Google AI Overviews in Belgium: What Changes for Your Visibility
In short
AI Overviews are the AI-written summaries Google shows above search results. They reached Belgium in March 2025, in English only at first, and Google now lists French and Dutch among supported languages. Getting cited takes no special trick: an indexed, clear and trustworthy page is what counts.
Key takeaways
- Google launched AI Overviews in Belgium on March 25, 2025, in English only at launch.
- AI Mode, Google's conversational search tab, has been available in Belgium since October 2025.
- According to Pew Research, users clicked a traditional link on 8% of visits with an AI summary, versus 15% without.
- Google says no special optimization is required: the page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet.
- In Belgium, publishing in FR, NL and EN multiplies the questions you can be cited for.
What are Google AI Overviews?
AI Overviews are summaries written by Google's AI and shown at the top of the results page for some searches. They answer the question directly and link to a few web pages as sources.
Google also offers AI Mode, a separate tab where you talk to Search the way you would to an assistant. Both work on the same principle: the AI reads indexed pages, builds an answer and shows its sources.
For a business, this is where SEO and GEO meet, as we explain in our article on SEO vs GEO. Here, we focus on the situation in Belgium.
When did AI Overviews launch in Belgium?
AI Overviews have been available in Belgium since March 25, 2025, in English only at launch. Belgium was part of a first wave of European countries announced by Google.
| Milestone | Date | What changed in Belgium |
|---|---|---|
| AI Overviews launch | March 25, 2025 | AI summaries available, English only |
| AI Mode expansion | October 2025 | AI Mode tab available in Belgium, with new languages |
| Current status | October 2026 | Belgium, French and Dutch listed by Google among supported countries and languages |
AI Mode expanded on October 7, 2025, to more than 40 new countries and territories and more than 35 new languages, according to Google. Belgian tech media such as ITdaily confirmed its arrival in Belgium.
Today, the AI Overviews help page lists Belgium among covered countries, and French and Dutch among languages. In our own review of Google results in Belgium (October 2026), AI Overviews appeared on French-language queries such as 'agent IA' and 'chatbot entreprise'.
How do AI Overviews affect clicks?
AI Overviews generally reduce clicks to websites on informational queries. Two widely cited studies give an order of magnitude, though they cover the United States and should be read with care.
- Pew Research (July 2025): tracking 900 US adults in March 2025, users clicked a traditional link on 8% of visits with an AI summary, versus 15% without. They clicked a link inside the summary on 1% of visits, and ended their browsing session more often (26% versus 16%). Source: Pew Research Center.
- Ahrefs (2025): across 300,000 keywords, the presence of an AI Overview correlated with a 34.5% lower average click-through rate for the top-ranking page. Source: Ahrefs.
Google partly disputes this reading, saying in a response quoted by Ahrefs that links within AI Overviews get more clicks than they would as regular results. The main point: the effect varies widely by industry and search intent.
How do you get cited in AI Overviews?
To be cited, your page first has to be indexed and eligible for a snippet in Google: that's the only official requirement. Google states on its page about AI features in Search that no additional requirements or special optimizations are needed.
In practice, some pages get picked more often than others. Here's what we apply:
- Check indexing: are your key pages indexed, with no accidental noindex or nosnippet tag? Search Console will tell you.
- Answer at the top of each section: one or two sentences with the direct answer, then the detail. That's the passage AI picks up.
- Add structure: lists, tables, numbered steps, FAQs. A self-contained passage is easier to cite.
- Show who's speaking: a named author, a real company, contact details, cited sources. Trust matters when links are chosen.
- Cover related questions: AI often breaks a question into sub-questions. A page that also handles the 'what ifs' is more useful.
- Look after local search: a complete Google Business Profile, reviews, city pages where relevant.
There's no need for a special AI file: Google says it doesn't use one, as we explain in what is llms.txt. For the full list of checks, see our GEO checklist.
Why is Belgium a special case?
Belgium is a special case because your customers search in at least two languages, often three. The same need, like an accountant or a chatbot, gets typed in French in Liège, in Dutch in Ghent and in English in Brussels.
Each language has its own results and its own AI Overviews. A business with French pages only can't be cited in a summary generated for a Dutch-language search. Three tips:
- Publish real versions of your key pages in FR, NL and EN, rewritten for each market rather than translated word for word.
- Use local vocabulary: Flemish searchers say 'gsm', 'kmo' and 'offerte', for example.
- Flag your language versions with hreflang tags so Google shows the right one.
The same logic applies to ChatGPT and other assistants: see how to appear in ChatGPT.
How do you measure your presence in AI Overviews?
There's no dedicated official report: Google counts this traffic under the 'Web' search type in Search Console without separating it. So you need to combine several signals.
Track impressions, clicks and click-through rate on your informational queries over time. Test your key queries regularly, in all three languages, and note whether you're cited. Our full method is in how to measure AI visibility.
Take the next step
Want to know whether Google and AI assistants already cite your business? Try the free demo on our AI demos page. To go further, explore our SEO & GEO service: free 30-minute consultation and a detailed quote within 24-48 hours.
Frequently asked questions
Are AI Overviews available in Belgium?
Yes. Google launched them in Belgium on March 25, 2025, in English only at first. Its help page now lists Belgium among supported countries, and French and Dutch among supported languages. Whether a summary appears depends on the query: not every search triggers an AI Overview.
How do you get cited in an AI Overview?
According to Google, there are no additional requirements: your page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Search with a snippet. From there, pages that answer the question clearly, with easy-to-extract passages and a trustworthy source behind them, are more likely to be picked as supporting links.
Can you turn off AI Overviews?
Searchers can't: Google treats them as a core Search feature. Site owners can, however, limit how their pages are used with the nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet or noindex directives. Keep in mind that these settings also reduce how your snippets appear in regular results.
Where can I see AI Overviews traffic in Search Console?
Not separately. Google says traffic from AI Overviews and AI Mode is included in the Search Console Performance report under the 'Web' search type. You can't isolate it directly. Instead, track how clicks and click-through rate change on your informational queries over time.
Do AI Overviews reduce traffic to my website?
Often, on informational queries. Pew Research found fewer clicks on traditional links when an AI summary appears, and Ahrefs measured a lower click-through rate for the top-ranking page. The effect varies by industry and search intent: local and transactional searches are usually less affected.
