Ahrefs analyzed 146 million search results to determine which query types trigger AI Overviews. The research tracked AIO appearance across 86 keyword characteristics.

Here’s a concise look at the patterns and how they may affect your strategy.

What The Analysis Found

AI Overviews appear on 20.5% of all keywords. Specific query types show notable variance, with some categories hitting 60% trigger rates while others stay below 2%.

Patterns Observed Across Query Types

Single-word queries activate AIOs only 9.5% of the time, whereas queries with seven or more words trigger them 46.4%. This correlation indicates that Google primarily uses AIOs for complex informational searches rather than simple lookups.

The question format also shows a similar trend: question-based queries result in AIOs 57.9% of the time, while non-question queries have a much lower rate of 15.5%.

The most significant distinctions are seen based on intent. Informational queries make up 99.9% of all AIO appearances, while navigational queries trigger AIOs just 0.09%. Commercial queries account for 4.3%, and transactional queries for 2.1%.

Patterns Observed Across Industry Categories

Science queries have an AIO rate of 43.6%, while health queries are at 43.0%, and pets & animals reach 36.8%. People & society questions result in AIOs 35.3% of the time.

In contrast, commerce categories exhibit opposite trends. Shopping queries are associated with AIOs only 3.2% of the time, the lowest in the dataset. Real estate remains at 5.8%, sports at 14.8%, and news at 15.1%.

YMYL queries display unexpectedly high trigger rates. Medical YMYL searches trigger AI Overviews 44.1% of the time, financial YMYL hits 22.9%, and safety YMYL reaches 31.0%.

These findings contradict Google’s focus on expert content for topics that could impact health, financial security, or safety.

Queries With Low Presence Of AI Overviews

6.3% of “very newsy” keywords trigger AI Overviews, while 20.7% of non-news queries display AIOs.

The pattern indicates that Google deliberately limits AIOs for time-sensitive content where accuracy and freshness are essential.

Local searches demonstrate a similar trend, with only 7.9% of local queries showing AI Overviews compared to 22.8% for non-local queries.

NSFW content consistently avoids AIOs across categories: adult queries trigger AIOs 1.5% of the time, gambling 1.4%, and violence 7.7%. Drug-related queries have the highest NSFW trigger rate at 12.6%, yet this remains well below the baseline.

Brand vs. Non-Brand

Branded keywords show slight differences compared to non-branded ones. Non-branded queries trigger AIOs 24.9% of the time, whereas branded queries do so 13.1% of the time.

The data indicates that AIOs occur 1.9 times more frequently for generic searches than for brand-specific lookups.

No Correlation With CPC

CPC shows no meaningful correlation with AIO appearance. Keyword cost-per-click values don’t affect trigger rates across any price range tested, with…


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Last Update: November 10, 2025