Google AI Overview Tracker — Citation Checker

Find out whether Google's AI Overviews cite your website for the searches that matter, who gets cited instead, and what changed since last week. It's built for AEO (answer engine optimization) and GEO (generative engine optimization) work.

AEO & GEO Tracker (Google AI Overview Citation Checker) is an Apify Actor that checks which searches show a Google AI Overview, whether your website is cited, who is cited instead, and how that changes over time.

Quick facts

• What you get, one row per keyword:
  • whether an AI Overview appears, and every cited URL
  • your citation position
  • competitor domains and brand mentions
  • your organic rank
  • gained or lost since your last run
• A client-ready HTML report per run and Slack, Discord or webhook alerts when citations are gained or lost.
• Price: $0.04 per keyword from 17 Oct 2026 ($0.01 until then; $0.032 on Gold), plus $2 per run from 17 Nov 2026. Apify's free $5 monthly credit covers a run of up to 75 keywords.
• Any Google country and language (country, language).
• Speed: most keywords take a few seconds. AI Overviews that Google loads late are checked in a browser and take about 30 seconds.
• AI agents: connect https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automationnation/aeo-auditor (setup below).
• Guide and code examples: https://retracn.github.io/automationnation-actors/aeo-auditor/ · GitHub

Example result

"best crm for small business", checked for hubspot.com in the US, from a real run on 5 October 2026:

AI Overview shown	hubspot.com cited	Brand mentioned	Domains the AI Overview cited instead
Yes	No	No	youtube.com, reddit.com, uschamber.com, slack.com, quora.com, forbes.com, pcmag.com, zoho.com

Each keyword row also shows the citation position when you are cited, competitors cited, your organic rank and what changed since the last check.

What does it do?

For each keyword you give it, the Actor runs a real Google search in the country and language you choose and:

1. Detects whether an AI Overview appears. The AI answer box at the top of Google is found by its heading. The Actor waits for it to finish generating and expands "Show more".
2. Collects every cited source as a full URL. Google wraps these links in redirects; the Actor resolves them.
3. Checks your domain: whether it's cited (subdomains included, look-alike domains excluded) and its citation position.
4. Watches competitors and brands: which of your competitor domains are cited, and whether your brand name appears in the answer text even without a link.
5. Reads the organic results below for your organic rank and the top-ranking domains.
6. Tracks changes over time: each keyword is marked gained, lost, unchanged or new compared with your previous run.

Each run also produces a summary: your citation rate (cited / keywords with an AI Overview), the top 10 domains Google cites instead of you, and the keywords you gained or lost.

Who is it for?

Use it as an AI search visibility tracker: one place to see where Google's AI answers mention or cite you, and where they cite competitors instead.

• SEO and content teams proving AEO/GEO results: "we're now cited in 14 of 40 AI Overviews, up from 9".
• Agencies reporting AI search visibility for clients each week or month.
• Brand and PR teams checking whether Google's AI names their brand, and who it names instead.
• Founders and marketers finding the sources Google trusts for their topics (Reddit, YouTube, review sites, competitors) to plan content and outreach.
• AI agents and automations that need a yes/no answer: "is my site cited in Google's AI Overview for these queries?"

Features compared with other tools

	This Actor	Raw AI Overview scrapers	Multi-chatbot visibility trackers
"Is my domain cited?" verdict + citation position	✅	❌ (you match it yourself)	✅
Every cited source as a full URL	✅	✅	Varies
Competitor domains cited / top cited domains	✅	❌	✅
Brand mentions in the answer text	✅	❌	Varies
Organic rank + top organic domains	✅	Sometimes	❌
Gained / lost since the last run	✅ built in	❌	Varies
Any Google country and language	✅	✅	Varies
Price	4 cents per keyword (1 cent until 16 Oct 2026), plus $2 per run from 17 Nov 2026	Lower	5–25 cents per keyword

This Actor covers Google AI Overviews only. It doesn't check ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini.

How to use it

1. Click Try for free (or Start).
2. Enter your search queries, the keywords you want to appear for, e.g. best crm for small business.
3. Enter your domain, e.g. yourbrand.com.
4. Optional: set the Google country and language, and add competitor domains and brand names to watch.
5. Set Max queries. Only the first N queries are checked (default 3); use 0 to check all of them.
6. Click Start. Results appear in the Output tab and the summary in AEO_SUMMARY.
7. To track progress, save the input as a Task and add a weekly Schedule. Every run then shows what you gained or lost.

