Semrush: AI Overviews Now in 13% of Google Searches

Something unusual is happening at the top of Google search results. You may have missed it, but your traffic probably hasn’t. A sweeping new study reveals how Google is replacing traditional links with AI-generated answers, reshaping visibility overnight. 

The Top Spot Isn’t Yours Anymore

It used to be simple. Do great SEO, rank well, and earn clicks. But that logic is breaking down fast.

A new study by Semrush, analyzing more than 10 M+ keywords, shows Google is now answering questions directly, without sending users to websites. These “AI Overviews” are taking over the first screen of results, giving users what they need right away and leaving publishers out of the loop.

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AI Overviews are different from the featured snippets you’re used to seeing. Rather than pulling a single sentence from a page, these summaries merge content across the web to form a full answer at the top of the search results. They often appear above organic listings, pushing links further down and reducing users’ need to click.

That makes them more efficient but also more opaque. If your content contributes to that AI answer, users may never know. And if it doesn’t, you’re now competing with a machine-generated summary that lives above your link, pulling focus, clicks, and trust.

Which Industries Are Being Hit the Hardest?

Based on Semrush’s analysis, the AI takeover is far from random. It’s most visible in categories where fact-based information is abundant:

• Science: +22.27% growth in AI Overviews (Jan to Mar)
• Health: +20.33%
• People & Society: +18.83%
• Law & Government: +15.18%

These are fields where users expect trustworthy, direct answers, and Google is obliging with AI summaries. But those same categories also include sensitive, controversial, or regulated content. That’s what makes this expansion bold. Google seems confident its AI can handle it.

In contrast, categories that rely on freshness, like News and Sports, are seeing slower adoption. For now, Google is steering clear of content that changes minute by minute.

Does This Mean Fewer Clicks for Everyone?

You’d expect AI Overviews to drive up “zero-click” searches, where users find their answers without visiting a single link. That’s the assumption many SEOs feared most.

But here’s where it gets strange.

According to Datos, the average zero-click rate for AI Overviews keywords dropped slightly, from 38.1% to 36.2%, between January and March 2025. This suggests users aren’t always stopping at the summary. Some may still scroll down. Others might be looking for nuance that the AI doesn’t capture.

Still, that’s no guarantee of safety. Informational queries already have high zero-click rates. The AI Overview simply makes it easier for Google to keep traffic inside its walls.

Google Is Targeting Low-Risk, Low-Money Queries First

So far, AI Overviews tend to appear for:

• Long-tail questions with low CPC (under $2)
• Informational queries with low to moderate keyword difficulty
• Terms with under 100 monthly searches

To navigate this changing landscape, many businesses are now relying on professional SEO services that adapt content strategy for both AI and human readers.

These aren’t the high-value, transactional keywords advertisers fight over. That’s no accident. Google is starting where it can test safely on cheap, low-competition queries that don’t disrupt its ad revenue.

But the edges are already blurring. Navigational queries nearly doubled their AI Overview presence between January and March. Commercial terms jumped from 6.28% to 8.69%. Google is testing the waters deeper in the funnel.

How long before branded queries or product comparisons are included more aggressively?

The Quiet Land Grab for Visibility Has Begun

Just because a keyword now includes an AI Overview doesn’t mean your site is being cited. In many cases, these summaries link to multiple sources, or none at all.

Semrush tracked which domains gained or lost visibility inside these summaries. March saw a major leap across verticals:

• Real Estate: +258%
• Restaurants: +273%
• Insurance: +209%
• Retail: +206%

These numbers don’t just show which industries are affected; they hint at how fast the AI layer is growing, even in fields where conversions matter.

Google isn’t replacing content. It’s absorbing it. And the brands that feed the AI well enough to earn citations will survive. The others may fade from view.

What Smart Teams Are Doing Right Now

If your traffic depends on visibility in Google, you can’t afford to ignore it. Here’s what to do:

• Identify keywords that trigger AI Overviews in your space and track changes weekly.
• Evaluate performance drops for affected queries.
• Adjust your content for inclusion, not just ranking. Authority, clarity, and structured data now matter even more.
• Invest in video and tools. Video content is harder for AI to replicate and is increasingly cited in AI Overviews.
• Shift focus to mid-funnel queries with high commercial intent that AI hasn’t yet overtaken.

Key Takeaways

• AI Overviews appeared in 13.14% of queries in March 2025, nearly doubling from January’s 6.49%.
• Science, Health, and Law content are the most affected, with rapid growth in AI summary presence.
• Zero-click behavior isn’t increasing as fast as feared, but user habits are clearly shifting.
• Google is targeting low-risk informational queries first, but commercial terms are next in line.
• Brands need to rethink visibility strategies, focusing on authority, clarity, and media formats that AI can’t easily replace.