# Google AI Overviews & AI Mode Tracker: Brand Mentions & Sources (`magenta_waterwheel/google-ai-overviews-tracker`) Actor Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode tracker for SEO and GEO: check any prompt on live Google results and get the full AI Overview or AI Mode answer, cited sources, brand mentions, domain citations and rank vs competitors. $0.02 per AI Overview check, $0.03 per AI Mode answer. - **URL**: https://apify.com/magenta_waterwheel/google-ai-overviews-tracker.md - **Developed by:** [Huss](https://apify.com/magenta_waterwheel) (community) - **Categories:** SEO tools, AI, Marketing - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $20.00 / 1,000 google ai overviews checks This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md. ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run. For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below. Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`). # README ## Google AI Overviews & AI Mode Tracker: Brand Mentions & Sources **Google AI Overviews & AI Mode Tracker** checks your prompts on **live Google search** and returns the full **AI Overview** and **Google AI Mode** answer, every **cited source**, whether **your brand is mentioned**, whether **your website is cited** and where you rank against **competitors**. It is a pay-per-check **AI Overview tracker** for SEO, GEO (generative engine optimization) and AEO teams. No Google account, API key or monthly plan needed. Paste searches, add your brand and domain, click **Start**, and export to JSON, CSV or Excel, or call it from the API, a schedule, Make, Zapier, n8n or an AI agent. ### Why use this AI Overviews tracker? | | This Actor | Checking Google by hand | SEO suite add-ons | | --------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------- | | Google AI Overviews + AI Mode | Yes, one run | Search, scroll, copy | Often a paid add-on | | Brand mention, rank and citations | Per prompt, plus a run summary | Manual | Yes | | Full AI answer and cited URLs | Yes, raw data you own | Screenshots | Often dashboard only | | API, schedules, AI agents | Yes | No | Plan dependent | | Price | **$0.02 per AI Overview check**, pay as you go | Your time | Monthly subscriptions | ### What data do you get? - 💬 **Full AI Overview or AI Mode answer** (Markdown) for each prompt. - ✅ **aiAnswerPresent**: whether Google showed an AI Overview for the search at all. - 🔗 **Citations**: every source linked in the answer with position, URL, title and domain. - 🏷️ **Brand mentioned**: yes/no, count and first-mention position. Aliases count too. - 🥇 **Brand rank** against the competitors you list (1 = mentioned first). - 🌐 **Domain cited**: whether your website is a cited source and at which position. - 📊 **Run summary**: per engine AI Overview rate, brand mention rate, domain citation rate and average brand rank. ### How to track your brand in Google AI Overviews and AI Mode 1. Click **Try for free** and open the input. 2. Add the **searches** your buyers type, one per line, for example *"best crm for small business"*. 3. Enter **your brand**, **your domain** and a few **competitors**. 4. Keep both engines (**Google AI Overviews** and **Google AI Mode**) or pick one, and click **Start**. 5. Open the **Brand visibility** view, or download everything as JSON, CSV or Excel. ### Input example ```json { "prompts": ["best crm for small business", "best project management software for small teams"], "engines": ["google_aio", "google_ai_mode"], "brand": "HubSpot", "domain": "hubspot.com", "competitors": ["Salesforce", "Zoho", "Pipedrive"], "country": "US" } ``` ### Output example One record per prompt and engine (shortened; real answers change from day to day): ```json { "prompt": "best crm for small business", "engine": "google_aio", "model": "google-ai-overview", "aiAnswerPresent": true, "answer": "The best CRM for a small business depends on your specific goals, team size, and budget: ### Top CRMs by Use Case - **Best Free Tier & Ease of Use:** HubSpot CRM offers a free plan ...", "citations": [ { "position": 1, "url": "https://www.uschamber.com/co/start/strategy/low-cost-crm-tools", "title": null, "domain": "uschamber.com" } ], "citationCount": 7, "brand": "HubSpot", "brandMentioned": true, "brandRank": 1, "domain": "hubspot.com", "domainCited": false, "competitors": [{ "name": "Zoho", "mentioned": true, "mentionCount": 2, "rank": 3 }], "country": null, "error": null } ``` When Google shows no AI Overview (common for navigational searches like *"hubspot login"*), the record has `aiAnswerPresent: false` and `answer: null`. ### How much does it cost? | Engine | Price | | ------------------- | -------------------- | | Google AI Overviews | **$0.02 per check** | | Google AI Mode | **$0.03 per answer** | An AI Overviews check runs a live Google search for the prompt, so it is charged even when Google shows no AI Overview. Failed requests and duplicate prompts are free. No subscription, no extra data fees. | Use case | Checks | Cost | | -------------------------------------------------- | ------ | ----- | | Quick check: 2 prompts on both engines | 4 | $0.10 | | Category audit: 100 prompts, AI Overviews only | 100 | $2 | | Weekly tracking: 50 prompts, both engines, 4 weeks | 400 | $10 | Set a **maximum cost per run** in the run options and the Actor stops before going over it. Free Apify plan users can run up to 10 checks per run. ### Use it with AI agents (MCP) and the API Add this Actor as a tool in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client through the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/mcp): ```text https://mcp.apify.com?tools=magenta_waterwheel/google-ai-overviews-tracker ``` Or call the synchronous endpoint with your [Apify API token](https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations): ```bash curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/magenta_waterwheel~google-ai-overviews-tracker/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"prompts":["best