# AI Overviews cite self-ranked 'best of' pages less, Lily Ray finds

Published: 2026-10-05T15:18:29.999Z · Source: PPC Land (https://ppc.land/google-ai-overviews-cut-self-ranking-listicle-citations-38-lily-ray-finds/)
Source date: 2026-10-05
Flags: self-published analyst data — Lily Ray/Amsive, 100 queries in one vertical; contradicted by Kevin Indig's 62% traffic-gain finding and Scrunch's 24.3% competitor-recommendation rate
Entities: ai-overviews, google

Self-ranking "best of" pages — where a company ranks itself first on its own comparison page — are showing up less often in Google AI Overviews, per an Oct. 4 analysis by SEO consultant Lily Ray of Amsive. Ray found AI Overviews omitted the self-ranked brand from 83% of answers citing such pages in September 2026, up from 69% in June, with a competitor recommended instead in 70% of cases, based on a tracked set of 100 "best B2B software" queries. The finding cuts against an August analysis by Kevin Indig that found 62% of vendor-authored listicles gained organic traffic since January, and against Scrunch's own measurement of a 24.3% competitor-recommendation rate.

Why it matters: Self-ranking content is a common AEO tactic, and this is early, contested evidence that Google's AI Overviews may be working against it rather than a settled trend.

## What this answers

**Does Google AI Overviews penalize brands that rank themselves first in their own 'best of' lists?**

Early evidence points that way but isn't confirmed as a penalty: per SEO consultant Lily Ray, AI Overviews omitted the self-ranked brand from 83% of answers citing such pages in September 2026, up from 69% in June, based on 100 tracked queries.

**Do all analysts agree Google is suppressing self-promoting listicles?**

No. Kevin Indig's August analysis found 62% of vendor-authored listicles gained organic traffic since January, and Scrunch measured competitors getting recommended in 24.3% of cases, well under Ray's 70% figure.


Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-10-05-ai-overviews-cite-self-ranked-best-of-pages-less-lily-ray-finds/
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