AI Overview Analysis & Study of 118M Searches: September 2025

AI Overviews are reshaping the search results page—and the race for visibility is on.

To help you stay ahead, we’re delivering a monthly AIO analysis of over 100 million real keywords to uncover how and where AI Overviews are showing up, which industries are seeing the most significant impact, and how it’s changing month to month.

From device-specific trends to fast-moving shifts across healthcare, education, and tech industries, this data reveals where AI is expanding next—and what it means for your SEO strategy.

Let’s dive into the data shaping the future of search.

AIO study methodology

To complete this AI Overview analysis, our search experts analyzed 118M keywords from real queries actively tracked using Conductor Intelligence.

To provide additional insights, the keywords are categorized by the industry they best align with. Here’s what we found.

Key takeaways & stats

• Overall: 16% of the 118 million keywords analyzed in September 2025 generated an AI Overview
  • This is a 2% decrease in the total number of keywords generating an AIO from our previous analysis in July 2025.
  • Despite the decrease month-over-month, this is still an 88% increase from our initial analysis in April 2025, making it clear that AIO is here to stay.
• Device distribution: Desktop continues to lead among device types, with 59% of AI Overviews occurring on a desktop device
  • Smartphone AIO presence grew marginally from 38% in July 2025 to 39% in September 2025, signaling that AIO presence on device types may be stabilizing.
• Industry breakdown: The following industries had the highest percentage of keywords triggering AI Overviews in September 2025:
  • Life Sciences Tools & Services - 40%
  • Education Services- 39%
  • Health Care Equipment & Supplies - 37%
  • Biotechnology - 37%
  • Cruise Vacations - 34%

How common are AI Overviews?

Of the 118M keywords analyzed, 16%—nearly 19M—generate AI Overviews.

This is a 2% decrease in the total number of keywords generating an AIO from our previous analysis in July 2025, signaling some stabilization in the result type.

This also reflects an 88% increase in the total number of keywords generating an AIO from our initial analysis in April 2025, when we began tracking these insights.

Most searches generating AIOs are informational, conversational, long-tail, or mixed intent.

Google's AI result type is quickly becoming the primary information gatekeeper within traditional search engineSearch Engine
A search engine is a website through which users can search internet content.
Learn more results, making AI Overview optimization the new path for visibility.

As AIO expands to even more keywords and queries, monitoring and tracking your presence within this result type is critical to see if the keywords and topics most important to you are generating an AIO and if your brand or site is being cited as the source.

AIO device distribution: Mobile vs. desktop

Desktop devices maintain the largest share among device types with 59% of AI Overviews, a marginal decrease of 1% from July.

Mobile (AKA smartphones) had been leading in previous months with a significantly higher percentage of AI Overviews than desktops, but that appeared to level out in April, with just over half (53%) of AIO occurrences on smartphones, and continued into July and September with smartphone devices accounting for only 38% and 39% of AI Overviews, respectively.

It’s clear Google scaled back AIO presence on mobile devices during the March Core update, but the latest data seems to signal stabilization of the result type between devices.

Given that smartphone screens prioritize above-the-fold content, a strong AIO presence there inherently dominates the visual space. A reduction in this presence might signal a move to reintroduce more traditional organic results into immediate view on mobile to maintain engagement and ad revenue.

The consistent appearance of AI Overviews within People Also Ask results, Buying Guides, and other SERP features across devices highlights Google's ongoing integration of AI-generated content beyond just the top snippet.

Tracking how this evolves will be crucial for understanding long-term SEO and content strategies and visibility in evolving SERP features.

AIO impact by industry

The following table highlights the top 20 industries with the highest percentage of tracked keywords triggering AI Overviews in September 2025. This means these industries see AIO appear for a larger share of the queries, making them more directly impacted.

If you see your industry on this list, take steps now to ensure your content and site are optimized for AI search to increase the likelihood of becoming the go-to source for AI Overview results moving forward.

