Original research
AI Overviews statistics 2026: what Google's AI cites, and what it ignores
Babel42 ran 660 commercial Google searches in six industries, recorded every site Google's AI Overviews cited, and then repeated the same searches every day for 15 days. 46% of the sites AI Overviews cited did not rank in Google's top 10 for the same search, and only 11% of AI Overviews cited the same sites as the day before.
- By:
- Babel42 Research
- Published:
- 12 October 2026
- Data collected:
- 26 September to 12 October 2026
- Market:
- Google US, English
- Searches run:
- 9,675: 660 searches, then 601 of them re-run every day for 15 days
Key findings
- 01
46% of the sites cited by Google's AI Overviews did not rank in Google's top 10 for the same search (3,415 cited sites across 600 searches). See the data
- 02
Only 32% of page-1 results were cited by the AI Overview on the same search. The #1 result was cited 49% of the time, and the #10 result 22%. See the data
- 03
Page-1 pages that AI Overviews ignored were thin rather than long: 25% had under 500 words, against 17% of cited pages at the same position. See the data
- 04
67% of the passages AI Overviews quote come from the top 30% of the page (1,702 passages traced back to their page). See the data
- 05
Only 11% of AI Overviews cited exactly the same sites as the day before, and the first-listed source changed in 42% of searches from one day to the next. See the data
- 06
Over 15 days, none of 418 tracked AI Overviews cited the same set of sites every day. Each cited about 7 sites a day, but 18 different sites over the 15 days. See the data
- 07
YouTube was cited in 63% of AI Overviews, more than twice as often as the next site, Reddit, at 24%. See the data
- 08
On buying searches in online shopping, 84% of AI Overviews cited Google's own product pages. See the data
- 09
AI Overviews and AI Mode had only 33% of their cited sites in common for the same search on the same day. See the data
About this data
The study covers 660 Google searches in US English, collected on 16 separate days between 26 September and 12 October 2026.
- The searches.600 generic searches, 100 in each of six industries: B2B software, finance, health, local services, online shopping and travel. They were picked by a fixed rule, not by hand: the highest-volume US searches around 10 starting topics per industry, after removing off-topic searches such as TV shows and stock tickers. Another 60 searches were “[brand] reviews” for the brands named most often.
- 26 September. For every search we recorded the organic top 10, the AI Overview and the AI Mode answer, then downloaded and measured the pages they pointed to.
- 28 September to 12 October. We ran the AI Overview again every day at 13:00 UTC, for the 601 searches that showed one on 26 September. That is 15 daily runs and 9,015 searches, all collected the same way.
- How we count.A site counts once per answer, however many of its pages or videos are cited. Google linking to its own pages (shopping product pages, flight searches) is reported as “Google's own pages”, not dropped.
- What it does not cover. US results only. These are high-volume commercial searches, not a random sample of everything people search. Rankings were recorded on 26 September only, so findings that compare citations with rankings use that day. Data collection started two days after Google began rolling out its September 2026 spam update.
The full method is at the end of the page, and every row behind every figure is in the data download.
Finding 1
46% of the sites AI Overviews cite don't rank in the top 10
Of 3,415 sites cited by AI Overviews across 600 searches, 45.7% had no page in Google's organic top 10 for the same search. Only 8.8% were the #1 result. In 10% of searches, not one cited site ranked on page 1.
- #18.8%
- #2 or #314.3%
- #4 to #1031.2%
- Not in the top 1045.7%
3,415 cited sites from the AI Overviews of 600 searches, 26 September 2026, each site counted once per answer. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Organic position of the cited site | Share of cited sites |
|---|---|
| #1 | 8.8% |
| #2 or #3 | 14.3% |
| #4 to #10 | 31.2% |
| Not in the top 10 | 45.7% |
The share barely changes between industries: 42.5% in travel, 43.7% in local services, 46.0% in health, 46.2% in B2B software, 47.3% in finance and 47.9% in online shopping.
What this means
Page 1 is not the entry ticket. Almost half of what AI Overviews cite comes from sites that do not rank for the search, so ranking well and being cited are two separate goals.
