Google now displays AI Overviews on 98% of searches for software reviews, according to a new study reported by The National Law Review. The figure, if it holds across larger samples, points to near-total coverage of a commercial query category that has historically driven high-intent traffic to review sites, affiliate publishers, and software comparison platforms.

The 98% figure comes from a third-party study rather than from Google itself. Google has not published its own statistics on how often AI Overviews trigger by query category, so search managers should treat this number as tool-based measurement — a strong signal, but one dependent on the study's keyword sample, locale, and tracking methodology. What is confirmed is Google's own policy direction: the company has steadily expanded AI Overviews into more query types since launching the feature broadly in May 2024, and it has acknowledged that the feature changes click-through patterns on affected results.

For the software review vertical specifically, the implication is straightforward. Queries such as product comparisons and "best X software" searches sit at the top of the funnel for many B2B and SaaS publishers. If AI Overviews now appear on virtually all of them, publishers in this space face the prospect of answering a user's core question directly in the search result — before the user ever reaches an organic listing.

The National Law Review's interest in the story signals a second dimension: legal and regulatory exposure. The publication's coverage frames the AI Overviews expansion alongside ongoing antitrust scrutiny of Google's search dominance. European and U.S. regulators have examined how Google's own features interact with third-party publishers, and AI-generated summaries that absorb user clicks add a new data point to that debate. Publishers who lose referral traffic to AI Overviews have already raised the issue in industry forums and filings.

What the study measures — and what it doesn't

The headline number describes impression frequency: how often an AI Overview renders for a set of software review queries. It does not measure click-through rates, traffic losses, or conversion impact. Those effects vary widely by site, query intent, and how completely the AI answer satisfies the user.

Search practitioners reporting anecdotal data have described a mixed picture across verticals. Informational queries show high AI Overview frequency; transactional and local queries show lower rates. The 98% figure for software reviews suggests that product-evaluation queries — which blend informational and commercial intent — are firmly in the high-frequency camp.

For sites in this vertical, the practical consequences fall into a few buckets:

• Top-of-funnel comparison content is the most exposed. Pages targeting "best," "top," and "vs." keywords compete directly with the AI answer block.
• Deeper product pages — pricing, implementation guides, integration documentation — face less direct substitution because the queries are more specific.
• Brand queries remain comparatively safe, since users searching for a named product typically want the product site itself.

Confirmed versus speculative

To separate the two threads clearly: Google has confirmed that AI Overviews exist, are expanding, and appear across a growing share of queries. Google has not confirmed the 98% figure or any per-vertical breakdown. That number is a study result, and its reliability depends on the sample size and keyword selection, which the report's summary does not fully specify. Editors and SEO teams citing the figure should attribute it to the study, not to Google.

The legal angle is similarly split. Regulators in the U.S. and EU have opened confirmed proceedings touching Google's search practices. Whether AI Overviews specifically become a focal point of those proceedings is, for now, speculation.

What to watch next

The number that matters more than impression share is referral traffic. Publishers in the software review space should monitor organic sessions on comparison-keyword landing pages over the coming quarters, segmenting by query class to isolate AI Overview effects from ordinary ranking volatility. A second metric to track: Google's own disclosures. If the company begins publishing AI Overview coverage statistics — or if regulators compel more transparency — the industry will get its first authoritative baseline for how much of the results page the AI layer now occupies.