AI Overviews appeared in 82.91% of US desktop Google results for branded keywords as of September 29, 2026, according to a new analysis of 232.8 million search-result crawls conducted by Ahrefs.

The monthly average for branded queries triggering an AI Overview reached 73.3% in September, up from 65.1% in August and 61.3% in July — a 12 percentage-point jump over three months, or roughly 20% relative growth.

How quickly did branded-query coverage expand?

Ahrefs split the dataset into 92.5 million branded-keyword crawls and 140.2 million non-branded-keyword crawls. Non-branded coverage also rose, but more modestly: from 73.5% in July to 78.3% in September, a 4.8-point gain.

The gap between the two query types narrowed from 12.2 points in July to 5 points in September. In a November 2025 Ahrefs study, AI Overviews triggered far more often on unbranded queries than branded ones — a pattern that has reversed.

What happened when researchers tested 100 brand names?

Ahrefs checked a separate panel of 100 brand names, drawn from Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2025 list, at 14 weekly points between July and September.

By the September 30 checkpoint, 63 of the 100 brand-name queries returned an AI Overview. At the July 1 checkpoint, just 5 of 98 usable results did.

Of those 63 AI Overviews, 48 occupied position one in the SERP — 76.2% — with an average position of 1.49. The brand's own site rarely held the top slot.

Which third-party sources do the AI Overviews cite?

External citations concentrated heavily on a handful of platforms. Across the 100-brand panel:

• Wikipedia: 71.9% (41 AI Overviews)
• YouTube: 38.6% (22)
• LinkedIn: 22.8% (13)
• Yahoo Finance: 15.8% (9)
• Facebook: 10.5% (6)
• Walmart: 7.0% (4)

Wikipedia dominated the citation list, but YouTube and LinkedIn drew particular concern because brands cannot easily edit them. Ahrefs published a screenshot of an AI Overview for the brand "Bluehost" that leaned heavily on YouTube.

How often do AI Overviews mention competitors?

Of the 58 AI Overviews with full text available, only 2 — 3.4% — named competitors. Pepsi's answer referenced Coca-Cola in describing the "cola wars"; Intel's named TSMC and NVIDIA.

Across 57 available source lists, only one citation came from a verified competitor-owned website. The AI Overviews appeared to avoid sourcing competitor content, even when they crowded branded pages out of position one.

What do practitioners say about the trend?

Chris Long, whose earlier test of 100 enterprise brands prompted the broader study, wrote on LinkedIn: "competitors/external sources can now control the narrative of your brand directly in the search results."

Ann Smarty raised a separate concern about video citations, noting that the YouTube clips Ahrefs surfaced in branded AI Overviews "weren't from the brand's official account" and "may very well include outdated product information."

What does the trend mean for click-through rates?

A prior Ahrefs study recorded a 58% lower click-through rate for the top-ranking page when an AI Overview appeared. For branded queries, the click-loss risk compounds with a narrative-control risk.

When an AI Overview occupies position one, users see a third-party summary above the brand's own homepage or product page. The brand's ability to shape its own message shrinks accordingly.

What should brands monitor next?

Google routinely adjusts AI Overview triggers and layouts, so today's snapshot is not a permanent forecast. Track the position-one rate for your own brand-name query in Ahrefs' Brand Radar and the Organic Keywords report under the "Branded Keywords" intent filter.

If Google moves these AI Overviews lower in the SERP, branded CTRs could rebound. Until then, owned YouTube channels, Wikipedia entries and LinkedIn pages have become the most-cited real estate for branded searches — and warrant direct monitoring as Google continues to insert them into position one.