Google AI Overviews Appear on 21% of Desktop Search Queries, New Study Shows

A recent analysis by Ahrefs found that the search feature known as AI Overviews appears in approximately 20.5 % of all analysed search queries. The study, published on November 10, 2025, examined 146 million search engine results pages (SERPs) across 86 keyword characteristics to assess where this generative-AI summary appears and what query types are most likely to trigger it.

Key Findings

• AI Overviews appear for roughly 1 in 5 keywords in the dataset (29,991,998 out of 146,122,391).
• They are much more common on queries of longer length: when a search query contains seven or more words, the trigger rate rises to 46.4 %. In contrast, single-word queries trigger them only 9.5 % of the time.
• Question-formatted queries (e.g., “How do I …?”, “What is …?”) trigger AI Overviews at 57.9 %, whereas non-question queries show only 15.5 % trigger rate.
• By search intent: 99.9 % of the queries that triggered AI Overviews were classified as informational intent; by comparison, navigational queries triggered them only 0.09 % of the time, commercial intent 4.3 %, transactional 2.1 %.

Industry & Topic Variance

The study found large variation in AI Overview prevalence depending on subject category:

• Science (43.6 %), Health (43.0 %), Pets & Animals (36.8 %), and People & Society (35.3 %) had the highest trigger rates.
• Subjects such as Shopping (3.2 %), Real Estate (5.8 %), Sports (14.8 %), and News (15.1 %) were on the lower end of the range.
• Queries in high-sensitivity “Your Money Your Life” (YMYL) categories also showed elevated presence: medical YMYL at 44.1 %, financial YMYL at 22.9 %, safety YMYL at 31.0 %.
• Localised searches and highly time-sensitive keywords trigger AI Overviews far less often: for example “very newsy” keywords triggered only 6.3 % AIO rate, local queries 7.9 %.
• Branded versus non-branded: non-branded queries triggered AI Overviews 24.9 % of the time, branded queries 13.1 %.
• Cost-per-click (CPC) value did not show meaningful correlation with AI Overview appearance: trigger rates stayed around the 12.4 – 27.6 % range regardless of CPC band.

Background & Implications

The feature known as “AI Overviews” is part of Google Search Generative Experience (SGE), where Google’s large-language-model technology synthesises information from multiple web-sources to serve an aggregated summary on the search results page. As noted by Ahrefs, large language models with retrieval-augmented generation underpin the content generation.

For publishers and content creators, the findings highlight that longer, informational, question-style queries are far more likely to yield an AI-generated summary on Google’s SERP. Conversely, shorter, branded, local or purely transactional queries are comparatively less affected. That in turn implies varying degrees of “competition” with AI Overviews: publishers specialising in informational content (explanatory how-to guides, science/health topics) may face higher risk of losing clicks to the summary box, while news, commerce or brand-specific content may see less immediate disruption.

Furthermore, the high trigger rate in YMYL categories—particularly medical at 44.1 %—may raise questions about how Google determines when to show AI Overviews versus relying purely on traditional web listings, given the need for accuracy and expertise in such domains.

Finally, as previous Ahrefs research has shown, AI Overviews have been correlated with a reduction in click-through rates: one study found a ~34.5 % lower CTR for top-rank pages when an AI Overview is present.

Strategy Considerations

Given the prevalence and distribution across query types, content strategy teams may wish to:

• Review which keywords in their portfolio are likely to trigger AI Overviews (longer, question-based, informational intent) and assess traffic risk exposure.
• Prioritise content differentiation and depth in areas where AI Overviews appear frequently — for example in science/health categories.
• Recognise that branded, local, transactional, or short-query content may currently face lower AI-Overview incidence, offering potential stability.
• Monitor shifts in AI-Overview trigger rates over time, especially as Google continues to roll out generative features globally and across device types.

Conclusion

The new dataset from Ahrefs suggests that AI-generated summaries in Google Search now appear in about one-fifth of desktop query results, with strong dependency on query length, format, intent and subject category. As generative features become more entrenched in search, the balance of organic traffic and visibility may shift—especially for content-rich informational domains. Content teams and publishers may need to adjust their SEO and content-planning approaches accordingly.