Is AI Mode replacing AI Overviews?

No. They are separate products serving different intents. AI Overviews handle quick, automatic summaries inside standard search results, while AI Mode is a dedicated, opt-in conversational experience for complex queries. Google is scaling both simultaneously rather than sunsetting one in favor of the other.

Do I need separate content for AI Overviews and AI Mode?

Not entirely separate pages, but different structural emphasis. Lead sections with concise, number-backed answers for Overview extraction, then build out comparisons, alternatives, and depth elsewhere on the page or in linked content for AI Mode's broader retrieval.

Does ranking #1 in Google guarantee an AI Overview citation?

No. Ahrefs found only 38% of AI Overview citations come from pages ranking in the traditional top 10, meaning most Overview citations pull from pages outside the classic first page of results. Rank and citation are correlated but far from identical.

Should I still use FAQPage and HowTo schema in 2026?

FAQPage schema is still worth implementing for machine-readability even though its rich-result display was removed May 7, 2026. HowTo rich results have been gone since 2023. Neither delivers a visual SERP badge anymore, but both still help AI systems parse structured content accurately.

Why does Reddit show up so often in AI Overview and AI Mode citations?

Reddit is the most-cited domain in aggregate across AI answer engines, cited in roughly 40% of responses across models, because AI systems increasingly weight authentic, first-person user discussion as trustworthy signal. Brands without organic community presence are underrepresented in citations as a result.

How is AI Mode different from just asking ChatGPT?

AI Mode is Google's own conversational search product, embedded in Search and drawing on Google's index plus live signals like Shopping Graph data. ChatGPT is a separate company's product with its own retrieval and training corpus, competing for the same query but pulling from a largely different source pool.

How often should I refresh content built for AI Mode?

At minimum quarterly for anything containing pricing, statistics, or availability data, since AI Mode blends live signals into its answers and stale figures can actively hurt credibility. Comparison and "best of" style content, which AI Mode favors heavily, benefits from even more frequent review.

Can I track whether my brand is cited in AI Overviews versus AI Mode separately?

Yes, and you should. Treating them as one metric hides which surface is actually working. Dedicated GEO monitoring platforms, including Promptive, track Overview and AI Mode citations as separate data points alongside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity so you can see surface-specific performance.

AI Overviews vs AI Mode: How to Optimize for Each