What Our Latest Data Reveal about AI Overviews

Where AI Overviews Appear Matters More Than You Think

Most discussions about AIOs focus on whether they appear on a SERP. But our data reveal that this is only half the story.

The position of an AIO can make an enormous difference to organic CTR.

Take a look at the CTR for rank-1 organic results, depending on where the AIO appears.

When an AIO appears above the first organic result, desktop CTR drops from 13.0% to just 4.0%. On mobile, it falls from 13.6% to 6.8%.

But move that same SERP feature below the first organic result, and the impact is considerably smaller. Desktop reaches 9.8%, while mobile CTR remains almost unchanged at 13.5%. That is a rather different picture from the idea that every AIO automatically sends organic clicks into free fall.

AI Overview placement varies by search intent

AIOs are also moving around depending on the search intent. On September 1, 2026, the AIO sat below the position-1 result in 28% of cases. Just one week later, that figure had increased to 37%.

And placement is not random across different search intents. We grouped the same pages using our search intent model. For transactional searches, more than one-third of AIOs appeared as the fourth SERP element or lower. For informational searches, that happened in only about one in eight cases.

In other words, informational queries are more likely to show AIOs at the top of the SERP, while transactional searches more frequently position them further down the page.

This is an important distinction. Just because AIOs are appearing on more commercial and transactional searches does not mean organic clicks are automatically taking a hit. Their placement matters just as much as their presence.

Why does placement make such a difference?

Think about what users actually see when they search on Google. An AIO at the top of the page occupies considerable screen space, especially on mobile devices. But when the AIO appears below the first organic result, the top ranking has the opportunity to capture attention before the AIO even enters the picture.

This helps explain why two keywords with identical rankings and AIO presence can generate very different amounts of traffic.

So simply tracking whether an AIO appears is not enough to understand its potential impact. You also need to know where it appears relative to your organic result. Because AIO presence tells you that Google has invited AI to the party. But AIO placement tells you whether AI gets to speak before you do.

What To Do From Here

AIOs are spreading like wildfire across Google. With their placement and presence constantly changing, your organic visibility could already be shifting beneath your feet. Here are four actions you can take now:

1. Track AIO presence and placement: Knowing which keywords trigger AIOs is valuable, but understanding where they appear relative to your organic result provides a more complete picture of their potential impact.
2. Monitor commercial and transactional keywords: AIOs are no longer limited to informational searches. Make sure to keep an eye on keywords that contribute directly to leads, sales, and revenue, and monitor how their SERPs evolve.
3. Analyze desktop and mobile separately: Our data show significant differences in CTR by device. Combining both into a single average can hide important differences in performance.
4. Investigate SERP changes when CTR declines: Stable rankings and declining clicks do not necessarily indicate poor SEO performance. Examine AIO placement and other SERP elements before making changes.

These actions share one common principle: make decisions based on what users actually encounter on the SERP, rather than what a ranking number suggests they should see.

There Is More to the SERP Than Meets the Eye

AIOs are moving in, moving around, and changing how users interact with search results. Our data makes one thing clear: knowing what surrounds your ranking is just as important as where you rank.