Checklist: audit whether you show up in Google AI Overviews

Checklist: audit whether you show up in Google AI Overviews
I ran this on a real informational site across Semrush's AI tracking and manual checks. AI Overviews steal clicks quietly — most people never measure it.

The audit checklist:
— List your top 30 informational queries (how/what/best questions trigger AI Overviews most).
— Check each manually in an incognito window from your target region — AI Overview presence varies by location.
— Note: are you cited as a source, or is a competitor? Citation, not ranking, is the new win.
— In GSC, watch for high-impression queries with collapsing CTR — that's an AI Overview eating clicks.
— For pages NOT cited, check structure: clear question-format H2s + a tight 2-3 sentence answer win citations.

Semrush AI tracking:
➕ Flags which keywords trigger AI Overviews + who's cited
➖ Coverage incomplete, lags real-world
Manual + GSC:
➕ Free, accurate, region-correct
➖ Doesn't scale past ~30 queries

Best for: scale → Semrush. Truth → manual + GSC.
Pick this if your informational traffic dropped with stable rankings. Skip for transactional/local pages — AI Overviews barely touch those.