Interestingly, the seoClarity research also db center uk highlights that AI Overviews appear in purely transactional queries only 1.2% of the time and are completely absent for local queries. As a result, informational sites like blogs—perhaps covering travel or cooking—face a much higher likelihood of competing against AI Overviews compared to more transactional sites.
This trend suggests that content creators focusing on informational topics may need to adapt their strategies to remain visible in search results. This trend also presents opportunities for businesses to capitalize on AI Overviews. By creating content that is comprehensive, authoritative, and easily digestible, companies can increase their chances of being featured in these summaries (we'll explore this further later).
Does this mean you shouldn't expect ads in AI Overviews?
Not so fast... In October 2024, Google introduced sponsored results within AI Overviews. Their AI Overviews Ads announcement provided an example: for the query "how do I get a grass stain out of jeans?", where the searcher saw an ad for stain removers.
Keep in mind, though, that this ad example returns a product for more commercial/informational search intent. Whether this means widespread AI Overviews for transactiImage source: Google