Finding 2
Only 32% of page-1 results get cited, and even #1 is cited less than half the time
Of 5,316 page-1 results, 32.3% were cited by the AI Overview on the same search. The #1 result was cited 48.8% of the time, falling to 21.5% at #10.
5,316 page-1 results from the searches whose AI Overview cited at least one site (89% of the 600), 26 September 2026. A result counts as cited when the AI Overview cites that same page. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Organic position | Cited by the AI Overview |
|---|---|
| #1 | 48.8% |
| #2 | 44.1% |
| #3 | 41.1% |
| #4 | 32.8% |
| #5 | 30.8% |
| #6 | 28.9% |
| #7 | 28.0% |
| #8 | 24.3% |
| #9 | 22.2% |
| #10 | 21.5% |
What this means
Ranking higher helps: every step up page 1 raises the chance of a citation. But the #1 result is passed over about half the time, so a top ranking is not a guarantee.
Finding 3
Page-1 pages that AI Overviews ignored were thin, not long
We downloaded 3,972 page-1 pages and compared the ignored ones with cited pages at the same organic position, so ranking was not doing the work. 25.4% of ignored pages had under 500 words, against 16.5% of cited pages. Pages over 3,000 words were almost equally common in both groups.
- Cited by the AI Overview
- Ignored by the AI Overview
Under 500 words
16.5%25.4%Fewer than 5 headings
42.6%49.3%No list or table
38.4%45.3%No named author
42.4%48.5%No schema markup
28.5%35.1%Older than 3 years
10.8%16.8%Over 3,000 words
14.2%15.5%
3,972 page-1 pages downloaded and measured, 26 September 2026. Ignored pages compared with cited pages at the same organic position. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Problem on the page | Cited pages | Ignored pages |
|---|---|---|
| Under 500 words | 16.5% | 25.4% |
| Fewer than 5 headings | 42.6% | 49.3% |
| No list or table | 38.4% | 45.3% |
| No named author | 42.4% | 48.5% |
| No schema markup | 28.5% | 35.1% |
| Older than 3 years | 10.8% | 16.8% |
| Over 3,000 words | 14.2% | 15.5% |
The median ignored page had 1,053 words, and the median cited page 1,294.
What this means
Thin, old and unstructured pages lose. Length is not the problem, so cutting long pages down is unlikely to help. Adding substance, headings, lists, an author and a recent date is closer to what cited pages have.
Finding 4
67% of quoted passages come from the top 30% of the page
We traced 1,702 AI Overview passages and 2,266 AI Mode passages back to the pages they came from. 67% of AI Overview passages and 62% of AI Mode passages came from the first 30% of the page's main text. The first fifth of the page alone supplied 56% of AI Overview passages.
- AI Overviews
- AI Mode
First fifth of the page
56%48%Second fifth
19%24%Third fifth
12%13%Fourth fifth
8%9%Last fifth
5%6%
1,702 AI Overview and 2,266 AI Mode passages placed in the cited page's main text, 26 September 2026. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Part of the page | AI Overviews | AI Mode |
|---|---|---|
| First fifth | 56% | 48% |
| Second fifth | 19% | 24% |
| Third fifth | 12% | 13% |
| Fourth fifth | 8% | 9% |
| Last fifth | 5% | 6% |
Many passages were not exact quotes. Google often rewords the page, so passages were placed by exact match first and then by the closest wording. For comparison, Kevin Indig's analysis of ChatGPT found 44% of its citations came from the first 30% of the page.
What this means
Put the answer first. A sentence you want quoted is far more likely to be used near the top of the page than below several screens of introduction.
Finding 5
Only 11% of AI Overviews cite the same sites two days running
We ran the same 601 searches every day for 15 days. On an average day, only 11.3% of AI Overviews cited exactly the same sites as the day before, and the first-listed source changed in 42.3%. Of the 418 searches with a cited AI Overview on all 15 days, none cited the same set of sites every day.
