AI Overviews (formerly SGE) are one of the biggest changes in Google search. Instead of showing only links, Google now displays AI-generated summaries directly in search results, appearing across a growing share of queries and reshaping how users interact with search results.
This report focuses on how frequently AI Overviews appear, how that frequency has shifted over time, and which query types trigger them most. Statistics are sourced from large-scale keyword tracking studies and SERP datasets by Semrush, Conductor, SEOclarity, Ahrefs, iPullRank, Wired, and Business Insider, all based on measured query data.
Overall Appearance Frequency
AI Overviews appeared in about 6.49% of queries in January 2025, growing to 24.61% by mid-2025, before stabilizing around 15–16% by late 2025. [Semrush]
AI Overviews now appear in 25.11% of Google searches as of Q1 2026, based on analysis of 21.9 million queries. [Conductor]
AI Overview frequency increased from 6.49% to 13.14% within two months, showing rapid rollout. [Semrush]
Peak testing phases showed AI Overviews appearing in up to 24.6% of queries before adjustments. [Industry Analysis]
AI Overview frequency dropped to around 11% of queries after Google refined output quality. [Wired]
During certain rollout adjustments, frequency fell to approximately 7.47% of queries. [Business Insider]
Around 50% of search queries in the United States now generate AI Overview responses. [Heroic Rankings]
58% of surveyed users reported performing at least one Google search in the past month that generated an AI Overview. [Google]
Frequency by Query Intent
Informational queries trigger AI Overviews 39.4% of the time, rising to 65.9% for queries with 7 or more words. [Stackmatix/Semrush]
AI Overviews appear in 99.9% of informational keywords, with 46% being long-tail queries and 57.9% being question-format queries. [Ahrefs]
Commercial queries trigger AI Overviews 22.2% of the time. [Semrush]
Transactional queries trigger AI Overviews 16.5% of the time. [Semrush]
Navigational queries trigger AI Overviews just 12% of the time. [Semrush]
Around 80% of AI Overview triggers come from informational intent queries. [iPullRank]
Around 35% of AI Overview queries are question-based searches. [iPullRank]
Queries of 8 words or longer have a 57% chance of triggering AI Overviews. [Semrush]
Searches containing 8 words or more are 7x more likely to trigger an AI Overview. [Google]
36% of queries that include both a noun and a verb result in an AI Overview appearing. [Google]
Frequency by Industry & Topic
Sectors with the highest AI Overview share are Science (43.6%), Health (43.0%), Pets & Animals (36.8%), and People & Society (35.3%). [Ahrefs]
B2B technology queries now see AI Overviews in 70% of SERPs, up from 36%. [WordStream]
Insurance queries see AI Overviews in 63% of searches, up from 17%. [WordStream]
Entertainment queries show AI Overviews in 37% of searches, up from 2%. [WordStream]
Health-related queries trigger AI Overviews in about 51.6% of searches. [Industry Study]
Sectors with the lowest AI Overview share include Shopping (3.2%), Real Estate (5.8%), Sports (14.8%), and News (15.1%). [Ahrefs]
E-commerce queries see AI Overviews in only 4% of searches. [Semrush]
Only 7.9% of local searches trigger an AI Overview. [Ahrefs]
CTR & Traffic Impact
Users are nearly 47% less likely to click a traditional search result when an AI Overview is shown, with only 8% of visits resulting in a click. [DemandSage]
AI Overviews reduce clicks by 34.5% to the websites below them. [SE Ranking]
AI Overviews now reduce clicks by 58% for top-ranking pages. [Ahrefs]
Users are more likely to end their search session after seeing an AI Overview, with sessions ending 26% of the time versus 16% for standard results. [DemandSage]
Zero-click searches rise to 83% when AI Overviews are present, compared to 60% for standard queries. [Digital Applied]
Screen Space & SERP Impact
AI Overviews can occupy up to 67.1% of desktop screen space when displayed. [Industry Study]
On mobile, AI Overviews can take up about 75.7% of the visible screen area. [Industry Study]
AI Overviews link to an average of 13.3 sources per answer. [SE Ranking]
AI Overview links come from domains ranking in the top 10 organic results in 92.36% of cases. [Semrush]
Top citation sources in AI Overviews include YouTube (23%), Wikipedia (18%), and Google.com (16%). [Semrush]
Ads now appear in 25.5% of AI Overview results, up 394% from 5.17% in early 2025. [Google]
Global Reach & Adoption
AI Overviews appear in over 200 countries and regions following global rollout. [Google]
AI Overviews support more than 40 languages globally. [Google]
Google AI Overviews reach 1.5 billion monthly users globally. [Search Engine Land]
Conclusion
AI Overviews are appearing in a growing but controlled share of search results, with frequency varying significantly by query intent, industry, and complexity. Informational searches see the highest presence at 57.1%, while transactional and navigational queries remain far lower. As Google continues refining output quality, AI Overview frequency will remain a key variable in how organic visibility is measured.