Industries with the highest percentage of AI Overviews in September 2025

Month-over-month industry AIO comparison: April vs. September 2025

To benchmark how the AIO landscape is changing, here’s a look at the month-over-month changes of those top industries from our original analysis in April 2025 to September 2025.

*Note: Every month, AIO results are appearing in new places and for new industries. Those listed as N/A above were either not top industries in previous months or not tracked prior, but have since been added as we expand the number of industries being analyzed.

Takeaways:

The following four industries have had the most significant AI Overview growth from April to September 2025.

• Healthcare Equipment & Supplies: This industry shows the largest growth in AI Overviews from April to September (25-point increase), which tracks as users are likely looking for quick health product information that is optimized for the AIO result type
• Internet Software & Services: Continues to show steady growth in AI Overview results, generated with a 6-point increase
• Cruise Vacations: Cruise Vacations continued to be easy for AIO to summarize, as it showed a 17-point increase in AIO results from April to September 2025
• Education Services: Similar to healthcare-related fields, queries around education services are often informational, which is why we’re not surprised to see a 13-point increase for this industry

Overall:

AI Overviews show strong traction in Healthcare, IT, and Education industries, reinforcing AI’s role in answering informational queries. Businesses in these sectors should focus on structuring content to align with AI-driven search experiences, ensuring visibility in key SERP features.

While nearly all industries are seeing growth, a few are experiencing minor decreases, suggesting potential recalibration or stabilization of AIO's presence in those areas. The search results page remains highly dynamic. The significant number of industries seeing AI Overviews growth and the varying degrees of change month-to-month highlight the ongoing evolution of AIO integration across different industry verticals.

These insights underscore the critical need for enterprise AEO/SEO platforms to provide granular AI Overview tracking and analysis at the keywordKeyword
A keyword is what users write into a search engine when they want to find something specific.
Learn more and industry level. Understanding and tracking these shifts is the key to informing content strategy, identifying potential traffic impacts, and uncovering new opportunities in this evolving SERP landscape.

Global presence of AI Overviews

The majority of AI Overviews appear in the U.S., with 84% of all AIO results coming from Google U.S, which highlights a 4% increase from July 2025.

We expect AI Overviews to continue to expand internationally as they are released and expanded to encompass more queries and keywords. Keep an eye on this section in our monthly analyses to see how the global presence of AIO adapts.

How to adapt and optimize for AI Overviews: Helpful resources

Explore our latest insights, strategies, guides, and workflows to stay ahead in the evolving AI-powered search landscape.

• An In-Depth Look at AI Overviews - Start here for a comprehensive overview of Google’s AI Overviews, including how it works, how AIO optimization differs from traditional optimization, FAQs, and more.
• Conductor.com Case Study: How AI Overviews Are Impacting Organic Traffic - Real-world insights into traffic shifts and how brands are adapting, using our website as a case study.
• How to Rank in AI Overviews & Optimize for AI Search - Actionable strategies (and related Conductor workflows) to increase visibility within AI-powered search.
• AI Search & How It Differs From Traditional Search - A helpful resource to help educate team members and executives on the changing landscape of search.
• How to Increase Brand Mentions & Citations in AI Search - Actionable strategies to increase brand mentions and citations in AI answer engines and AI-powered search results like AI Overviews.
• How to Measure & Maximize AI Visibility - Learn which factors impact AI search visibility, get expert guidance on how to measure visibility on AI answer engines, and learn actionable content and technical strategies to maximize AI search visibility.
• How to Build an AEO/SEO Center of Excellence - Step-by-step guidance to building an effective AEO center of excellence at an enterprise organization, including key roles, metrics, and education needed for leadership (with example Q&A templates to guide you).
• 2025 AI Search, SEO, & Content Trends Guide - Forward-looking insights from industry insiders to inform your SEO and content strategies for the year ahead.
• The 2025 State of SEO Report - Benchmark your performance with exclusive survey data and trends shaping SEO and content marketing.

Check back next month or subscribe to Dispatch, Conductor’s monthly SEO newsletter, for the latest iteration of our monthly AIO analysis.