AI Overviews appear for more branded searches tracked by DemandSphere

Google AI Overviews are appearing for a much larger share of the branded searches tracked by DemandSphere. More than 80% of those queries now produce an AI Overview, compared with 26% on September 1. Google has not explained the reason for the increase.

The figures describe the share of queries in DemandSphere’s tracking set that show an AI Overview. They do not mean that more than 80% of all branded searches on Google produce one. The distinction matters when applying the finding to an individual company or evaluating the wider search landscape.

The change amounts to an increase of more than 54 percentage points from the September 1 figure. It also means that the tracked share has risen to more than three times its earlier level. The available figures establish the scale of the change within the tracked queries, but they do not explain what caused it.

For marketing teams, the finding puts branded search results in focus. An AI Overview appearing alongside results for a brand-related query presents a different page for a user to assess than one without that feature. The reported figures alone, however, do not establish whether the change has affected visits, conversions or other outcomes for any particular brand.

Nor does the aggregate figure show that every tracked query displays the same information. Marketers should distinguish between the appearance of an AI Overview and the content it contains when assessing what a searcher sees. A review of individual queries can provide a more useful view of a brand’s own results than the overall percentage alone.

What this means for marketers

Check important brand-related queries for AI Overviews and record what appears. Compare those observations over time and review the wording shown for relevant searches. Treat DemandSphere’s figures as context rather than a substitute for checking your own queries, and avoid attributing changes in performance to AI Overviews without supporting evidence.