AI Overviews Show Up When Buyers Compare, Not Buy

You search "best way to protect a deck from rain." Google answers on the spot, with a summary and a few links. A week later you type "deck sealing near me" and get a map and a list of phone numbers. Same person, same deck, two completely different results pages.

That gap is what the Semrush data describes, and it changes where a small business should spend its effort on AI search.

Two kinds of searches, two kinds of results pages

Semrush sorts searches by intent. Commercial searches are the research phase: comparisons, "best of" queries, "is it worth it" questions. Transactional searches are the buying phase: someone who already knows what they want and is looking for where to get it.

Across the six-month window, AI Overviews grew 71% on average on the commercial side. On the transactional side they shrank by 5%. The authors' explanation is that longer research stages give an AI summary more room to shape the decision, while a buyer who is ready to act has little use for one.

Read that against your own business. A comparison query is where a stranger first learns your category exists. A transactional query is where a stranger who already trusts a short list picks one.

Why the split matters if you sell locally

A caveat first. The Semrush set is a U.S. desktop keyword database across ten industries, and the article doesn't address small or local businesses directly. Treat it as a direction, not a forecast for your town.

It does line up with a separate, local-specific study we covered in why "near me" searches mostly skip AI Overviews. Different researchers, different method, same shape: AI summaries cluster around questions and comparisons, and the buying moment stays with the map and the list.

For a business owner, that means two jobs that don't overlap much:

• The buying moment is won by the basics. A complete, accurate Google Business Profile, recent reviews, a page that answers "do you do this, where, and what does it cost to find out." Nothing about that got easier or harder because of AI Overviews.
• The comparison moment is where AI summaries can mention you or skip you. Your name only shows up there if some page on the web explains your category well enough to be quoted.

Skipping the second job doesn't kill the first. It means a growing share of first impressions happens somewhere you never see in your analytics.

How to check which side your customers are on

Spend twenty minutes on this before you spend a dollar. Search the way a customer would, in a private window, for each of these and write down what the page looks like:

1. The plain buying search for your main service ("[service] near me").
2. The same service phrased as a question ("how much does [service] cost").
3. A comparison ("[service A] vs [service B]", "best [service] for [situation]").
4. A worry ("is [service] worth it", "what to know before hiring a [trade]").

If searches 1 and 2 show a map or ads and searches 3 and 4 show an AI summary, you've found the split on your own turf. The summary pages are where a plain, honest explainer on your site has a shot at being quoted. The map pages are where your profile and reviews do the work.

The test turns "AI Overviews are coming for everything" into a short, specific list of pages to write or fix.

Building for the comparison queries

The pages that get lifted into a summary tend to do a few boring things well. The structure is the same one behind Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): a direct answer near the top, the reasoning below it, and facts a reader can verify.

• Write the comparison your customer is already making. If people choose between two approaches to your service, explain both fairly, including the cases where you'd tell them to pick the other one. A page that only sells won't be quoted.
• Put the answer first. One plain paragraph that stands on its own, then the detail.
• Use real specifics. Your service area, how a job works, what affects the price. Specifics are what a summary can attribute to you.
• Keep it current. A comparison page with last year's rules or prices is worse than none.

You don't need a page for every possible question. A handful that match the comparison searches you found above is plenty.

Moves that won't pay off

• Rewriting your buying pages for AI. The transactional side is moving the other way. Your contact page does not need a summary-friendly makeover.
• Chasing the Overview on every keyword. The Semrush data shows wide variation by industry. Food and drink flipped the pattern entirely, because that kind of decision happens fast.
• Paying for "AI ranking" without a baseline. If nobody has checked what your own comparison searches show today, there's nothing to measure a result against.
• Treating one number as a verdict. A 71% average across 600,000 keywords says little about your zip code. Your own twenty-minute test says more.

FAQ

What is the difference between commercial and transactional search intent?

Commercial intent is the research stage: comparing options, reading about what's best, weighing whether something is worth it. Transactional intent is the buying stage: the person knows what they want and is looking for where to get it. Semrush analyzed the two separately and found AI Overviews moving in opposite directions on each.

Are AI Overviews growing or shrinking?

Both, depending on the search. In the Semrush data for November 2025 through April 2026, they grew an average of 71% on commercial-intent results pages and fell 5% on transactional-intent ones. A single "growing" or "shrinking" answer hides the split.

Does this apply to a local business with one location?

The study didn't isolate local or small-business searches, so apply it as a direction. A separate local study found AI Overviews on a small share of "near me" searches, which points the same way. Run the four-search test above for your own category before deciding anything.

Should I stop worrying about my Google Business Profile?

No. The buying moment is where the profile does its work, and the Semrush data suggests that moment is not where AI Overviews are expanding. Keep the profile accurate and the reviews current.

Why did food and drink go the other way?

Semrush notes that food and drink decisions can be made within an hour, which leaves little room for a long research stage. In that industry AI Overviews appeared on 16% of transactional results pages and 14% of commercial ones, the only industry where the gap reversed.

How do I know if my business is being mentioned in an AI Overview?

Search your comparison and question queries yourself, in a private window, and read what appears. Search Console's generative AI report can show impressions inside Google's AI features if you have access. Neither is a complete picture, so treat them as spot checks.

If you'd rather have someone run those checks every month and fix what turns up, that's what we do on the Get Found on Google and AI path.