AI Overviews Now Appear on 88% of 400 Commercial Keywords, Up From 45.75% a Year Ago, Semrush Study Finds

Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, 23 October 2026.

Google showed an AI Overview on 88% of a fixed panel of 400 US commercial keywords in August 2026, up from 45.75% in September 2025, according to a study Semrush published on 21 October 2026. The keywords covered banking, software and ecommerce searches with modifiers people use close to a purchase decision, such as "alternatives", "reviews" and "best X for Y".

Weighted by estimated search volume, coverage was higher still: 97.08% of commercial search demand in the panel triggered an AI Overview in August. The study measured only whether an AI Overview appeared. It did not measure clicks, traffic or which sites were cited.

Key findings

• Coverage nearly doubled in 12 months: 45.75% of the 400 keywords showed an AI Overview in September 2025; 88% did in August 2026.
• Every modifier ended above 80%: the five modifier groups ranged from 30.14% to 63.41% in September 2025 and from 82.05% to 96.12% in August 2026.
• Reviews jumped the most: "reviews" searches went from 30.14%, the lowest of any group, to nearly 90%, a rise of about 59 points.
• "Best X for Y" finished highest at 96.12%, up 53.4 points.
• Industries converged: the spread between banking, software and ecommerce narrowed from more than 35 points to under 6 points, with all three between 85% and 91% in August.
• The keywords without an AI Overview were small ones: the 12% of keywords with no AI Overview in August accounted for less than 3% of the panel's search volume.

Modifier group	September 2025	August 2026	Change
Reviews	30.14%	Nearly 90%	About +59 points
Best X for Y	Not stated	96.12%	+53.4 points
Alternatives	Not stated	Above 82%	+34 points
Brand vs brand	63.41%	Over 86%	+23.18 points
Price/cost	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated
All 400 keywords	45.75%	88%	+42.25 points

Industry and modifier combinations

The study split the panel into 15 cells (five modifiers across three industries). By August 2026, 12 of the 15 cells had coverage of at least 80%, and all 15 finished higher than they started. Three cells reached 100%, meaning every tracked keyword showed an AI Overview: "best X for Y" in banking, "alternatives" in software and "best X for Y" in software.

Segment	September 2025	August 2026
Ecommerce (all modifiers)	32.62%	85.11%
Software (all modifiers)	68%	Within 85% to 91% range
Ecommerce, price/cost	4.76%	71.43%
Banking, reviews	13.79%	89.66%
Banking, alternatives	Not stated	65%
Software, reviews	Not stated	75%

For software companies, the two cells that matter most for comparison content point in different directions. Software "alternatives" searches hit 100% coverage, while software "reviews" searches were one of only three cells still below 80%, at 75%.

How the study was done

Semrush built a fixed panel of 400 keywords and tracked, every month from September 2025 to August 2026, whether each one triggered an AI Overview in its US desktop data. The main metric is keyword-weighted coverage: the share of keywords in a group that showed an AI Overview. A second metric weights each keyword by its estimated monthly search volume.

The limits are worth stating. The panel is small and fixed, it covers only US desktop results, it uses one vendor's data, and volume-weighted figures depend on that vendor's search volume estimates. The study does not report mobile results, other countries, click-through rates or citation sources.

Context

The figures fit a pattern of AI Overviews spreading into commercial searches that once showed mostly organic listings and ads. Our own sample of 1,000 SaaS searches, published on 16 October, found AI Overviews on 97.8% of results, but 74% of them carried no inline link. Google has also expanded how links appear in AI Mode and AI Overviews.

Google does not publish how often AI Overviews appear. Site owners can see their own AI Overview and AI Mode impressions in Search Console's generative AI performance reports, which Google introduced in June 2026 and later rolled out to all websites.

What this means for SEO teams

If your keyword plan relies on comparison pages, "alternatives" roundups, pricing pages and review content, assume an AI Overview now sits above the organic result for most of those searches. Ranking first is still the entry ticket, but the summary above it shapes the first impression.

1. Check your own share. Pull your commercial keyword set and record which queries show an AI Overview today. A vendor panel of 400 keywords is a signal, not a measurement of your market.
2. Compare Search Console's generative AI report with your classic performance report. Pages with rising AI impressions and flat clicks are the ones where the summary is doing the work.
3. Read the AI Overviews for your money queries. Note which sources are cited for "[your brand] vs [competitor]" and "[category] alternatives", and whether the facts about your product are current.
4. Keep pricing and comparison pages accurate and dated. Outdated plan names or prices are easy for a summary to repeat.
5. Do not drop review and comparison content. These pages are among the sources a summary can draw on, even when they earn fewer direct clicks.

Conclusion

On Semrush's 400-keyword panel, AI Overviews went from appearing on fewer than half of commercial searches to nearly nine in ten in a year, and to 97% of search demand when weighted by volume. Reviews and "best X for Y" queries moved fastest.

The study says nothing about clicks, so it cannot show how much traffic shifted. It does show that, for decision-stage searches in banking, software and ecommerce, an AI Overview is now the normal result rather than the exception.

Questions and answers

How often do AI Overviews appear on commercial searches?

In Semrush's fixed panel of 400 US desktop commercial keywords, 88% triggered an AI Overview in August 2026, up from 45.75% in September 2025. Weighted by search volume, the figure was 97.08%.

Which commercial modifier saw the biggest increase?

Reviews searches rose about 59 points, from 30.14% to nearly 90%. Best X for Y searches finished highest, at 96.12%.

Which industries were covered?

Banking, software and ecommerce. By August 2026 all three were between 85% and 91% coverage; ecommerce rose the most, from 32.62% to 85.11%.

Does the study measure clicks or traffic?

No. It records only whether an AI Overview appeared for each keyword each month, using US desktop data from one vendor.

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