Google rapidly expanded AI Overviews in search during 2025, then pulled back as they moved into commercial and navigational queries. These findings are based on a new Semrush analysis of more than 10 million keywords from January to November.
AI Overviews surged, then retreated. Google didn’t roll out AI Overviews in a straight line in 2025. A mid-year spike gave way to a pullback, suggesting Google moved fast to test the feature, then eased off based on user data:
- January: 6.5% of queries triggered an AI Overview
- July: AI Overview visibility peaked, appearing in just under 25% of queries.
- November: Coverage fell back to less than 16% of queries.
Zero-click behavior defied expectations. Surprisingly, click-through rates for keywords with AI Overviews have steadily risen since January. AI Overviews don’t automatically reduce clicks and may even encourage them.
- AI Overviews still appear more often on searches that already tend to drive no clicks.
- But when Semrush compared the same keywords before and after an AI Overview appeared, zero-click rates fell from 33.75% to 31.53%.
Informational queries no longer dominate. Early 2025 AI Overviews were almost entirely informational:
- January: 91% informational
- October: 57% informational
Now, AI Overviews are appearing for commercial and transactional queries:
- Commercial queries: Increased from 8% to 18%
- Transactional queries: Increased from 2% to 14%
Navigational queries are rising fast. In an unexpected shift, AI summaries are increasingly intercepting brand and destination searches:
- Navigational AI Overviews grew from under 1% in January to more than 10% by November.
Google Ads + AI Overviews. Earlier this year, ads rarely appeared next to AI Overviews. Now they’re common:
- Ads alongside AI Overviews rose from about 3% in January to roughly 40% by November.
- Ads show at the bottom of around 25% of AI Overview SERPs.
Science is the most impacted industry. By keyword saturation, Science leads all verticals for AI Overviews at 25.96%. Computers & Electronics follows at 17.92%, with People & Society close behind at 17.29%.
- Since March, Food & Drink has seen the fastest growth in AI Overviews of any category.
- Meanwhile, Real Estate, Shopping, and Arts & Entertainment remain lightly affected, with AI Overviews appearing on fewer than 3% of keywords.
Why we care. AI Overviews are unevenly and persistently reshaping click behavior, commercial visibility, and ad placement. Volatility is likely to continue, so closely monitor performance shifts tied to AI Overviews.
The report. Semrush AI Overviews Study: What 2025 SEO Data Tells Us About Google’s Search Shift
Dig deeper. In May, I reported on the original version of Semrush’s study in Google AI Overviews now show on 13% of searches: Study.
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