601 searches run daily from 28 September to 12 October 2026, compared over searches whose AI Overview cited at least one site on both days (530 to 582 a day). Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Day | Same sites as the day before |
|---|---|
| Day 2 | 10.1% |
| Day 3 | 10.9% |
| Day 4 | 12.6% |
| Day 5 | 10.5% |
| Day 6 | 10.5% |
| Day 7 | 11.6% |
| Day 8 | 11.2% |
| Day 9 | 10.3% |
| Day 10 | 12.7% |
| Day 11 | 15.7% |
| Day 12 | 12% |
| Day 13 | 11.5% |
| Day 14 | 7.7% |
| Day 15 | 11.1% |
- Each AI Overview cited about 7 sites on a given day (6.7), but 18 different sites over the 15 days (17.8).
- The same first source stayed in place on all 15 days in 14% of searches.
- 70% kept at least one site on every day. On average, 1.3 sites were cited all 15 days.
- Comparing the first day with the last, 62% of day-one sites were still cited, and 0.9% of AI Overviews were identical.
| Industry | Same sites as the day before | First source changed |
|---|---|---|
| B2B software | 21.3% | 36.1% |
| Online shopping | 13.1% | 43.1% |
| Local services | 14% | 53.5% |
| Travel | 10.5% | 50.3% |
| Finance | 6.6% | 42.3% |
| Health | 4% | 32.1% |
What this means
One check of an AI Overview tells you about one day. Whether your site is cited is better measured as how often, across many days, than as a yes or no.
See how often AI cites your brand
Babel42 AI Visibility checks whether Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok cite and recommend your brand, and lists every source they used.
Finding 6
YouTube is cited in 63% of AI Overviews
Across 8,295 AI Overviews collected over 16 days, YouTube was cited in 63.3%, more than twice as often as Reddit at 24.0%. Google's own pages came third at 17.5%, almost all of them shopping product pages and flight searches.
- YouTube63.3%
- Reddit24.0%
- Google's own pages17.5%
- NerdWallet10.0%
- Facebook9.7%
- Forbes8.0%
- Mayo Clinic6.6%
- U.S. News6.3%
- Cleveland Clinic6.3%
- Zapier5.4%
8,295 AI Overviews citing at least one site, 600 generic searches, 26 September and 28 September to 12 October 2026. Subdomains are counted with their main site. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Site | Share of AI Overviews citing it |
|---|---|
| YouTube | 63.3% |
| 24% | |
| Google's own pages | 17.5% |
| NerdWallet | 10% |
| 9.7% | |
| Forbes | 8% |
| Mayo Clinic | 6.6% |
| U.S. News | 6.3% |
| Cleveland Clinic | 6.3% |
| Zapier | 5.4% |
YouTube was the most-cited site in every industry. After video and forums, each industry is led by a few specialists: NerdWallet in finance (40.9%), Mayo Clinic (35.6%) and Cleveland Clinic (32.8%) in health, Zapier (29.8%) in B2B software, Angi (23.2%) in local services, RTINGS (23.1%) in online shopping and Expedia (19.8%) in travel.
| Industry | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B2B software1,514 answers | YouTube83.7% | Reddit42.9% | Zapier29.8% | PCMag22.9% | Forbes18.5% |
| Finance1,519 answers | YouTube48.4% | NerdWallet40.9% | Bankrate23.2% | Fidelity22.1% | Reddit18.6% |
| Health1,545 answers | YouTube66.9% | Mayo Clinic35.6% | Cleveland Clinic32.8% | Healthline23% | NIH21.7% |
| Local services1,127 answers | YouTube43.7% | Angi23.2% | Reddit22.8% | Facebook13.1% | HomeGuide11.2% |
| Online shopping1,331 answers | YouTube68.2% | Google's own pages68% | Reddit26.3% | RTINGS23.1% | New York Times18.5% |
| Travel1,259 answers | YouTube64.7% | Facebook27.6% | Reddit26.2% | Google's own pages25.8% | Expedia19.8% |
What this means
Being cited is not only about your own website. In every industry the answer leans on video, forums and a handful of trusted specialists, so being covered on those sites is part of being cited.
