On this page
- The short version
- Earlier studies
- How I did it
- 01From 3% to 86%: the share of AI Overview links that went to Google depended on the search
- 02Across all 1,252 searches, 44% of the links in October's AI Overviews went to Google-owned destinations
- 03For local searches, 62% of AI Overview links opened a Google page, 97% of those a Business Profile
- 04None of the 29,982 links in October's AI Overviews opened AI Mode, but 57% of October's Google searches showed AI Mode buttons under People also ask
- 05The average search's AI Overview links were 34% Google-owned in September and 35% in October
- What I would test
- Limits
- Data
- Cite this study
- About the author
Ask Google "Which dentists in Portland, Oregon would you recommend?" and its AI Overview lists 20 places, and every one of the 20 links opened a Google Business Profile. Not one of those links went to a dentist's own website. Ask it which SEO agency to hire, and nearly every link goes to a website. Since September the SEO trade press has reported more links inside AI Overviews and a recording of one that opened AI Mode, but Search Engine Journal found that no source reported the share of AI Overview links going to websites against Google's own properties, or how many open AI Mode. So I ran the same 1,252 Google searches in September and again in October and sorted every link in their AI Overviews: a website, YouTube, or one of Google's own pages.
The short version
How many of an AI Overview's links went to Google depended on the search: 3% for SEO-agency hiring questions, 86% for auto repair searches. Across all 1,252 searches, 44% of the links in October's AI Overviews went to Google-owned destinations, and none of them opened AI Mode.
A snapshot shows where the links went, not what makes Google pick them, so the points below are bets to test, not rules. Under each one are the numbers behind it and the finding they come from. The full version, with the strongest objection to each bet, is in What I would test.
- BetMeasure where AI Overviews send people on your own searches, not on an overall figure, mine included.Evidence in Finding 1:
- For "best roofing contractors in Boston, MA"-style local searches, 75% of AI Overview links went to Google-owned pages; for "Which roofing contractors in Boston would you recommend?", 56%.
- For how-to searches starting "how to", 51% of AI Overview links did; for the same tasks phrased another way, 20%.
- BetFor a local business, treat your Google Business Profile as the page AI Overviews send people to.Evidence in Finding 3:
- 62% of the links in AI Overviews for local searches opened a Google page, and 97% of all the Google-page links in October's AI Overviews were Business Profiles.
- For "Which dentists in Portland, Oregon would you recommend?", the AI Overview listed 20 places, and every one of the 20 links opened a Google Business Profile.
- BetFor how-to topics, have a YouTube video.Evidence in Finding 2:
- YouTube took 41% of the links in AI Overviews for how-to searches, against 3% for SEO-agency searches.
- BetDon't plan around AI Overview links into AI Mode; watch the AI Mode buttons around them.Evidence in Finding 4:
- None of the 29,982 links in October's AI Overviews opened AI Mode, and none of the 34,138 in September's.
- 57% of October's Google searches showed buttons under People also ask that open AI Mode.
What earlier studies found
- Malte Landwehr at Peec AI found that the share of AI Overviews with an external link in the answer text went from near zero before 11 September to 26.2% on 20 September (Search Engine Roundtable).
- Matt G. Southern at Search Engine Journal reported that chart and Gagan Ghotra's recording of one AI Overview link that opened AI Mode instead of a web page, and found that no source reported the share of AI Overview links going to websites against Google's own properties, or how many open AI Mode (Search Engine Journal).
- Ahrefs publishes each month the domains Google's AI Overviews cite most, YouTube among them (Ahrefs).
What's new here: where every link in an AI Overview goes, by kind of destination and by kind of search, for the same 1,252 searches in September and October, including Google's own pages and the links that open AI Mode.
How I did it
- The searches 1,252 Google searches from my September studies: 600 how-to questions, 352 local-service searches run from their city and 300 SEO-agency hiring searches.
- September The results those studies saved, 18 to 29 September 2026: 4,656 searches, 3,999 of them with an AI Overview.
- October Each search again with its September settings (the same location, language and device), three times, on 8 and 9 October 2026: 3,756 searches, 3,288 with an AI Overview.
- A link Every source card and every link in the AI Overview's text, counted once per AI Overview.
- Where it goes, by its address: a website; YouTube; a Google page (a Business Profile, the Shopping viewer, Maps, another Google search, or AI Mode); or one of Google's own sites, such as Docs or Support.
- Kinds of search Each search keeps its earlier study's labels: the how-to topic, the local industry or the agency question group, and its wording.
- The rest of the page Each October results page was also read whole, for the AI Mode tab and the AI Mode buttons, which the AI Overview data leaves out.
Finding 01From 3% to 86%: the share of AI Overview links that went to Google depended on the search
- The wording. For local searches worded "best roofing contractors in Boston, MA", 75% of October's AI Overview links went to Google-owned destinations, but only 34% of those Google searches showed an AI Overview; worded "Which roofing contractors in Boston would you recommend?", 97% did, and 56% of their links went to Google. For how-to searches starting "how to", the AI Overview share was 51%, with YouTube alone at 46%; for the same tasks phrased another way, 20%. For SEO agencies: 42% for "best SEO agencies ..." searches, 11% for "SEO agencies in New York, NY" and 3% for "Which SEO agencies should ... hire?" in AI Overviews.
