What changed
Ahrefs searched the exact names of 100 global brands on Google in the U.S. every week from July through September. On July 1, only five of 98 usable results showed an AI Overview. By Sept. 30, 63 of the 100 brand names triggered one, with the biggest jump coming in early September.
Placement was prominent. Of those 63 AI Overviews, 48 sat in what Ahrefs calls position one. Other trackers using different samples found similar growth:
- Ahrefs’ broader U.S. desktop data showed branded keywords triggering AI Overviews rose from 61.3% in July to 73.3% in September.
- DemandSphere saw its daily rate for branded keywords climb from 26.12% on Sept. 1 to 82.06% on Sept. 29.
- Nectiv co-founder Chris Long found AI Overviews for 93 of 100 enterprise brands in a quick scrape.
In 57 brand-name answers with source lists, Wikipedia was cited in 41, YouTube in 22 and LinkedIn in 13. Only one verified competitor-owned site appeared, and just two answers discussed competitors.
Why it matters
When someone searches your company by name, the first thing they may now see is an AI-written summary, not your website. That summary often leans on outside sources you do not fully control. None of the data shows how this affects clicks, and the trackers do not report how often a brand’s own site is cited.
Measuring the impact is also tricky. Google Analytics 4 groups visits from AI Overviews under Organic Search, and Search Console’s generative AI report does not show which queries produced your impressions. A shift in branded clicks alone will not tell you whether an AI Overview caused it.
What to do
- Search your exact company name on Google and read the AI Overview and the pages it cites.
- Save dated screenshots and repeat the check on different days so you can compare over time.
- Review cited outside pages, especially Wikipedia, YouTube and LinkedIn, and identify which channels and company pages you manage.
- Use Search Console’s branded queries filter, if your site qualifies, to watch branded clicks and impressions. Keep in mind that Google decides what counts as branded.
- Check the generative AI performance report to see how often your links appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode, knowing it lacks a query breakdown.
Source: AI Overviews Have Spread To Most Big-Brand Searches, Search Engine Journal. This brief sums up their reporting; all credit for the original goes to them.
