Google AI Overviews now appears in 43% of all searches
Original: Google’s AI search is rapidly becoming the default, new data shows
Why This Matters
Google's shift from a traffic referrer to an AI destination has major implications for the broader web publishing ecosystem.
Similarweb data shows Google's AI Overviews expanded from 15% to 43% of searches in one year. AI Mode visits rose from 126M in June 2025 to 279M by May 2026, reshaping how users interact with search.
According to a new report from market intelligence firm Similarweb, Google's AI-generated search feature, AI Overviews, now appears in 43% of all searches — up from 15% just one year ago. The analysis highlights how Google is increasingly positioning itself as a destination rather than a gateway to the web. AI Mode, Google's more conversational follow-up search tool, saw visits grow from 126 million in June 2025 to 279 million by May 2026. Similarweb also notes that average search query length has increased, suggesting users are shifting from short keyword-based inputs to longer, conversational prompts suited for AI. Publishers continue to bear the cost of this shift, as AI-generated answers reduce referral traffic to external websites. Cloudflare has introduced tools letting publishers block AI crawlers unless compensated through its marketplace. On the ChatGPT side, only 6.8% of U.S. desktop queries included citations as of May 2026, though a May 7 search update drove a significant improvement: the proportion of ChatGPT visits that landed on external webpages more than doubled, from 25% in March 2026 to nearly 60% by May 30, 2026.