Google AI Overview API and tracker

What the AI Overview API returns

Each result tells you first whether Google showed an AI Overview at all, then what it said: the text, the brands it named in order, and every link it cited, already read.

When Google shows no AI Overview

Google doesn't show an AI Overview for every query, and whether it does changes by country and over time. When there isn't one, the answer says so with has_ai_answer: false. That's a result in its own right: tracked over weeks, it tells you which of your queries have an AI Overview in which countries, and when one appears or disappears.

One question, three different answers

We asked “best CRM for early-stage startups” on each engine from the US on the same morning. Each card is what the API returned: how the answer opens, the brands it named in order, and the first sites it cited.

Where each answer ranks each brand (1 = named first; – = not named)

Brand	ChatGPT	Google AI Overview	Google AI Mode
Attio	1	3	1
HubSpot	2	1	2
Pipedrive	3	2	3
Zoho CRM	4	5	– not named
Close	5	– not named	4
Ringy	– not named	4	– not named
Salesforce	– not named	6 (to avoid)	– not named
Streak	– not named	– not named	5
Folk	– not named	– not named	6

All three name Attio, HubSpot and Pipedrive, but not in the same order, and after those three the lists split. They barely share sources either: ChatGPT and the AI Overview cite no site in common, and AI Mode shares only attio.com and hubspot.com with ChatGPT. Watching one surface tells you little about the others.

Build an AI Overview tracker

An AI Overview tracker asks the same queries on a schedule and records what changed. With the API it's four steps:

1. Create a project with the brand, its competitors and the queries to watch (POST /v1/projects).
2. Set a schedule, daily or weekly, for AI Overviews alone or alongside ChatGPT and AI Mode.
3. Read the results: how often the brand is named, competitor share, the sites Google cites and the history (visibility, competitors, sources, history).
4. Get a webhook when each run is done, instead of polling.

Building a tracker for many clients? Tag each project with your customer id, read usage per customer, and send large runs as one batch of up to 20,000 answers.

What AI Overviews cite

Google's AI Overviews lean on video and forums far more than ChatGPT does. In our study of 2,381 answers to 300 software buyer questions, AI Overviews cited YouTube in 85% of their answers and Reddit in 48%, with about 8 sources per answer, and 64% of the cited pages were roundups, comparisons or reviews. Every cited link comes back with a source type, so shares like these come straight out of the data. Read the study.

AI Overview API vs a SERP API

A SERP API returns Google's results page: the blue links, ads and other features, with the AI Overview as raw HTML or text. This API returns the AI part, read: the brands named, their order and tone, and every cited link with its source type. Keep your SERP API for rankings; use this for what Google's AI says.

SERP API vs AI Overview API

	SERP API	aivisibilityskill
Blue-link rankings	Yes	No
AI Overview text and links	Raw	Read into brands, order, tone and source types
Google AI Mode	Sometimes, raw	Yes, read the same way
ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, DeepSeek	No	Yes, in the same call
Proof	Varies	Raw result with its SHA-256 hash

AI Overviews vs AI Mode

An AI Overview is the short summary Google puts above the results for some queries. AI Mode is a separate, conversational search where Google answers at length. They often name different brands and cite different sites for the same question, as the example above shows, so trackers usually watch both. See the Google AI Mode API.

Call the Google AI Overview API from TypeScript or Python

The SDKs wrap the same request, retry safely without charging twice, and wait for the answers for you. Free sandbox keys (aiv_test_…) return realistic sample answers, so you can build the whole feature before spending a credit.

TypeScript (npm install @aivisibilityskill/sdk)

import { Aiv } from "@aivisibilityskill/sdk";

const aiv = new Aiv({ apiKey: process.env.AIV_KEY! });

const job = await aiv.checks.create({
  questions: ["best CRM for early-stage startups"],
  engines: ["ai_overviews"],
  locale: "en-US",
});
const done = await aiv.jobs.wait(job.id);

for (const answer of done.answers ?? []) {
  console.log(answer.brands?.map((b) => `${b.rank}. ${b.name}`));
  console.log(answer.citations?.map((c) => c.domain));
}

Python (pip install aivisibilityskill)

import os
from aivisibilityskill import Aiv

aiv = Aiv(api_key=os.environ["AIV_KEY"])

job = aiv.checks.create(
    ["best CRM for early-stage startups"],
    engines=["ai_overviews"],
    locale="en-US",
)
done = aiv.jobs.wait(job["id"])

for answer in done["answers"]:
    print([(b["rank"], b["name"]) for b in answer["brands"]])
    print([c["domain"] for c in answer["citations"]])

For thousands of questions, send them as one batch of up to 20,000 answers and get one webhook when it's done. Full guides: SDKs, API reference, OpenAPI 3.1 spec.

Google AI Overview API pricing

You pay per answer, in credits. Pick the speed per request. A dollar buys 1,000 credits on a pack; monthly and volume plans include more. An answer reused from a recent identical one (max_age_hours) costs half, and an answer that fails costs nothing.

Every account gets the same API and every engine, starting with 500 free credits and no card. Volume plans start at $500 a month for 750,000 credits, with invoicing and a 99.5% uptime commitment: see volume plans.

Countries and languages

Ask Google AI Overviews from 240 countries and territories, in the buyer's language, with a locale like en-US, de-DE, pt-BR or ja-JP. ChatGPT covers 192. GET /v1/locales lists every supported pair for free, and a pair that isn't supported is refused before anything is charged.