Input example

{
    "queries": [
        "what is generative engine optimization",
        "how to rank in ai overviews",
        "best seo tools"
    ],
    "targetDomain": "yourbrand.com",
    "maxQueries": 0,
    "country": "us",
    "language": "en",
    "competitorDomains": ["semrush.com", "moz.com"],
    "brandNames": ["YourBrand"]
}

Output example

One row per keyword. Citation audit view:

Query	AI Overview?	You're cited?	Citation #	Change	Sources cited	Organic rank
what is generative engine optimization	✅	✅	2	gained	8	5
best running shoes for flat feet	✅	❌	—	unchanged	5	2
how long to boil an egg	❌	❌	—	new	0	-1

Other views: Competitors & brands and AI Overview answers (the answer text and every cited URL).

One row as JSON (based on a real check with the target set to semrush.com; the change fields are illustrative):

{
    "query": "what is generative engine optimization",
    "status": "ok",
    "country": "us",
    "language": "en",
    "targetDomain": "semrush.com",
    "aiOverviewPresent": true,
    "targetDomainInAI": true,
    "targetCitationPosition": 2,
    "citedUrls": [
        "https://www.coursera.org/articles/what-is-generative-engine-optimization",
        "https://www.semrush.com/blog/generative-engine-optimization/",
        "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGI3TKBcH6A",
        "https://builtin.com/articles/generative-engine-optimization-new-seo"
    ],
    "citedUrlsCount": 4,
    "citedDomains": ["coursera.org", "semrush.com", "youtube.com", "builtin.com"],
    "competitorsCited": ["coursera.org"],
    "brandMentioned": false,
    "brandsMentioned": [],
    "aiOverviewText": "Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of structuring and refining online content so that AI-powered search and answer tools can easily read, summarize and cite it…",
    "organicRank": 5,
    "organicTopDomains": ["en.wikipedia.org", "coursera.org", "semrush.com", "moz.com"],
    "citationChange": "gained",
    "previousTargetDomainInAI": false,
    "previousCheckedAt": "2026-09-25T09:00:00.000Z",
    "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T09:00:00.000Z"
}

The run summary (AEO_SUMMARY in the key-value store, also linked from the run's Output) looks like this:

{
    "targetDomain": "yourbrand.com",
    "queriesAudited": 40,
    "queriesWithAiOverview": 31,
    "queriesWhereTargetCited": 9,
    "citationRate": 0.29,
    "topCompetitorDomains": [{ "domain": "youtube.com", "citationCount": 17 }, { "domain": "reddit.com", "citationCount": 12 }],
    "gainedQueries": ["how to rank in ai overviews"],
    "lostQueries": [],
    "failedQueries": []
}

Report and alerts

Every run saves a client-ready HTML report (Output → Citation report, or REPORT in the key-value store):

• AI Overview coverage, citation rate and average citation position
• citations gained and lost since the last run
• a keyword-by-keyword table with the domains cited for each
• the domains cited most instead of you, and how your named competitors do

Add a Slack or Discord webhook URL in Alert webhook URL and schedule the Actor weekly. You'll get a message whenever a citation is gained or lost:

AI Overview citations for runrepeat.com: cited in 6 of 9 AI Overviews (was 5), across 12 keywords.
▲ Gained: "best running shoes for flat feet"
▼ Lost: "how to choose running shoes"
Run and report: https://console.apify.com/view/runs/…

Any other URL (Zapier, Make, n8n or your own server) receives the same text plus the numbers as JSON. Choose After every run to get a message even when nothing changed.

How much does it cost?

You pay per keyword checked, and from 17 November 2026 also $2 per run. Keywords where Google shows no AI Overview are charged (that's a valid result). Keywords that couldn't be checked, for example because Google blocked every retry, are listed in failedQueries and not charged. The run fee covers the client-ready report and the run's tracking summary (citation rate, competitors cited, gains and losses since the last run) and is charged only when at least one keyword is checked.

Apify plan	Per keyword until 16 Oct 2026	Per keyword from 17 Oct 2026	Per run from 17 Nov 2026
Free	$0.01	$0.04	$2
Bronze	$0.009	$0.04	$2
Silver	$0.008	$0.036	$2
Gold and above	$0.005	$0.032	$2

The price goes up on 17 October 2026 because Google now hides AI Overview citations behind redirects and blocks datacenter IPs. Every check resolves each cited URL, including the full "Show all" source list. Most checks run through Apify's Google SERP proxy; AI Overviews that load late are checked in a real browser on residential IPs. The run start fee is Apify's minimum ($0.00005). Proxies and compute are included.