Finding 7
On buying searches, 84% of AI Overviews cite Google's own product pages
In online shopping, 68.0% of AI Overviews cited a Google product page. On buying searches such as “best cheap gaming headphones” it was 83.6%, and on how-to searches such as “laptop how to upgrade ram” 6.7%. Google rarely listed its own page first: 2.0% of the time, and typically sixth.
- Online shopping68.0%
- Travel25.8%
- B2B software8.0%
- Local services4.3%
- Health2.6%
- Finance0.7%
AI Overviews citing at least one site, generic searches, 26 September and 28 September to 12 October 2026. In travel these are mostly flight searches. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Industry | AI Overviews citing Google's own pages |
|---|---|
| Online shopping | 68.0% |
| Travel | 25.8% |
| B2B software | 8.0% |
| Local services | 4.3% |
| Health | 2.6% |
| Finance | 0.7% |
Shops were cited far less than they ranked. On 26 September, big retailers and brand stores held 18.1% of page-1 results on these shopping searches, but were 6.6% of the sites the AI Overviews cited. A retailer on page 1 was cited 22.4% of the time, against 32.7% for any other page-1 site. The AI Overviews cited YouTube (68.2%), Reddit (26.3%), RTINGS (23.1%) and the New York Times (18.5%) instead.
What this means
On a buying search, Google supplies the product link itself and takes the opinions from reviewers and video. If you sell products, your Google product listings and independent reviews of your products matter more here than your own product page ranking.
Finding 8
AI Overviews and AI Mode share only a third of their sources
For 475 searches where both answers cited sites on the same day, AI Overviews and AI Mode had on average 32.5% of their cited sites in common, and listed the same first source 43.2% of the time. In 10.1% of searches they shared no site at all.
- AI Overviews
- AI Mode
YouTube
68.1%40.0%Reddit
28.3%24.8%Google's own pages
15.9%25.3%
600 generic searches, 26 September 2026. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Source | AI Overviews | AI Mode |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 68.1% | 40.0% |
| 28.3% | 24.8% | |
| Google's own pages | 15.9% | 25.3% |
AI Mode answered all 600 searches, but cited no site at all in 10.5% of them. In finance that rose to 17%, followed by online shopping (14%), local services (10%), health (9%), B2B software (8%) and travel (5%).
What this means
Being cited in AI Overviews does not mean being cited in AI Mode. If both matter to you, check both. Our guide to how Google AI Mode works covers the differences.
Finding 9
AI Overviews appeared on 90% of these searches
On 26 September, 541 of the 600 searches (90.2%) showed an AI Overview. Finance and health were highest at 98%, and local services lowest at 79%. Searches that showed one kept showing one: on each of the following 15 days, 93% to 98% of them did again.
- Finance98%
- Health98%
- B2B software96%
- Online shopping86%
- Travel84%
- Local services79%
600 generic searches, 26 September 2026. Source: Babel42 AI Overviews study 2026.
Show the numbersHide the numbers
| Industry | Searches showing an AI Overview |
|---|---|
| Finance | 98% |
| Health | 98% |
| B2B software | 96% |
| Online shopping | 86% |
| Travel | 84% |
| Local services | 79% |
What this means
On high-volume commercial searches, an AI Overview is now the normal result, not the exception. For most of these searches, the AI Overview is the first thing a searcher reads.
Full method
Choosing the searches.For each of the six industries we started from 10 topics (23 for B2B software, where each topic produced fewer searches) and collected the searches containing each topic with at least 100 US searches a month. We kept those with a buying or research word, dropped navigational searches, “near me” searches, near-duplicates and off-topic searches (stock tickers, TV shows, careers, device settings, tax filing), took at most 12 per topic, and then the top 100 per industry by volume. The 60 brand searches were “[brand] reviews” for the 10 brands named most often in each industry's answers.
Collecting the results. All searches were run as Google US, English, without personalisation. On 26 September we collected the organic results (positions 1 to 10), the AI Overview and the AI Mode answer for every search. From 28 September to 12 October we collected the AI Overview once a day at 13:00 UTC, the same way every day, for the 601 searches that showed one on 26 September.
