AI Overviews Are Moving Into the Buying Stage

Where AI Overviews are growing

Most early talk about AI Overviews was about informational searches: "how does a heat pump work," "what is a retainer." Those are cheap for Google to answer and expensive for you to compete on.

Commercial searches are different. They're the middle of the buying process: "best," "vs," "reviews," "pricing," "alternatives." The person already knows they need something. They're picking who gets the call.

Semrush's data says that's where AI Overviews have been spreading. The same study found transactional AI Overviews fell 5% on average, so the summary is showing up less on "buy now" searches and more on "help me choose" searches. That's a pattern, not a verdict on any one search in your market.

Why this matters if you sell a service

A comparison query used to reward whoever ranked in the top three. An AI Overview compresses that into a few named options, a sentence each. Searchers who get what they need from the summary may never open your page, which is the same dynamic we covered in our post on searches that end without a click.

The study also found Google Ads and AI Overviews on the same page about twice as often as a year earlier. So on a commercial search you may be competing with a paid placement and a generated summary before the organic results start. Ranking number one used to settle things; our piece on what a top ranking is worth now goes into why it doesn't.

One honest limit: Semrush measured U.S. desktop keywords from its own database, and the article doesn't say whether the 71% is relative growth or percentage points. Your local, low-volume searches may behave differently. Check them yourself before you panic or relax.

How to check your own commercial searches

This takes under an hour and costs nothing.

• List ten comparison searches a customer would type. "Best [your service] near me," "[your service] cost," "[you] vs [competitor]," "[your service] reviews."
• Run each one in a logged-out browser window so your history doesn't skew it. Note whether an AI Overview appears and which businesses or sites it names.
• Write down what the cited pages have in common. Are they comparison pages, review sites, directories, or business sites with plain pricing and service details?
• Check your own page for the question. If the search is "how much does X cost," does your site say what it costs, or what drives the cost? A page that dodges the question can't be quoted answering it.
• Search your business name on its own. If the summary gets your hours, services or location wrong, that's a different problem, and it's the one in our post on AI getting your business hours wrong.

Do this once a quarter. The results will drift.

What to put on the page

Comparison searches reward pages that make comparison easy. For a service business that usually means:

• A real pricing or "what it depends on" section, in plain sentences rather than a "contact us for a quote" wall.
• A short list of who you're a fit for and who you aren't. Summaries like clear boundaries.
• Question-style headings that match how people search, with the answer in the first sentence under each one.
• Reviews and third-party mentions you can point to, since AI engines lean on what others say about you. Our guide to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) covers how that fits together.

None of this guarantees a mention. It makes you quotable when the summary is being assembled.

Optimization advice to ignore

• Chasing the Overview with a page per keyword. Thin duplicate pages don't win comparisons; they dilute the page that could.
• Paying someone to "optimize for AI Overviews" with a secret formula. Nobody outside Google can promise inclusion. A vendor who does is selling the magic we don't sell.
• Stuffing "best" and "top-rated" into your headings. Self-declared superlatives read as exactly what they are.
• Writing off the regular results because a summary sits on top. Your page still has to exist, load and say something quotable for any engine to use it.
• Treating one study as the whole market. It's six months of one database. Use it as a reason to look at your own searches, not as a forecast.

If you'd rather have someone run those checks monthly and fix what they find, that's what we do on the get found on Google and AI path.

FAQ

Do AI Overviews appear on commercial searches?

Increasingly, yes. A Semrush study of more than 600,000 U.S. desktop keywords found AI Overviews on commercial-intent results grew an average of 71% between November 2025 and April 2026. The article reports growth, not the percentage of commercial searches that show one.

What is a commercial-intent search?

It's a search where someone is comparing options before choosing: "best," "reviews," "vs," "pricing," "alternatives." It sits between informational searches ("what is") and transactional searches ("buy now").

Are AI Overviews growing on "buy now" searches too?

Not according to the same study. Transactional AI Overviews fell 5% on average, and commercial keywords showed Overviews more often than transactional ones in every industry studied except Food & drink.

Does this apply to local service businesses?

Probably in part, but the study measured national desktop keywords, so don't assume your local searches match. Run your own ten searches in a logged-out window and see what appears.

Can I pay to get into an AI Overview?

No. Google Ads and AI Overviews can appear on the same page, but the summary isn't an ad slot you buy. Inclusion comes from having pages and third-party mentions that answer the question clearly.

How often should I check?

Quarterly is enough for most small businesses. AI summaries change, so a one-time check goes stale.