• Free to try: Apify's free plan includes $5 of monthly credit: 125 keyword checks until 16 November, then one run of up to 75 keywords. The default input checks 1 keyword.
• A weekly check of 50 keywords costs about $8 a month from 17 October and about $16 a month from 17 November.

Use it with AI agents (MCP)

AI assistants can run this Actor through Apify's MCP server.

Hosted (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other clients that support remote MCP servers). Add this URL and sign in with Apify:

https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automationnation/aeo-auditor

Local (Claude Desktop or Cursor config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aeo-auditor": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@apify/actors-mcp-server", "--tools", "automationnation/aeo-auditor"],
      "env": { "APIFY_TOKEN": "YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

Then ask, for example:

• "Is runrepeat.com cited in Google's AI Overview for 'best running shoes for flat feet'?"
• "Which domains does the AI Overview cite for these 20 keywords?"
• "Check my AI Overview citations every week and tell me which keywords I lost."

Integrations and API

• Apify API: run and fetch results in one call with POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automationnation~aeo-auditor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN and your input as JSON. Use the API tab for ready-made code.
• AI agents (MCP): connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client to https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automationnation/aeo-auditor. Then ask "Is yourbrand.com cited in Google's AI Overview for these 5 keywords?"
• Dashboards: send the dataset to Google Sheets, Looker Studio, BigQuery or Airtable with Apify integrations, Zapier, Make or n8n.
• Schedules + change tracking: run weekly or monthly. Each row says what you gained or lost, and the summary lists those keywords.
• Webhooks: get a call when a run finishes, for example to post the gained and lost keywords to Slack.
• Exports: JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML.

FAQ

How do I check if my website is cited in Google AI Overviews? Run this Actor with your keywords and your domain. For each keyword it tells you whether an AI Overview appears, whether your site is cited and at what position, which other domains are cited, and what changed since your last run.

Is there a Google AI Overview API? No. Google doesn't offer an API for AI Overviews. This Actor returns them as structured data through Apify's REST API, the Python and JavaScript clients, integrations and MCP.

What's a good AEO / GEO tool for tracking AI Overview citations? Use one that verifies citations rather than just detecting the box. This Actor:

• resolves every cited link to its real URL
• checks your domain, subdomains included
• tracks competitors and brand mentions
• keeps a gained/lost history between runs

What is a Google AI Overview?

It's the AI-generated answer Google shows above the normal results for many searches, with links to the sources it used. Being one of those sources is the main goal of AEO/GEO, because many searchers read the answer and click a cited source rather than an organic result.

What's the difference between AEO and GEO?

AEO (answer engine optimization) means getting your content chosen as the answer by AI answer boxes. GEO (generative engine optimization) means being cited by generative AI search. For Google AI Overviews they amount to the same thing: being one of the cited sources. This Actor measures exactly that.

Is this an SGE tracker?

Yes. Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) became AI Overviews in 2024. This Actor tracks the AI Overviews that replaced SGE answers, including their cited sources.

Why do results change between runs?

AI Overviews vary by country, language, time and even between identical searches, and Google updates them often. That's why the Actor records changes per run. Check weekly and look at trends rather than one-off results.

Why couldn't some keywords be checked?

Google sometimes blocks automated searches. The Actor retries with new sessions, and falls back to a real browser on residential IPs. Keywords that still fail are listed in failedQueries with the reason and aren't charged. Running them again usually works.

Is scraping Google legal?

The Actor reads publicly visible search results. Google's Terms of Service restrict automated access, so use the data responsibly and at a reasonable volume, and check the rules that apply to you.

Does it check ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini?

No, only Google AI Overviews. Results come from real Google searches in the country you choose.

How is "cited" decided?

A citation counts when any cited source's domain is your domain or a subdomain of it (blog.yourbrand.com counts; yourbrand.com.fake.net doesn't). targetCitationPosition is the position of your domain among the cited source domains.

Related Actors from AutomationNation

• Reddit Scraper — Posts, Comments & Buying Intent Signals: Reddit is one of the most-cited sources in AI Overviews. Find the threads in your niche.
• YouTube Search, Video Metadata & Official Trending Chart: YouTube videos are cited constantly. See which videos rank for your topics.
• App Store & Google Play Reviews Scraper + AI: what users say about your app or your competitors', summarised by AI.

Questions or ideas? Open an issue in the Issues tab.

Guides: How to check if your website is cited in Google AI Overviews · Code examples (Python, JavaScript, MCP)

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