- The industry. For local searches, the Google-owned share of AI Overview links ran from 86% for auto repair, 82% for dentists and 67% for roofing down to 29% for electricians and 16% for landscaping.
- The topic. For how-to searches, it ran from 63% of AI Overview links for Google Sheets and 55% for Excel down to 24% for personal finance and 21% for exercise. For SEO agencies, city searches gave 54% of their AI Overview links to Google, against 6% for searches by industry.
- How it is counted. The overall 44% counts every link, so an AI Overview that lists many Business Profiles counts each one. Counted per AI Overview instead, the average AI Overview's links were 34% Google-owned: 43% for how-to searches, 40% for local searches and 11% for SEO-agency searches.
- I added these splits after the first version of this page went up, to check how much the result depends on the kind of search. The labels come from the earlier studies; I did not choose them for this one.
Who got the links, by kind of search
For each kind of search, the share of October's AI Overview links that went to Google's own pages (almost all Business Profiles), to YouTube, to Google's help pages and to other sites, and the other sites that got the most AI Overview links. I added this table after publishing, when the split by industry turned out to be the useful part.
| Kind of search | Google's own pages | YouTube | Google's help pages | Other sites | Leading other sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local: auto repair | 86% | 0% | 0% | 14% | yelp.com, reddit.com, aaa.com |
| Local: dentists | 82% | 0% | 0% | 18% | yelp.com, zocdoc.com, toprateddentist.com |
| Local: roofing | 67% | 0% | 0% | 33% | reddit.com, yelp.com, facebook.com |
| Local: HVAC | 61% | 0% | 0% | 39% | yelp.com, reddit.com, serviceagent.ai |
| Local: plumbing | 57% | 0% | 0% | 42% | yelp.com, angi.com, reddit.com |
| Local: pest control | 45% | 0% | 0% | 55% | terminix.com, yelp.com, orkin.com |
| Local: electricians | 28% | 0% | 0% | 71% | yelp.com, reddit.com, angi.com |
| Local: landscaping | 16% | 0% | 0% | 84% | yelp.com, reddit.com, houzz.com |
| How-to: Google Sheets | 0% | 49% | 14% | 37% | coursera.org, zapier.com, simular.ai |
| How-to: Slides and PowerPoint | 0% | 41% | 16% | 43% | support.microsoft.com, slidesai.io, slidestack.com |
| How-to: Docs and Word | 0% | 46% | 7% | 47% | support.microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com, adobe.com |
| How-to: Excel | 0% | 55% | 0% | 45% | support.microsoft.com, reddit.com, excel-easy.com |
| How-to: home repair | 0% | 55% | 0% | 45% | facebook.com, homedepot.com, lowes.com |
| How-to: gardening | 3% | 47% | 0% | 50% | facebook.com, bonnieplants.com, instagram.com |
| How-to: iPhone | 0% | 45% | 1% | 53% | support.apple.com, reddit.com, discussions.apple.com |
| How-to: Windows | 0% | 42% | 0% | 57% | learn.microsoft.com, support.microsoft.com, microsoft.com |
| How-to: cleaning | 3% | 36% | 0% | 60% | reddit.com, facebook.com, whirlpool.com |
| How-to: cooking | 5% | 33% | 0% | 62% | facebook.com, thekitchn.com, recipetineats.com |
| How-to: personal finance | 0% | 24% | 0% | 76% | experian.com, nerdwallet.com, facebook.com |
| How-to: exercise | 0% | 21% | 0% | 79% | facebook.com, mayoclinic.org, en.wikipedia.org |
| SEO agencies: by city | 54% | 0% | 0% | 46% | agencies.semrush.com, thriveagency.com, designrush.com |
| SEO agencies: by industry | 3% | 3% | 0% | 94% | webtonic.io, getcredo.com, agencies.semrush.com |
| SEO agencies: by specialty | 0% | 5% | 1% | 94% | thriveagency.com, coalitiontechnologies.com, designrush.com |
| SEO agencies: by need | 0% | 5% | 0% | 94% | agencies.semrush.com, thriveagency.com, designrush.com |
Finding 02Across all 1,252 searches, 44% of the links in October's AI Overviews went to Google-owned destinations
- In October's AI Overviews, websites got 56% of the links, Google's own pages 22%, YouTube 20% and Google's sites 1%. This overall figure depends on this study's mix of searches; Finding 1 has it by kind of search.
- By kind of search, the Google-owned share of October's AI Overview links was 62% for local searches, 45% for how-to searches and 22% for SEO-agency searches.
- For how-to searches it was mostly YouTube, at 41% of their AI Overview links. I added the YouTube split by kind of search after the first look at the October data.
