Getting your brand name listed in AI Overviews (like those in Google Search Generative Experience) for non-branded searches involves a mix of SEO, content strategy, and authority building. While we can’t directly control AI-generated overviews, you can influence them by signalling to Google’s AI that your brand is highly relevant and trustworthy for certain topics.
Here’s how to do it.
Own the Topic with High-Quality Content
Create deep, authoritative content around the non-branded keywords you want to use.
AI Overviews work by pulling information from multiple high-quality sources to answer a user’s query — and when those sources naturally mention a brand in the context of the answer, Google may include that brand as part of the overview.
So, when you create strong content for non-branded keywords, you’re doing a few things:
Embedding your brand in the topic context
For example, If your content ranks for a non-branded query like “best focus supplements”, and in that content you naturally say something like:
“Our top pick for improving cognitive clarity is FocusFuel by Sunrise Supplements, which includes clinically studied ingredients like L-theanine and Rhodiola Rosea.”
…then Google sees your brand and product closely associated with that query and its entities (e.g., supplements, focus, ingredients).
That increases the chance Google sees your brand as topical authority, and mentions you in the AI Overview as one of the sources or examples.
Becoming a citable source
When your content is comprehensive, trusted (i.e., linked to from other sites), and well-structured (i.e., using schema, headings, etc.), it’s more likely to get cited in the AI overview’s footnotes (those little superscript source numbers).
Your brand name might then show up in the body of the summary, if it’s relevant.
Training the AI with repetition across the web
Google’s AI systems (like Gemini and the underlying large language models used in SGE) “learn” from seeing your brand associated with certain concepts over and over — on your site, and more importantly, on other sites.
So if you write authoritatively about “focus supplements,” and your brand in the context, and then other people pick it up or link to it, then Google may conclude that your brand is a known player in the scene.
That’s the bridge from content to authority to AI mention.
Inclusion via examples in generated content
Sometimes AI overviews cite examples in a list format (like, “top focus supplements include X, Y, and Z”), even if the user didn’t ask for brands.
If you’ve written the kind of content that’s already ranking well, is mentioned on other pages, and is structured in a way that makes example extraction easy, you might get picked up as one of the examples.
Especially if Google finds your offer/page in the answer snippet zones of the source (e.g., featured snippets, “people also ask” answers, knowledge-based summaries, or other AI overviews).
Get mentioned on third-party sites
AI overviews often pull from high-authority, third-party sources—especially for non-branded search terms. So get your brand mentioned on trusted blogs, review roundups, forums like Reddit or Quora, and news publications.
Tip: Use Chezz PR outreach to get into “Top 10” or “Best of” articles that already rank.
You see, AI Overviews are designed to synthesise what the web says, not just what you say about yourself.
So when multiple trusted sources mention your brand in the context of a non-branded query, Google’s AI starts making a connection between:
- the topic (e.g., “best protein protein powder for women”)
- and your brand (e.g., “ToneFuel by Fitness Labs, Inc.”)
That connection is what eventually gets your brand name pulled into the summary in an AI overview. Especially when you’re not the one making the claim!
Here’s what’s going on behind the scenes, to show you how it works:
AI looks for consensus
AI overviews are trained to pull from many different sources that appear to agree on something. If multiple, high-authority articles, blogs, or Reddit threads mention your product, service, opportunity, or brand as a good example of a particular query, then the AI sees that as validation.
Source diversity signals trust
Google’s AI wants to avoid bias or self-promotional info. So, if you’re only talking about yourself on your site, that’s not good enough. But if you’re mentioned in “listicals” (articles focused on lists), reviews, forums, or buying guides, that creates cross-site reinforcement—a core trigger for inclusion.
Third-party mentions = entity linking
When others talk about your brand in relation to a concept (e.g., energy drinks, cruelty-free skincare, etc.), they help to teach Google that your brand is an entity that’s relevant to that topic. That improves your chances of appearing when the AI summarises related searches.
So what do you need to do to make all this happen?
How to get those third-party mentions
The methods used by content agencies like Chezz include:
Digital PR (pitching to bloggers and journalists for inclusion in relevant lists)
Affliliate outreach (a lot of “top-10” articles are monetised, so you can offer an incentive for mentions)
Forum and community engagement (e.g., real mentions on Reddit, Quora, or other niche communities that can be picked up)
Influencer content (because AI may crawl YouTube and podcast descriptions, or collaborative blog posts)
HARO (i.e., those “Help a reporter out” requests your brand may receive—respond to them!)
Optimise for entity recognition
In Google’s world an “entity” is basically a thing that exists—like a person, place, product, brand, or concept—with a defined meaning. For example:
Chezz = brand
Content marketing = service category
Keyword data = attribute
Blog development = service entity
When Google, and its AI models, recognise your brand or product/service as an entity, it becomes part of the knowledge graph. So the AI can start linking it to concepts, queries and other entities.
How does entity recognition help in AI overviews?
AI overviews are powered by systems like SGE, Gemini, and Knowledge Graphs, which rely heavily on semantic relationships—not just keyword matching.
So, if your brand is an entity, and that entity is linked to a specific topic, then when someone searches for that topic, the AI could mention your brand as an example, reference your product or service as a source, or even pull your content or data into the overview summary.
