible citations, that share drops to about 46%.

Yes, but. As always, correlation is not causation. Also:

• Ranking for fan-out queries does not guarantee an AI Overview citation.
• Fan-outs vary by user context and personalization, with only about 27% remaining consistent across repeated runs.
• Traditional SEO alone does not fully explain how citations are selected.

Why we care. If you want to be cited in Google AI Overviews, don’t chase fan-out queries. Own the topic. Surfer SEO recommends building deep topical coverage around core subjects, publishing content that naturally answers a wide range of related questions, and letting AI Overviews discover your relevance across different fan-outs.

The report. Ranking for Multiple Fan-Out Queries Dramatically Increases Your Chances of Getting Cited in AIOs (173,902 URLs Studied)