Counting citations.A cited source is any link the AI answer lists, in the order Google lists them. A site is the web address without “www.”, counted once per answer. In the most-cited lists, subdomains are counted with their main site (for example, two Cleveland Clinic subdomains count as one). Day-to-day comparisons only use searches whose AI Overview cited at least one site on both days.
Cited vs ignored pages.We downloaded the pages in the organic top 10 and the cited pages, with a real browser when a plain download was blocked, and measured each page's main text: words, headings, lists and tables, schema markup, a named author and the published or updated date. 3,972 page-1 pages were compared, with ignored pages matched to cited pages at the same organic position. Pages that blocked us are left out, and slightly more of the ignored pages could not be measured (80% covered, against 83% of cited pages).
Placing quoted passages.Each AI source carries the passage the answer used. We looked for it in the page's main text, first as an exact match, then with small wording changes, then by the closest 40-word stretch where at least 60% of the words matched. Its position is where it starts, as a share of the main text.
Shopping.“Buying searches” contain best, top, rated, cheap, cheapest, affordable, low cost, vs, review, price or which, and not “how”. How-to and information searches contain none of those words. A “Google's own pages” are any google.com link: in shopping these are product pages, and in travel mostly flight searches. “Big retailers and brand stores” are this fixed list: amazon, walmart, bestbuy, target, ebay, costco, homedepot, lowes, wayfair, macys, kohls, nike, adidas, apple, samsung, dell, hp, lenovo, ikea, etsy, newegg, bhphotovideo, sears, nordstrom, zappos, dickssportinggoods, rei, kitchenaid, ninjakitchen, dyson, sephora, ulta, cvs, walgreens, jcpenney (all .com).
Download the data
One zip of plain CSV files (2 MB): the 660 searches, the 26 September top 10 with whether each page and site was cited, every source cited by every AI answer on every day (83,254 rows), and whether an AI Overview was shown on each daily run. Answer text is not included.
Cite this study
The findings, figures and data are free to use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Credit Babel42 and link to this page.
Babel42 (2026). AI Overviews statistics 2026: what Google's AI cites, and what it ignores. https://babel42.io/research/ai-overviews-2026
To link to one finding, use its section address, for example https://babel42.io/research/ai-overviews-2026#daily-change. For questions about the data, or to ask for a cut we have not published, email support@babel42.io.
AI Overviews, answered
Do Google's AI Overviews cite the top-ranking pages?
Often not. In Babel42's study of 600 commercial Google searches, 46% of the sites AI Overviews cited did not rank in Google's top 10 for the same search, and only 32% of page-1 results were cited. The #1 result was cited 49% of the time.
How often do AI Overview citations change?
Every day. Babel42 ran 601 searches daily for 15 days and found that only 11% of AI Overviews cited exactly the same sites as the day before. The first-listed source changed in 42% of searches from one day to the next, and no AI Overview cited the same set of sites on all 15 days.
Which websites do AI Overviews cite most?
YouTube, by a wide margin. Across 8,295 AI Overviews collected over 16 days, YouTube was cited in 63%, Reddit in 24% and Google's own pages in 18%. In each industry a few specialists follow, such as NerdWallet in finance and Mayo Clinic in health.
Which part of a page do AI Overviews quote?
The top. Babel42 traced 1,702 AI Overview passages back to the pages they came from, and 67% came from the first 30% of the page's main text. For AI Mode it was 62% of 2,266 passages.
Do AI Overviews and AI Mode cite the same sources?
Mostly not. For the same search on the same day, AI Overviews and AI Mode had 33% of their cited sites in common on average, and listed the same first source 43% of the time. AI Mode also answered 10.5% of searches without citing any site.
How often do AI Overviews appear in Google search?
On 90% of the 600 high-volume commercial searches Babel42 tracked. Finance and health were highest at 98% and local services lowest at 79%. Searches that showed an AI Overview showed one again on 93% to 98% of the following 15 days.
Find out where AI cites your brand.
Babel42 AI Visibility checks seven AI assistants, including Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, and shows which sources they cite for you and for your rivals.