BrightEdge — ~48% of tracked queries showed an AI Overview by Feb–Mar 2026, up from ~31% a year earlier

Claim: BrightEdge reports ~48% of tracked queries show an AI Overview by Feb–Mar 2026, up from ~31% a year earlier (via sqmagazine.co.uk).

Source: brightedge.com (via sqmagazine.co.uk) — Feb 2026.

Confidence: Single-source (vendor — SEO platform).

Caveat: "Tracked queries" is a vendor-selected sample; the 48% is not directly comparable to Pew's 18% of all real-user Google searches. It is the high end of the published range.

Why this matters for Candid: Cite as the upper bound of the vendor range. The Pew vs vendor gap (18% vs 48%) is largely definitional — different keyword samples, "tracked queries" vs all queries, niche / long-tail inclusion. See Reconciliation: the 16% / 25% / 48% AI-prevalence gap is largely definitional — different keyword samples, "tracked queries" vs all queries, niche / long-tail inclusion.