BrightEdge data reveals AI Overviews now trigger on nearly half of all tracked queries — but organic still controls the majority of search. The real story is in how AIOs are growing, what they’re citing, and how dramatically that varies by industry.

It’s been a massive year of change in search, and AI Overviews are playing a bigger role than ever. Many marketers are noticing the impact — shifts in click-through rates, changes in traffic patterns, new questions about what’s actually driving visibility.

So we used BrightEdge’s Generative Parser to take a deep look at how AIOs have evolved over the past 12 months. We tracked AIO presence across our keyword set, measured the actual pixel height of AIOs on the page, and analyzed citation overlap — whether the sources Google cites in AIOs are the same ones ranking on page 1 organically.

We then compared citation overlap snapshots a year apart, broken out by industry, to understand how the relationship between organic rankings and AIO citations is evolving across verticals.

Data Collected

Using BrightEdge AI Catalyst™ and our Generative Parser, we analyzed:

• AIO presence: the percentage of tracked keywords triggering an AI Overview, daily over 12 months
• AIO pixel height: the average height of AIOs in pixels, tracked daily over 12 months
• Citation-to-organic overlap: the percentage of AIO-cited sources that also rank in the organic top 10, tracked over a five-month window
• Industry citation overlap: year-over-year snapshots comparing AIO citation overlap with organic rankings across nine verticals

Key Finding

AI Overviews are growing fast — but organic still runs the majority of search. And what Google cites in AIOs is largely different from what ranks on page 1.

AIO presence has grown from roughly 30% to 48% of tracked queries over the past year — a 58% increase. When AIOs appear, they now average over 1,200 pixels tall, pushing organic results completely below the fold on a standard screen.

But the other side of that number matters just as much: approximately 52% of queries still trigger no AI Overview at all. For the majority of search, organic rankings remain the entire experience.

The citation overlap data adds another layer. Only about 17% of sources cited in AIOs also rank in the organic top 10 — and that number has been flat for months. Roughly 5 out of 6 AIO citations pull from content that isn’t on page 1 of traditional results. This varies dramatically by industry, from 24% overlap in Healthcare to just 11% in Finance.

AIO Presence: From 30% to Nearly Half of All Queries

Over the past 12 months, AIO presence has grown steadily and significantly:

The growth trend has been consistent, with AIO presence crossing the 40% mark in mid-2025 and pushing toward 50% by early 2026. At peak, AIOs appeared on more than half of all tracked queries.

But flip that number around: approximately 52% of queries still have no AI Overview at all. For the majority of search, organic rankings are still the entire experience. That’s not a footnote — it’s the foundation everything else builds on.

AIO Pixel Height: Pushing Organic Below the Fold

When AIOs do appear, they’re taking up more of the screen than ever. We tracked the average pixel height of AIOs daily over the past year:

On a standard desktop viewport of approximately 900 pixels, the average AIO now consumes more than the entire visible screen before a user scrolls. The first organic result sits completely below the fold. Users are getting answers — or at least a substantial response — before they ever see a traditional blue link.

This has direct implications for click-through rates. Even when organic results are strong, the sheer physical space AIOs now occupy means fewer users are making it to the organic listings when an AIO is present.

Citation Overlap: What AIOs Cite vs. What Ranks on Page 1

This is where the data gets especially interesting. We analyzed whether the sources Google cites within AI Overviews are the same sources that rank in the organic top 10 for those queries.

Only about 17% of sources cited in AIOs also rank in the organic top 10. That number has been remarkably flat — barely moving over the entire tracking period. Roughly 5 out of 6 AIO citations are pulling from content that isn’t on page 1 of traditional search results.

What does this mean practically? Ranking #1 organically doesn’t automatically get you cited in the AIO. And not ranking on page 1 doesn’t mean you’re excluded from AIO citations either. The two experiences are connected — but they’re not the same thing.

The broader overlap (sources ranking somewhere in the top 100) has been slowly increasing, from about 49% to 53%. Google is gradually pulling more AIO citations from content that ranks organically — but the page-1 overlap has stayed flat. The growth is coming from content ranking on pages 2 through 10, which users would essentially never reach through traditional organic browsing.

Industry Breakdown: AIO Citation Overlap Varies Dramatically

We compared AIO citation overlap with organic top-10 rankings across nine industries, using snapshots taken a year apart. The differences are striking:

Healthcare: The Highest Overlap

Healthcare has the highest top-10 overlap at approximately 24%, and it’s been stable year over year. Google appears to lean heavily on already-trusted, already-ranking sources when generating health-related AIOs — consistent with its YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) approach to sensitive content. If you rank well organically in Healthcare, you’re more likely to be cited in the AIO than in any other vertical.

