Google AI Overviews Rank Below Position 1

The 12.4% Shift: AI Overviews Losing Position 1

Google AI Overviews disrupted search by immediately claiming the top spot in search results. But new data from June 2025 shows this dominance is no longer absolute. According to a study by Search Engine Land, AI Overviews now rank below Position 1 in 12.4% of US desktop searches, while 87.6% still maintain their traditional top position.

This shift represents a significant evolution in how Google is deploying AI in search. Rather than universally pushing AI-generated answers to the top, Google is now making strategic decisions about when and where AI Overviews appear based on query characteristics, user intent signals, and the value of presenting traditional organic results.

According to Search Engine Land's June 2025 analysis, this positioning behavior varies by query type, device, and seasonal factors, suggesting a maturing approach to AI integration in search.

Why AI Overviews Are Sliding Down

Several factors influence Google's decision to position AI Overviews below organic results:

• Complex queries where multiple authoritative sources provide more value than a synthesized AI response
• Time-sensitive information where fresh content and real-time updates matter more than AI-trained knowledge
• Transactional and commercial queries where user intent is clearly tied to taking action rather than finding information
• Local search queries where proximity-based results take precedence over AI summaries

The Convergence Pattern: 54% of Citations Now Come from Ranked Pages

Perhaps more significant than the Position 1 displacement is the finding from BrightEdge's 16-month longitudinal study: 54% of AI Overview citations now come from pages that rank organically, up from just 32% when AI Overviews launched. This 69% relative increase in overlap signals a fundamental shift in how Google sources AI-generated content.

Our AI & Automation services help businesses understand and adapt to these evolving search dynamics, ensuring your content strategy remains effective as AI continues to reshape the search landscape.

According to BrightEdge's 16-month longitudinal study, the citation behavior has evolved through distinct phases: initial testing, rapid acceleration, and current convergence toward organic ranking alignment.

Notably, the sweet spot for AI Overview citations is Position 21-100, not the traditional top 10. Only 16.7% of citations come from top 10 organic results, suggesting Google actively seeks diversity within ranked content rather than simply pulling from the absolute best-ranking pages.

Industry Variations: Why Some Sectors See More Displacement

The impact of AI Overviews varies dramatically by industry vertical. Understanding your sector's behavior is essential for developing an effective SEO strategy tailored to your market.

High Convergence Industries (68-75% overlap)

These YMYL (Your Money Your Life) sectors show the strongest citation overlap with organic rankings:

In these sectors, Google prioritizes content from pages that have already demonstrated ranking authority, essentially using organic performance as a trust signal for AI Overview sourcing. For healthcare and medical practices, this means established authority translates directly to AI visibility.

Low Convergence Industries (<33% overlap)

Some industries show dramatically different behavior:

Based on BrightEdge's industry-specific overlap data, these sectors see Google sourcing AI Overviews from a broader range of content, including pages that may not rank as highly but contain fresher or more specific information.

The E-Commerce Anomaly

E-commerce stands out as the only industry where AI Overview overlap stayed virtually flat, changing just 0.6 percentage points over 16 months. More significantly, AI Overview coverage actually decreased by 7.6 percentage points in e-commerce.

This suggests Google is intentionally keeping transactional queries separate from AI Overviews, likely to protect the commercial intent signals that drive shopping behavior and advertising revenue. For e-commerce businesses, this means traditional organic optimization remains critical, with less disruption from AI Overviews compared to other sectors.

Practical Implications for SEO Strategy

Understanding these patterns enables more strategic SEO investment and content development that aligns with how AI Overviews now operate.

Optimizing for AI Overview Citations

Given that AI Overviews increasingly cite from ranked pages, traditional SEO fundamentals become more important, not less:

1. Target Position 21-100: The data shows only 16.7% of citations come from top 10 results. Google seeks diversity within ranked content, making positions 21-100 particularly valuable for citation potential.

2. Build topical authority: Comprehensive content clusters that establish expertise in your vertical increase citation likelihood, especially in high-convergence industries like healthcare and B2B technology.

3. Technical SEO foundations: Page speed, mobile optimization, structured data, and crawlability ensure your content is available for AI sourcing.

4. Answer specific questions: FAQ-style content and direct answers to common queries increase the likelihood of AI Overview inclusion.

Balancing AI Overview Optimization with Traditional SEO

The goal is content that serves both AI systems and human readers:

• Write comprehensive content that fully addresses topics
• Use clear headings and logical structure
• Implement schema markup for enhanced comprehension
• Ensure source attribution signals are present
• Create content that earns organic rankings, which then feeds AI Overview citations

Our SEO services focus on building these foundational elements that support both traditional search visibility and AI Overview citations.

The CTR Impact Reality

According to WordStream's research, multiple studies have documented significant CTR drops for queries featuring AI Overviews. As AI Overviews provide answers directly in search results, fewer users click through to organic results. However, this creates opportunity in:

• Long-tail keywords where AI Overviews may not appear or be less comprehensive
• Branded search where users seek specific sources
• Alternative traffic channels including social, email, and direct traffic

Preparing for Continued Evolution

The search landscape will continue to evolve as Google refines AI Overview behavior:

• Monitor your vertical: Track AI Overview appearance rates and citation sources in your specific industry
• Build adaptable strategies: Focus on fundamentals that work regardless of AI Overview behavior
• Diversify traffic sources: Reduce dependency on organic search alone
• Test and iterate: AI Overview behavior varies by query type - test what works for your specific content

By understanding how AI Overviews now interact with organic rankings, you can build a resilient digital marketing strategy that adapts to changing search dynamics.

Sources

1. Search Engine Land: Google AI Overviews rank below Position 1 in 12.4% of cases

2. WordStream: 34 AI Overviews Stats & Facts 2025

3. BrightEdge: AI Overview Citations Now 54% from Organic Rankings