crm for small business"],"brand":"Acme CRM","domain":"acmecrm.com"}' ``` ### FAQ #### Where does the data come from? Live Google results (desktop, English) collected through a SERP data provider at run time, for the country you choose (US by default). Results are not personalized and can differ slightly from what a signed-in user sees. #### How often does Google show an AI Overview? It depends on the search. In our tests, commercial searches like "best crm for small business" showed an AI Overview every time, while navigational searches like "hubspot login" did not. The run summary reports `aiOverviewShown` so you can track the rate. #### What is the difference between AI Overviews and AI Mode? AI Overviews are the AI summaries at the top of normal Google results. AI Mode is Google's separate conversational search tab, which usually gives longer answers for every prompt. #### Want ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini too? Use our [AI Search Visibility Tracker](https://apify.com/magenta_waterwheel/ai-search-visibility) with the same brand and competitor fields. #### I found a bug or need a feature Open an issue in the **Issues** tab with a link to your run. We aim to reply within one business day. If this saved you time, a quick rating on the Store helps a lot: [leave a review](https://apify.com/magenta_waterwheel/google-ai-overviews-tracker/reviews). ### More tools from the same developer | Actor | What it does | Price | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------- | | [AI Search Visibility Tracker](https://apify.com/magenta_waterwheel/ai-search-visibility) | Brand mentions and citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini answers | From $0.04 / answer | | [Keyword Search Volume API](https://apify.com/magenta_waterwheel/keyword-search-volume) | Google Ads search volume, CPC, competition and trends in bulk | $1.50 / 1,000 keywords | | [Telegram Channel Scraper](https://apify.com/magenta_waterwheel/telegram-channel-scraper) | Public Telegram channel messages, views, reactions and media links | $0.50 / 1,000 messages | | [Document & PDF to Markdown](https://apify.com/magenta_waterwheel/document-to-markdown) | PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel and HTML to LLM-ready Markdown, with OCR | $3 / 1,000 pages | | [App Store Reviews Scraper](https://apify.com/magenta_waterwheel/app-store-reviews-details) | Apple App Store reviews and app details in any country | $0.25 / 1,000 reviews | # Actor input Schema ## `prompts` (type: `array`): Google searches or questions, one per line (up to 700 characters each). Each is checked once on every selected engine. Duplicates are removed. ## `engines` (type: `array`): Google AI Overviews checks the AI Overview on a live Google results page (if Google shows none you get aiAnswerPresent: false). Google AI Mode returns the AI Mode answer. Empty = both. ## `brand` (type: `string`): Brand or product name to look for in the answers (case-insensitive, whole words). Leave empty to just collect answers and sources. ## `brandAliases` (type: `array`): Other spellings or product names that count as a mention, for example "Trello Premium" or a former name. ## `domain` (type: `string`): Domain to look for in the cited sources, like example.com. Subdomains (blog.example.com) count too. ## `competitors` (type: `array`): Competitor names. Each answer shows whether each one is mentioned and the order brands appear in (brandRank 1 = mentioned first). ## `country` (type: `string`): Optional two-letter country code (US, GB, DE...) for the Google search location. Default US. Results are in English. ## `includeSources` (type: `boolean`): Add every source linked in the AI answer, not only the inline citations. ## Actor input object example ```json { "prompts": [ "best CRM for real estate agents", "what is the cheapest web hosting for wordpress" ], "engines": [ "google_aio", "google_ai_mode" ], "brand": "HubSpot", "brandAliases": [], "domain": "hubspot.com", "competitors": [ "Salesforce", "Zoho", "Pipedrive" ], "country": "", "includeSources": true } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `overview` (type: `string`): No description ## `answers` (type: `string`): No description ## `allRecords` (type: `string`): No description ## `runSummary` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "prompts": [ "best crm for small business", "best project management software for small teams" ], "engines": [ "google_aio", "google_ai_mode" ], "brand": "HubSpot", "domain": "hubspot.com", "competitors": [ "Salesforce", "Zoho", "Pipedrive" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("magenta_waterwheel/google-ai-overviews-tracker").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "prompts": [ "best crm for small business", "best project management software for small teams", ], "engines": [ "google_aio", "google_ai_mode", ], "brand": "HubSpot", "domain": "hubspot.com", "competitors": [ "Salesforce", "Zoho", "Pipedrive", ], } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("magenta_waterwheel/google-ai-overviews-tracker").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}") for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "prompts": [ "best crm for small business", "best project management software for small teams" ], "engines": [ "google_aio", "google_ai_mode" ], "brand": "HubSpot", "domain": "hubspot.com", "competitors": [ "Salesforce", "Zoho", "Pipedrive" ] }' | apify call magenta_waterwheel/google-ai-overviews-tracker --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,magenta_waterwheel/google-ai-overviews-tracker" } } } ``` The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer ` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations). ## OpenAPI specification Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/i7cRXix1iznuq6mi2/builds/SDLB4zASTkPyMMX3z/openapi.json