B2B Tech, Education, and Insurance: Stable Middle Ground

These verticals sit in the low 20s for top-10 overlap and have been relatively stable. About one in four to five AIO citations comes from a page-1 organic result. The majority of citations still come from outside the top 10, but there’s a meaningful connection between organic authority and AIO visibility in these spaces.

Travel, eCommerce, and Entertainment: Massive Year-Over-Year Growth

These verticals saw the most dramatic shifts. Travel’s top-10 overlap jumped from 6% to 18%. eCommerce went from 3% to 13%. Entertainment surged from 3% to 19%. A year ago, AIOs in these verticals were citing almost entirely from outside the organic top 10. That’s changing fast — but even with these gains, the vast majority of AIO citations in these spaces (80%+) still come from outside page 1.

Finance: Low Overlap, High Divergence

Finance has just 11% top-10 overlap — meaning nearly 9 out of 10 AIO citations come from sources outside the organic top 10. This is one of the most divergent verticals, where what Google cites in AIOs looks very different from what ranks on page 1 organically. For finance brands, organic rankings and AIO visibility may require attention to different content signals.

The Non-Ranking Story: How Much Are AIOs Citing Sources Outside the Top 100?

Beyond the top-10 overlap, we also looked at how many AIO citations come from sources that don’t rank anywhere in the top 100 organic results. The year-over-year trend shows AIOs becoming somewhat more aligned with organic rankings overall — but the gap remains large in many verticals:

The overall trend is clear: AIOs are becoming more connected to organically-ranking content across the board. But in verticals like Finance (66%), eCommerce (62%), and Restaurants (76%), the majority of AIO citations still come from sources that don’t rank anywhere in the top 100 organic results. These are fundamentally different content sets.

What This Means for Your Search Strategy

1. Organic Still Runs the Majority of Search

With approximately 52% of queries triggering no AI Overview at all, organic rankings remain the primary visibility channel for most search activity. The fundamentals — content quality, technical health, topical authority — are the foundation everything builds on.

1. When AIOs Appear, They Dominate the Screen

An average AIO now exceeds 1,200 pixels — taller than a standard visible screen. The first organic result sits below the fold. For queries where AIOs are present, click-through rates to organic results are under pressure regardless of ranking position.

1. Page-1 Rankings and AIO Citations Are Connected — But Not the Same

Only about 17% of AIO citations come from the organic top 10. Ranking #1 doesn’t guarantee AIO inclusion, and not ranking on page 1 doesn’t mean exclusion. Understanding your visibility across both organic and AIO experiences is essential.

1. Your Industry Changes Everything

Healthcare sees 24% top-10 overlap. Finance sees 11%. The relationship between organic rankings and AIO citations is not universal — it’s vertical-specific. Brands need to understand how AIOs behave in their specific industry to make informed decisions.

1. The Direction Is Toward More Alignment — But We’re Not There Yet

AIOs are gradually citing more content that also ranks organically, particularly in verticals like Travel, eCommerce, and Entertainment where overlap has grown significantly year over year. But even in the fastest-growing categories, 80%+ of AIO citations still come from outside the organic top 10. The gap is closing, but it’s still wide.

Technical Methodology

Data Source: BrightEdge AI Catalyst™, Generative Parser

Analysis Period: February 2025 – February 2026 (12-month tracking)

AIO Presence: Daily tracking of AI Overview triggering rates across tracked keyword set

AIO Pixel Height: Daily measurement of average AI Overview height in pixels

Citation Overlap: Weekly analysis of overlap between AIO-cited sources and organic ranking positions (top 10, top 100)

Industry Snapshots: Year-over-year comparison of citation overlap across nine verticals

Industries Covered: Healthcare, B2B Tech, Education, Insurance, Entertainment, Travel, eCommerce, Finance, Restaurants

