Semrush: AI Overviews coverage of commercial search queries nearly doubles to 88%
AI Overviews appeared on 88% of 400 tracked commercial keywords in August 2026, up from 45.75% in September 2025, per Semrush. The year-long tracking spanned banking, software and ecommerce categories using Semrush’s U.S. desktop data; weighted by estimated search volume, coverage reached 97.08% in August. Coverage by query type in August 2026: “best X for Y” searches, 96.12%; reviews, 90.25%; brand-vs-brand comparisons, 86.23%; price/cost queries, 85.51%; alternatives queries, 82.05%.
Why it matters: A year ago AI Overviews were a coin flip on buying-intent queries; now they are close to default, which is the population advertisers and SEO teams watch most closely.
The record: SemrushGoogle AI Overviews
Glossary: AI Overviews
Via Semrush Blog ↗
Posted to the wire October 21, 2026. Edited by Joe Balewski.