You’re basically making your brand “queryable” and “referenceable.”
What does it look like in practice?
Let’s say you run Goodness Gardens, a company that makes sustainable indoor gardens. You want to appear for “best indoor garden for small apartments” and “eco friendly hydroponic systems”.
If Goodness Gardens is a brand entity, related to hydroponics + indoor gardening + sustainability, and tied to products like “smart garden” or “compact grow system”, then when a user searches those non-branded keywords, Google’s AI knows your brand is relevant—which puts you in the pool of possible AI mentions.
How to optimise for entity recognition
You need to create structured data—a special kind of code added to your website to help Google and other search engines understand what your content is actually about.
Use schema like:
Organisation (name, URL, social links)
Product (name, description, brand, reviews, aggregate rating)
FAQ, HowTo, WebPage, etc.
It’s also important to use semantic linking within your site. (e.g., linking the words “hydroponic garden” in a blog post to the relevant product page) and aiming to get backlinks from other credible sites.
Plus, don’t forget to use consistent brand language, such as tag lines (and, of course, your brand name) as well as aligning with your social channels, Wikipedia entry, and other directories, if possible.
Speaking of which—try to get listed on Wikipedia or Wikidata, and encourage Google to create a Knowledge Panel (those boxes that show up on the right side of Google desktop search results) by using structured data + consistent mentions + linking to authoritative profiles.
Use first-party data and unique angles
In a world of copycat content, being original matters if you want to get your brand mentioned in non-branded AI overviews. Because they aim to summarise the most helpful, worthy, and insightful content across the web. Not just the most optimised.
And what stands out to Google? Original insights, unique perspectives, and data no one else has, in short.
These make your content non-generic and that increases your chances of getting cited, or even mentioned by name in AI overviews—again, especially for non-branded searches.
How does it work?
OK, let’s say the user searches for “best routines for morning energy”. Now imagine that your brand, SunriseSupplements, publishes a blog post that says:
“Based on a survey of 5k customers, 72% reported increased morning energy after combining sunlight exposure with our FocusFuel product and 10 minutes of stretching.”
That original, first-party statistic (the 72%) makes this post more valuable to AI than generic tips, more credible if it’s backed by user data, and more likely to be cited in the AI overview.
Now compare that to another blog post that just says, “stretching and supplements can help.” Who’s Google going to trust for a smarter summary?
First-party data = trust and authority
When you include customer surveys, internal usage data, proprietary research, user behaviour insights, and unique testing or experiments, you’re no longer just talking about the topic, but are contributing to it. Google’s AI recognises that and treats you more like a source than just a blog.
Unique angles = clear signals above the noise
These days, non-branded search queries are saturated with “top 10” listicles and super basic advice. If you say something new or offer a different take, like:
“We analysed 1,000 employee routines—here’s what works for ADHD brains”
…then your content is more memorable, and more likely to be picked up as a quote or an example in an AI overview.
Build brand visibility on SERPs to signal trust
Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) are going to be a massive area of focus for you, if you want to get your brand mentioned in AI overviews for unbranded, passive audience searches.
You need to be visible in: top 10 rankings for targeted keywords; featured snippets on Google; “people also ask” answers; image. video, and product rankings; Reddit and Quora threads; and product carousels (you know those strips of horizontal product listings at the top of Google search results).
Why? Well, type in a non-branded search related to what you do (e.g., “how to fast-track a retail career” or “retail management techniques”) and see which websites keep popping up in those places. It tells you that they’re doing robust search engine marketing.
How does this help you get into AI overviews?
Well, Google’s AI sees which brands dominate the topic space. They scan multiple top-ranking sources, look for consensus and recurring names, and assemble answers that reflect trustworthy, popular, and relevant sources.
So if your brand keeps showing up in those sources, even indirectly, then the AI will start to associate it with the topic. This increases your chances of getting cited as a source, mentioned by name in the overview, and even having your page’s insight included in the summary.
Plus, it’s important to note, that user behaviour reinforces the signal—even when they don’t click. In other words, Google tracks what users see, what they hover over, and what they end up clicking.
If users keep seeing your brand name in the results, or they start searching for the keyword + your brand name, it creates a feedback loop:
“People interested in [non-branded topic] are engaging with [brand X] a lot. Maybe brand X is a strong match.”
This behaviour trains Google’s AI to consider your brand as more trustworthy and relevant to that category, again improving your chances of making it into AI overviews.
SERP visibility also builds topic authority, which we covered right at the top of this article. But just as a reminder—when Google assumes you’re a credible authority on a topic, AI overviews are more likely to lean into your content as a source.
Last but not least, the more people start searching for specific topics with your brand name included (so we’re talking search volume + brand name + topic), the more likely Google is to include you in related AI overviews—even when your brand name isn’t mentioned!
Want to get started on targeting AI overviews?
Talk to Chezz about we can do all the heavy lifting on an AI overviews strategy that targets all the above goals.
If you don’t have the time, Human Resources, or relevant tech expertise (e.g., Semrush, Google Search Console, etc.) to do it yourself, it could mean the difference between getting left behind and getting ahead in this fast developing evolution of SEO.