Key Takeaways

• AIO Presence Has Grown Significantly: AI Overviews now trigger on approximately 48% of tracked queries, up from 30% a year ago — a 58% increase. At peak, more than half of all queries showed an AIO.
• But Organic Still Dominates: Approximately 52% of queries have no AI Overview. For the majority of search, traditional organic rankings are the entire user experience.
• AIOs Are Pushing Organic Below the Fold: Average AIO height now exceeds 1,200 pixels, up 15% year over year. On a standard screen, the first organic result sits below the fold when an AIO is present.
• AIO Citations and Page-1 Rankings Are Largely Different: Only about 17% of AIO-cited sources also rank in the organic top 10. This has been flat for months. The content AIOs cite is largely different from what users see on page 1.
• Industry Differences Are Dramatic: Healthcare sees 24% top-10 overlap. Finance sees just 11%. Travel grew from 6% to 18% year over year. Every vertical has a different relationship with AIOs.
• The Trend Is Toward More Alignment: AIOs are gradually citing more organically-ranking content, particularly in Travel, eCommerce, and Entertainment. But even in the fastest-moving verticals, 80%+ of citations still come from outside the top 10.

We track thousands of prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity every week, spanning nine industries. This week we asked a fundamental question: how volatile are AI search citations really? Are the sources AI engines cite and mention changing constantly — or are they more stable than people think?

The answer is encouraging — with an important caveat.

Data Collected

Using BrightEdge AI Catalyst™, we analyzed citation and mention behavior across all five major AI engines to understand::

• How many domains saw week-over-week changes in citation share
• Whether changes skewed toward gains or losses
• How volatility correlates with citation volume and industry
• Whether brand mentions and citations are moving in the same direction
• The relationship between mention rank position and stability

Key Finding

AI search is consolidating, not redistributing. The vast majority of citations are stable week to week — but when changes happen, they're overwhelmingly losses.

96.8% of cited domains saw zero change week over week. Among the roughly 3% that did move, 87% were declines. Only 13% were gains. And those changes weren't gradual — most were binary, with domains going from cited to not cited at all on a given prompt.

Over 51% of all citation volume was associated with declining domains. Only about 5% was associated with growing ones. The losses aren't being redistributed to new winners. They're disappearing. AI engines are tightening their citation radius — getting more selective about what they link to, not swapping one source for another.

The Stability Story: How Locked In Is the Core?

The headline numbers paint a clear picture of stability:

If a domain is part of the trusted citation set for a given prompt, it tends to stay there. And the higher you rank, the more durable your position. Brands in the #1 or #2 mention position are nearly cemented — only 0.6% saw any movement.

That stability drops as you move down the rankings:

The core holds. The volatility lives in the middle and tail positions.

But When Things Change, They Go Down — Fast

Among the ~3% of domains that did see citation changes this week, the direction was overwhelmingly one-sided:

Most changes were binary. Domains didn't gradually lose a few percentage points of citation share — they went from being cited to not being cited at all on a given prompt. Only about 0.4% of all tracked domains gained new citations this week.

This means the losses aren't flowing to new winners. AI engines are pruning their citation sets without proportional replacement. The citation radius is tightening.

The Core vs. Fringe Dynamic: Why Bigger Footprints See More Churn

At first glance, the data seems counterintuitive: domains with larger citation footprints are more likely to see week-over-week changes. But this makes perfect sense once you understand the two-zone dynamic.

Think of any domain's citation footprint as two zones:

• The core — prompts where it's consistently the best source. Rock solid.
• The fringe — prompts where it's borderline relevant, maybe the 8th or 9th best answer. This is where the churn happens.

A domain cited on just a handful of highly specific prompts is almost certainly there because it's genuinely the best source — there's no fringe zone. A domain cited across thousands of prompts inevitably has a margin of borderline inclusions that can rotate in or out weekly.

The data confirms this:

Among the very biggest domains, 90% have a fringe — but it's typically only about 5% of their total citation share that's in play any given week. For mid-tier domains with solid footprints, that fringe widens to around 17%.

The core holds. It's the edges that get trimmed.

Citation Concentration: The Rich Get Richer

AI search citations are heavily concentrated among a small number of domains:

Mentions are slightly less concentrated but still steep:

This concentration, combined with the pruning trend, means the barrier to entry is high and rising. Only 0.4% of domains gained new citations this week. The door in is narrow.

Not All Industries Churn Equally

Citation volatility varies significantly by industry vertical and website type.

Citation Volatility by Website Type

Finance sites are the most volatile — over half of tracked finance domains saw citation changes, with 91% of those being declines. Financial data sites, market trackers, and investment research platforms are experiencing the most pruning.

Review sites and news/media follow closely, both skewing heavily negative. Health/medical sites are notable: while "only" 34% changed, 100% of those changes were declines.

eCommerce/retail was the most balanced category, with the highest proportion of positive changes (27% of changes were gains). Government and institutional sites were the most stable at under 4% — when AI engines trust a .gov source, that trust holds.

