Definition
AI Overviews are the generated summaries Google places above traditional results for some queries, with links to supporting sources. They sit inside the search results page rather than in a chat interface, which makes them the answer surface most likely to affect existing search traffic.
Why it matters
It changes the value of a ranking. Holding position three still matters, but the click now depends on whether the overview above already answered the question and whether it credited you.
How to measure it
Track it as its own surface rather than folding it into a chat-assistant average, since the queries that trigger an overview and the sources it credits both differ from what a chat assistant does.