Over 80% of Google searches now show AI Overviews, hitting apartment reviews
Google's AI Overviews now appear on over 80% of searches, up from 50% in June 2025 and about 15% a year before that, according to three independent tracking tools. The biggest jump is on review and shopping queries, exactly the kind renters use when choosing an apartment, which could cut clicks to community websites even when they rank.
What happened
Three search tracking tools reported this week that AI Overviews, the AI generated answers at the top of Google results, now appear on more than 80% of US searches. Search Engine Roundtable summarized the numbers on October 26, 2026: Semrush's Sensor tool shows over 80%, SE Ranking measured 82.5% on US brand searches, and seoClarity logged 55% to 84% depending on industry. The same recap put coverage at 50% in June 2025 and about 15% a year before that.
A separate Semrush study, covered by PPC Land on October 23, 2026, found AI Overviews on 88% of 400 US commercial keywords in August 2026, nearly double the 45.75% seen in September 2025. When those keywords were weighted by search volume, coverage reached 97.08%. The biggest jump of all was on queries containing the word "reviews", which went from 30.14% to 89.04% in a year. None of the three firms uses the same sample, which is why their headline percentages do not match.
Why it matters for apartment marketers
Renters almost never ask Google a yes or no question. They search things like "two bedroom apartments in Austin", "[community] reviews", "pet friendly apartments near [neighborhood]" and "best apartments for young professionals in [city]". Those are commercial and review searches, which is exactly where AI Overviews grew fastest.
When an AI Overview appears, the top organic result typically loses clicks. Ahrefs measured a 58% drop in top result clicks in February 2026. Pew Research reported that 15% of searches without an AI summary generate a click to a site, versus 8% when a summary is shown. Those studies are not apartment specific, so results for your communities could differ, but the direction is clear: more impressions, fewer clicks. Not a promise, just the pattern that outside researchers keep finding.
There is a second, harder to see effect. The AI Overview usually names a few sources inside the answer. If your community site is cited, you still get some traffic. If a national listing site, a review aggregator or a competitor gets cited instead, Google is answering a prospect's question using someone else's framing of your community.
What to do this week
- Open Google in a private window and run three searches for each property you market: "apartments in [your city]", "[community name] reviews", and one amenity search like "pet friendly apartments [neighborhood]". Screenshot the AI Overview and note which sites it cites. Make this a weekly habit, because the answers change.
- In Google Search Console, compare the last four weeks to the four before for your community site. If impressions are flat or up but clicks are down, an AI Overview could be absorbing the click. Flag that to your agency or webmaster before you draw conclusions from one month of lead reports.
- Make the factual answers on your site easy for Google to lift: bedroom counts, square footage ranges, pet policy, parking, amenities, nearest employers and schools. Short sentences, clear headings, a plain FAQ. Pages written as marketing copy without facts rarely get cited.
- Keep your Google Business Profile complete and current, with recent photos, correct hours and up to date amenities. The local map pack still appears below the AI Overview and is often the first thing a renter taps after reading the summary.
- Do not cut organic search spend based on one month of click data. Branded searches, meaning people who already typed your community name, still convert at the highest rate, and AI Overviews often cite the brand's own site when the information is there to cite.
What we do not know yet
No one has published a multifamily specific breakdown of AI Overview coverage. The 88% commercial figure comes from banking, ecommerce and software keywords, not from apartment searches. The three measurement firms used different samples and different definitions, which is why their percentages range from 55% to over 80%. And none of the public click loss studies are from Google itself. Treat the numbers as directional, not final, and watch your own Search Console data before changing budgets.