The Emerging Split: Being Mentioned ≠ Being Cited

One of the most striking patterns this week was the divergence between mentions and citations. Multiple website categories saw their citations drop significantly while their mentions actually increased.

AI engines are still talking about these sources by name — referencing them in the body of their answers — but increasingly choosing not to link to them.

This suggests that brand authority and citation authority are becoming two different things in AI search. You can be well-known to the models without earning the link. Being mentioned is not the same as being cited — and the gap is growing.

Prompt Landscape: What AI Engines Are Being Asked

While the prompt data doesn't allow week-over-week comparison, it reveals important structural patterns about how AI search works across industries.

Intent Distribution by Industry

Healthcare is overwhelmingly informational (94.2%) — people are researching symptoms and conditions. eCommerce is majority consideration (61.5%) — people are shopping and comparing. Finance is the most evenly split across all three intents.

Competitive Density by Industry

Travel is the most crowded vertical — an average of 26.2 brands mentioned per prompt and 24.7 URLs cited. If you're competing in travel, the AI answer landscape is significantly more congested than any other industry.

Healthcare shows a unique pattern: relatively few brands per prompt (11.1) but a high URL citation count (21.2). AI engines cite lots of medical sources — medical centers, government health agencies, research databases — but mention fewer commercial brands.

How Citations and Mentions Differ by Intent

Informational prompts generate nearly twice as many citations as mentions — AI engines are linking to more sources when explaining concepts. Consideration prompts bring mentions closer to citations — brands get named when users are comparing options. Transactional prompts generate the fewest citations — AI engines are more direct when users are ready to act.

What This Means for Your AI Search Strategy

1. If You're in the Core, You're in a Strong Position

97% of citations didn't change this week. Positions at the top of the mention rankings are especially durable — 99.4% of #1 and #2 positions held. If you've built strong AI search presence, that investment is paying off with real stability.

2. But Changes Are Binary — Monitor Before They Happen

Domains don't slowly lose citation share over weeks. They go from cited to not cited in a single cycle. There's no gradual warning. Understanding where you sit — core vs. fringe — on each prompt is how you stay ahead of shifts rather than reacting to them.

3. AI Engines Are Getting More Selective, Not Shifting Preferences

The pruning trend means AI engines are tightening around fewer trusted sources. Losses aren't flowing to competitors. This makes existing positions more valuable — and makes breaking in harder for newcomers. Only 0.4% of domains gained new citations this week.

4. Brand Awareness Isn't Enough — You Need Citation Authority

The growing gap between mentions and citations means being known to AI engines doesn't automatically earn you the link. Optimizing for citation visibility — not just brand mentions — is increasingly important as the two diverge.

5. Know Your Industry's Volatility Profile

Finance and news/media domains face significantly more churn than eCommerce or government sites. If you're in a high-volatility category, monitoring your fringe positions is especially critical — that's where the pruning is happening fastest.

Technical Methodology

Data Source: BrightEdge AI Catalyst™

Analysis Period: Week of February 1, 2026 (week-over-week comparison)

AI Engines Tracked: ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity

Industries Covered: eCommerce, Healthcare, Finance, Travel, B2B Tech, Entertainment, Education, Restaurants, Insurance

Metrics Analyzed:

• Citation share of voice and week-over-week change by domain
• Mention share and week-over-week change by brand
• Brand average mention rank position
• Prompt intent classification (Informational, Consideration, Transactional)
• Brand and URL density per prompt by industry

Website Type Classification: Domains categorized by type (Finance, Health/Medical, eCommerce/Retail, News/Media, Tech, Government/Institutional, Social/UGC, Video, Review Sites, Reference/Encyclopedia, Travel, Entertainment) based on domain characteristics.

Key Takeaways

AI Search Citations Are Remarkably Stable: 96.8% of cited domains and 97.2% of mentioned brands saw zero change week over week. Top-ranked positions (#1 and #2) are nearly locked in at 99.4% stability.

But When Changes Happen, They're Overwhelmingly Losses: 87% of citation changes were declines. Over 51% of citation volume was associated with declining domains, vs. only 5% with growing ones. Changes are binary — domains drop out entirely rather than fading gradually.

AI Is Consolidating, Not Redistributing: Losses aren't flowing to new winners. AI engines are pruning borderline citations without replacement, tightening around a smaller set of trusted sources. Only 0.4% of domains gained new citations.

