Local Falcon (2025) — AI Overviews on 17.2% of commercial queries vs 58.3% of informational; including a location name reduced AI Overview appearance (35% vs 46%)
Summary
Claim: Local Falcon measured AI Overviews on 17.2% of commercial queries vs 58.3% of informational. Including a location name in the query reduced AI Overview appearance (35% vs 46%).
Source: Local Falcon, 2025.
Confidence: Industry-consensus — second vendor source agreeing on direction with Whitespark Q2 2025 local-search study — AI Overviews appeared on 15% of simple local-intent queries vs 92% informational vs 97% hybrid; local pack appeared on 93% of local-intent vs 6% of informational. Exact numbers differ (~17% vs ~15%), but direction is consistent.
Why this matters for Candid: Confirms the asymmetry — commercial / local-intent queries are still relatively safe from AI Overview crowding. Adding a city/locality to the query reduces AI Overview appearance further. Implication for content: explicit local geography in service-page titles/H1s remains valuable.
Related entries
Referenced by (4)
- reference Research brief: How businesses got found on the web — a then→now timeline (Google-focused, SMB lens, June 2026) relates-to
- rule Rule: For Ontario service-business clients in 2026, the Google Business Profile is still the primary local-lead surface — lock it down before anything else depends-on
- rule Rule: Monitor priority keywords for AI Overview presence + local-pack position so the strategy is data-driven, not folkloric depends-on
- reference Caveats for the June 2026 Google-history SMB brief — cost/causation claims are weak; "now" data is mostly US/global not Canada-specific; vendor sources were used skeptically; rollout state is moving fast relates-to