AI Overviews now appear on more than 80% of commercial searches
AI Overviews have spread across nearly the whole commercial search funnel, according to a year-long study of 400 keywords in banking, ecommerce and software. Coverage for every commercial modifier tracked now sits between 82% and 96%, up from a range of 30% to 63% in September 2025.
Searches containing "reviews" saw the steepest climb, from 30.14% to just under 90%, a 59-point rise. "Best X for Y" queries ended at 96.12%, the highest of the five groups, while "brand vs brand" grew least, up 23.18 points to 82.05%. Weighting by search volume puts coverage at 97.08% in August 2026, meaning the 12% of keywords without an AI Overview account for under 3% of demand.
The three industries converged over the period. Ecommerce started at 32.62% and software at 68%, a gap of more than 35 points, but by August 2026 all three sat between 85% and 91%.
For brands, ranking first no longer guarantees the first impression. The summaries draw on multiple sources, including YouTube videos, Reddit threads and review sites alongside a company's own comparison and pricing pages, so being cited and described accurately in the answer matters as much as the organic position.
Reported by Semrush Blog ↗
Topics: AI Overviews, Google Search, Citations