Bigger Footprints Have Bigger Fringes: The highest-volume domains are most likely to see changes, but those changes typically affect only ~5% of their citation share. Mid-tier domains see wider fringe exposure (~17%). The core is stable; it's the edges that churn.

Finance Is the Most Volatile Category: 51% of finance domains saw citation changes (91% declines). Review sites, news/media, and health/medical follow. Government sites are the most stable at under 4%.

Brand Mentions and Citations Are Diverging: Multiple categories saw citations decline while mentions increased. AI engines are naming brands without linking to them. Brand authority and citation authority are becoming two separate things.

18 Months of AI Overviews: What Healthcare Tells Us About Where Finance Is Headed

BrightEdge data reveals Google uses the same YMYL playbook for both industries. The difference isn't how Google treats them — it's how people search.

It's been 18 months since Google launched AI Overviews. We now have enough data to see patterns — and make predictions.
 On the surface, Healthcare and Finance look completely different. Healthcare sits at 88% AI Overview coverage. Finance is at 21%. But 18 months of BrightEdge Generative Parser™ data reveals something deeper: Google applies the same logic to both categories. The gap isn't about how Google treats YMYL content — it's about how people search in these industries.

Data Collected

Using BrightEdge Generative Parser™, we analyzed AI Overview presence across Healthcare and Finance from May 2024 through December 2025 to understand:

• How AI Overview coverage evolved in each industry over 18 months
• Which query types saw the fastest expansion
• Where Google kept AI out — and why
• Whether the two YMYL categories follow the same underlying pattern

Key Finding

Google uses the same playbook for both industries. Finance just has a different query mix.

A large portion of Finance search is real-time queries — stock prices, tickers, market data. Healthcare doesn't have an equivalent. Google keeps AI out of real-time data for good reason: you need accuracy, not synthesis.

But when you compare similar query types — the educational, explainer, "help me understand" searches — the trajectory is nearly identical:

• Healthcare educational: 82% → 93% (near saturation)
• Finance educational: 16% → 67% (climbing fast)

Finance educational content is where Healthcare was 12-18 months ago. At current growth rates, Finance will reach Healthcare-level saturation (90%+) by late 2026.

The Headline Gap: Why Finance Looks So Different

At first glance, the numbers tell a simple story:

Both industries grew roughly the same amount in absolute terms. But Healthcare started high; Finance started low.

The reason isn't Google's caution with financial content. It's the query mix.

Finance Query Composition

Finance search includes a massive real-time component that Healthcare simply doesn't have:

When someone searches "AAPL stock price," they don't need AI synthesis. They need a live price chart. Google's traditional SERP features — the stock widget, the market summary — already do this job perfectly.

Healthcare doesn't have an equivalent category. There's no "diabetes ticker" that needs real-time data. The vast majority of Healthcare searches are educational — symptoms, conditions, treatments — where AI synthesis adds genuine value.

The Parallel: Educational Queries Tell the Real Story

When you isolate educational queries in both industries, the pattern becomes clear:

Healthcare Educational (Specialty Care: Conditions, Symptoms, Treatments)

Healthcare launched high and reached near-saturation within 18 months.

Finance Educational (Tax, Retirement, Planning, Credit)

Finance educational started low but grew 51 percentage points in 18 months — accelerating sharply in 2025.

What This Means

The gap between Healthcare (93%) and Finance (67%) educational queries is now just 26 percentage points — down from 66 points in May 2024.

At Finance's current growth rate, educational content will reach 90%+ saturation by late 2026.

Where Google Expanded in Finance

The growth wasn't uniform. Some Finance categories exploded while others barely moved.

Biggest Movers (May 2024 → December 2025)

What Stayed Flat

The Pattern

Google went all-in on the same query types in Finance that it dominated in Healthcare: educational, explainer, planning content. The categories that grew fastest are the ones where AI synthesis genuinely helps users understand complex topics.

Meanwhile, Google kept AI out of real-time data and navigational queries — the same approach it takes in every industry.

Where Google Kept AI Out — In Both Industries

The most revealing pattern isn't where Google expanded. It's where Google deliberately kept AI out — and how consistent that logic is across both YMYL categories.

Local "Near Me" Queries

Google tested AI Overviews on local queries in both industries — then pulled back. These queries belong to maps and local pack, not AI synthesis.

Real-Time Data

Finance has a massive category of queries where real-time accuracy matters more than synthesis. Healthcare doesn't have an equivalent — which is why Healthcare's overall number is so much higher.