- The source cards went to websites less often than the links in the text: 51% of AI Overview links shown only as a source card went to a website, against 66% of links shown only in the text.
Finding 03For local searches, 62% of AI Overview links opened a Google page, 97% of those a Business Profile
- 97.4% of the links to Google's own pages in October's AI Overviews opened a Business Profile; the Shopping viewer took 1.6% and other Google searches 0.9%.
- For "Which dentists in Portland, Oregon would you recommend?", the AI Overview listed 20 places, and every one of the 20 links opened a Google Business Profile.
- Local searches showed an AI Overview less often than the others: 65% of October's local Google searches, against 99% of how-to searches.
Finding 04None of the 29,982 links in October's AI Overviews opened AI Mode, but 57% of October's Google searches showed AI Mode buttons under People also ask
- None of the 34,138 links in September's AI Overviews opened AI Mode either.
- The doors to AI Mode were around the AI Overview, not in it: the AI Mode tab showed on 98% of October's Google searches, and buttons under People also ask on 57%: 72% of how-to searches, 53% of local searches and 33% of SEO-agency searches on Google.
- On the Google search "best auto repair shops in Dallas, TX", under the People also ask question "How long can a mechanic legally keep your car to fix in Texas?", the buttons read "Explain what 'obtaining a lien' means", "Tell me about storage fees" and "List my rights as a car owner", and each opens AI Mode.
- Links inside the AI Overview's own text were common in both months: 65% of September's AI Overviews had one, and 63% of October's. Peec AI's figure counted only external links in the answer text, so these measure different things.
Finding 05The average search's AI Overview links were 34% Google-owned in September and 35% in October
- I compared each search's two months: the Google-owned share of its AI Overview links went up in October for 456 of them, down for 400 and stayed the same for 226.
- The links themselves changed far more from run to run than the shares did from month to month. Of the links a search's AI Overview showed in October, 24% came back in all three October runs and 51% showed up once. A link here is what it opens: a video, a Business Profile or a page, whatever moment or tracking code its address carries.
- September's searches were not captured evenly: my studies saved between one and seven September results per search, against three per search in October, so I compare the months search by search, not as one overall number.
What I would test
A snapshot shows where the links went, not what makes Google pick them, so each point below is something to test rather than a rule.
Test where AI Overviews send people on your own searches before you rely on any overall figure, including mine. The share of AI Overview links that went to Google ran from 3% to 86% by kind of search, and it differed with the wording: 51% for how-to searches starting "how to", against 20% for the same tasks phrased another way. The test is your own questions, in the wordings your customers use, run a few times each.
For a local business, test whether a fuller Business Profile changes what people do after the AI Overview. 62% of the links in AI Overviews for local searches opened a Google page, 97% of those a Business Profile, so the profile is the page a searcher lands on from a local AI Overview. Compare calls, direction requests and website clicks from the profile before and after filling it in.
For how-to topics, test whether pages with a matching video are linked more often. YouTube took 41% of the links in AI Overviews for how-to searches. Compare how often a page with a matching video and one without are linked, over repeated runs of the same searches.
Before you plan for AI Overview links into AI Mode, check for them on your own searches. None of the 29,982 links in October's AI Overviews opened AI Mode, but 57% of October's Google searches had AI Mode buttons under People also ask. Rerun this count after Google's next change.
What this study does not show
Links are not clicks. This counts where the links in AI Overviews go, not how many people click them or what they do next.
The overall figures depend on this study's mix of searches: 600 how-to questions, 352 local-service searches run from their city and 300 SEO-agency hiring searches, all in the US, from a desktop browser. A different mix gives a different overall share; Finding 1 shows it by kind of search. Other kinds of searches, such as shopping or news, may send their links elsewhere.
The October runs were not evenly spaced: the first and second ran an hour apart, and the third the next afternoon, after a break in the collection. September's results came from four studies run on different days.
The links come from the AI Overview data the results provider returns: its source cards and the links in its text. A link Google adds later, as the page is used, would not be counted. Gagan Ghotra's recording shows an AI Overview link that opened AI Mode on at least one search, so the count of zero is for these searches and this collection, not for Google as a whole.
YouTube is owned by Google, but its videos are made by creators. I count YouTube as Google-owned, since a click on it stays with a Google property; the website, YouTube and Google-page shares are shown separately for anyone who counts it differently.
Data
3,756 October searches (1,252 searches, three times each) and 4,656 September searches. 3,288 of the October searches and 3,999 of the September ones showed an AI Overview. Those AI Overviews held 29,982 links in October and 34,138 in September, each counted once per AI Overview. Every percentage has a numerator and a denominator in the study's metrics file, and every Google result is kept as the raw response.
Cite this study
Ivan Smiljkovic (2026). How Many AI Overview Links Stay With Google? From 3% to 86%, Depending on the Search (Study of 3,288 AI Overviews). Ivan Builds. https://ivanbuilds.com/google-ai-overview-links.html
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About the author
I study how Google and AI assistants choose what to cite, using public data I collect myself, and I publish the method and limits with every study.