Skip to content
Back to the daily read

Daily Read: AI

AI Overviews Now Dominate Brand Search Results

Ahrefs’ weekly crawl of Google’s U.S. desktop results from July to September found that AI‑generated Overviews appeared for 63 of 100 major brand names by September 30, up from only five on July 1. The study tracked the exact brand name query and recorded the position of each Overview, with 48 landing in the first spot and an average rank of 1.49. A broader crawl of 92.5 million branded keyword results showed a rise from 61.3 % in July to 73.3 % in September, while non‑branded keywords averaged 78.3 % in September. DemandSphere’s daily series reported a peak of 90.48 % of branded searches with Overviews on September 27, falling to 82.06 % by September 29. Chris Long of Nectiv noted that 93 of 100 enterprise brands had Overviews on September 30, underscoring the trend’s breadth. External sources cited in the Overviews were dominated by Wikipedia (71.9 % of 57 cases) and YouTube (38.6 %). The data suggest that AI‑driven snippets are increasingly the first touchpoint for consumers searching brand names, potentially reshaping how brands control their online narrative.

· Search Engine Journal

The essential points

  1. 01Ahrefs tracked 63 AI Overviews for 100 major brands by September 30, up from five on July 1
  2. 02The average position of these Overviews was 1.49, with 48 in the top spot
  3. 03DemandSphere’s daily data peaked at 90.48 % of branded searches with Overviews on September 27
  4. 04Wikipedia cited in 71.9 % of the 57 Overviews that had source lists, followed by YouTube at 38.6 %
The full brief

Ahrefs’ weekly crawl of Google’s U. S. desktop results from July to September found that AI‑generated Overviews appeared for 63 of 100 major brand names by September 30, up from only five on July 1. The study tracked the exact brand name query and recorded the position of each Overview, with 48 landing in the first spot and an average rank of 1. 49. A broader crawl of 92.

5 million branded keyword results showed a rise from 61. 3 % in July to 73. 3 % in September, while non‑branded keywords averaged 78. 3 % in September. DemandSphere’s daily series reported a peak of 90. 48 % of branded searches with Overviews on September 27, falling to 82.

06 % by September 29. Chris Long of Nectiv noted that 93 of 100 enterprise brands had Overviews on September 30, underscoring the trend’s breadth. External sources cited in the Overviews were dominated by Wikipedia (71. 9 % of 57 cases) and YouTube (38. 6 %). The data suggest that AI‑driven snippets are increasingly the first touchpoint for consumers searching brand names, potentially reshaping how brands control their online narrative.