The Logic

Google applies the same framework everywhere:

• AI where synthesis adds value: Educational content, explainers, planning queries
• Traditional results where accuracy matters: Real-time data, local queries, navigational searches

The 18-Month Trajectory: Side by Side

Healthcare

Finance

What This Means

The trajectories follow the same pattern:

1. Educational content saturates first — Healthcare conditions hit 90%+ by December 2024; Finance educational is on the same path
2. Local queries get tested, then pulled back — Both industries saw Google experiment with AI on "near me" queries, then reduce coverage
3. Real-time/transactional stays flat — Stock tickers in Finance, navigational queries in both industries

Why This Matters: The Prediction

Based on 18 months of data across both YMYL categories, here's what we expect:

Finance Educational Content Will Hit 90%+ by Late 2026

Finance educational queries grew 51 percentage points in 18 months (16% → 67%). At this rate, saturation matching Healthcare (90%+) is 12-18 months away.

The Headline Gap Will Close

As Finance educational content saturates, the overall Finance AI Overview rate will climb toward Healthcare's level. The 67-point gap (21% vs 88%) will narrow significantly — not because Google is changing its approach, but because the query mix effect will diminish as more categories reach saturation.

Local Will Stay Local

Google tested AI Overviews on "near me" queries in both industries and pulled back. This is Maps territory. Don't expect AI to take over local search in YMYL categories.

Real-Time Will Stay Traditional

Stock tickers, market data, and live prices will remain in traditional SERP features. Google won't risk AI synthesis where accuracy matters most.

What This Means for Financial Services Marketers

1. Educational Content Is AI Territory — Optimize Now

Tax explainers, retirement planning guides, mortgage education, credit fundamentals — these query types are already at 60-70% AI Overview coverage and climbing. If you're not optimizing for AI visibility on educational content, you're ceding ground.

2. The Playbook Is Clear: Healthcare Shows the Way

Healthcare's trajectory is Finance's future. The categories that saturated first in Healthcare (conditions, symptoms, treatments) are analogous to what's saturating now in Finance (tax, retirement, planning). Look at where Healthcare is today to see where Finance will be in 12-18 months.

3. Real-Time and Local Are Different Games

If your strategy is focused on stock-related queries or local branch visibility, traditional SEO still applies. AI Overviews aren't taking over these spaces — Google is deliberately keeping them in specialized SERP features.

4. Track Query Intent, Not Just Industry Averages

The headline number (21% for Finance) is misleading. Educational Finance queries are already at 67%. Knowing which of YOUR queries fall into which category — and how AI Overview coverage is changing for each — is essential for strategy.

Technical Methodology

Data Source: BrightEdge Generative Parser™

Analysis Period: May 2024 through December 2025 (6 measurement points: May '24, September '24, December '24, May '25, September '25, December '25)

Sample Size:

• Finance: 2,580 keywords tracked consistently across all periods
• Healthcare: 2,760 keywords tracked consistently across all periods

Categorization:

• Finance queries categorized by L1/L2 taxonomy: Stocks & Trading, Finance & Investing (subdivided into Tax Planning, Retirement, Financial Planning, etc.), Tools, Brands
• Healthcare queries categorized by L1/L2 taxonomy: Specialty Care (Ortho, Neuro, Gastro, etc.), General Health, Primary Care

AI Overview Detection: Keywords classified as having AI Overview if Sge State ≠ "none"

Local Query Identification: Keywords containing "near me" flagged as local intent

Key Takeaways

Google Uses the Same YMYL Playbook for Healthcare and Finance: AI where synthesis adds value (educational content). Traditional results where accuracy matters (real-time data, local queries). The logic is identical across both industries.

The Gap Is About Query Mix, Not Google's Approach: Finance has a large real-time component (stock tickers) that Healthcare doesn't. Remove that from the equation, and the trajectories are nearly parallel.

Finance Educational Content Is Climbing Fast: 16% → 67% in 18 months. The acceleration in 2025 (37% → 67% in just 7 months) suggests Google has gained confidence in AI for financial education content.

Prediction: Finance Hits Healthcare Levels by Late 2026: Educational Finance content will reach 90%+ AI Overview coverage within 12-18 months, matching where Healthcare is today.

The Opportunity Is in Educational Content: For financial services marketers, the path is clear: educational, explainer, and planning content is where AI Overviews are expanding. Optimize for these query types now — before saturation makes it harder to earn visibility.