- We examined 1,227 Google searches from five industries. For 87%, Google shows an AI Overview above the search results, meaning its own answer.
- Google almost always answers questions itself: For 167 of 168 questions, an AI Overview appears. For purchase searches on heat pumps and heating, only for 6 of 50.
- Position 1 is not enough: Half of the websites that an AI Overview links as a source are not among the top ten search results.
- Providers are linked as a source more often than comparison portals: 42% versus 32%. The most frequently linked are Finanztip and Check24.
For many searches, Google shows its own answer above the regular search results: the AI Overview. It summarizes content from several websites and links some of them as sources. We wanted to know how often this happens in five industries, for which searches and which websites are linked as sources.
An example: “kfz versicherung vergleich” (car insurance comparison)
Around 96,800 people search for this term per month. Above the search results is an AI Overview. It links Check24, Verivox and ADAC as sources.
Only below that do the regular search results follow. Cosmos Direkt is in position 1, but Cosmos Direkt does not appear in the AI Overview.
1. For almost every search, Google answers itself
Of 1,227 searches examined, 1,069 show an AI Overview, which is 87%.
| Industry | Searches examined | With AI Overview |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance | 313 | 99 % |
| Online brokers | 292 | 97 % |
| Dentists and implantology | 195 | 93 % |
| Asset management | 152 | 89 % |
| Heat pumps and heating | 275 | 58 % |
- Insurance99%
- Online brokers97%
- Dentists and implantology93%
- Asset management89%
- Heat pumps and heating58%
Source: Google Search Germany via DataForSEO, query on October 25, 2026, 1,227 searches
Some very frequent searches show no AI Overview, such as “wärmepumpe” (heat pump) with 195,250 searches per month or “trade republic” with 420,750. If you count each search as often as it is searched per month, 81% of searchers see an AI Overview.
2. Google almost always answers questions itself
We categorized the searches by type. The more a search sounds like a question, the more often Google answers itself:
| Type of search | Example | Searches examined | With AI Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Question | “lohnt sich eine wärmepumpe” (is a heat pump worth it) | 168 | 99 % |
| Brand name | “trade republic” | 100 | 97 % |
| Comparison | “beste wärmepumpe” (best heat pump) | 245 | 91 % |
| Price | “zahnreinigung kosten” (teeth cleaning cost) | 226 | 87 % |
| Local | “zahnarzt in meiner nähe” (dentist near me) | 83 | 87 % |
| Product or service | “kfz versicherung” (car insurance) | 250 | 82 % |
| Purchase or sign-up | “depot eröffnen” (open a brokerage account) | 155 | 71 % |
- Question99%
- Brand name97%
- Comparison91%
- Price87%
- Local87%
- Product or service82%
- Purchase or sign-up71%
Source: Google Search Germany via DataForSEO, query on October 25, 2026, 1,227 searches
Of 168 questions, only one remains without an AI Overview: “infrarotheizung decke sinnvoll” (is an infrared ceiling heater worthwhile).
3. The exception: purchase searches for heat pumps
For searches such as “wärmepumpe kaufen” (buy heat pump), “gastherme kaufen” (buy gas boiler) or “wärmepumpe angebot” (heat pump offer), Google usually shows no AI Overview. Only 6 of 50 of these searches have one. There, Google shows product listings and local providers.
Insurance is different: All 50 sign-up searches examined show an AI Overview, such as “kfz versicherung wechseln” (switch car insurance).
4. Position 1 on Google is not enough
We compared whether the websites that an AI Overview links as a source are also among the top ten regular search results. For half of them, this is not the case.
- The website in position 1 is linked as a source in only 31% of AI Overviews.
- An example: For “lohnt sich eine wärmepumpe” (is a heat pump worth it), the AI Overview links SWR, Gasag and ADAC. The first three regular search results are Bosch Home Comfort, Solarwatt and Gutefrage.
- 180 of the 1,069 AI Overviews link no source at all. On average, there are 2.2 sources per AI Overview.
5. Providers are linked more often than comparison portals
In total, the AI Overviews linked a website as a source 2,367 times. This is how these links are distributed:
| Type of website | Share of links |
|---|---|
| Providers (insurers, banks, brokers, manufacturers, practices) | 42 % |
| Guides and comparison portals | 32 % |
| Consumer protection, authorities and associations | 10 % |
| Platforms (YouTube, Wikipedia, forums) | 5 % |
| Media | 4 % |
| Other | 7 % |
- Providers42%
- Guides and comparison portals32%
- Consumer protection, authorities and associations10%
- Platforms (YouTube, Wikipedia, forums)5%
- Media4%
- Other7%
Source: Google Search Germany via DataForSEO, query on October 25, 2026, 1,069 AI Overviews
The most frequently linked are Finanztip (123 times), Check24 (95), Finanzfluss (74) and ADAC (70).
By industry, it looks like this:
- Insurance: Check24 is linked 90 times, HUK 64 times, Finanztip 47 times.
- Online brokers: Guides and comparison portals have 45% of the links. Finanztip is linked 58 times, Trade Republic 18 times.
- Asset management: Guides and comparison portals have 43%, led by Geldanlage-digital (19) and Finanzfluss (16).
- Heat pumps and heating: Manufacturers, installers and energy suppliers have 40%, led by Bosch Home Comfort (31) and Buderus (19). YouTube is linked 26 times.
- Dentists and implantology: Providers have 59%. 178 of 460 links go to practices and clinics.
What this means for your marketing
- For questions, the AI Overview decides. For 99% of the questions examined, Google answers itself before the regular search results appear. Anyone who does not answer their customers’ questions is missing from the first answer.
- Ranking and being named are two different goals. The website in position 1 is linked in only 31% of AI Overviews, and half of the linked websites are not among the top ten results. Good rankings alone do not guarantee a mention.
- Providers can be a source. 42% of the links in AI Overviews go to providers themselves, more than to guides and comparison portals.
- For purchase searches, ads and local listings count. Where Google shows no AI Overview, as with purchase searches for heat pumps, ads, product listings and the Google Maps listing decide.
How we measured
The basis is the search terms from our market analyses for insurance, online brokers, asset management, heat pumps and heating, as well as dentists and implantology. For each industry and each type of search, we selected up to 50 of the most searched terms.
We queried each search on October 25, 2026, on Google Germany (desktop, first results page). We counted whether an AI Overview with text appears, which websites it links as sources and whether these are also among the top ten regular search results. AI Overviews change from day to day. The figures show the status on that day.
