How to track AI Overviews and protect your paid search revenue

AI Overviews aren’t just changing how Google presents search results; they’re already altering the economics of paid search. Ads pushed down the page and declining click-through rates are creating revenue leakage for even your ads are positioned well.

But understanding the challenge is now easier than ever. With the launch of Adthena’s AI Overviews Dashboard, advertisers can track exactly where and how AI Overviews appear, uncover hidden opportunities, and sharpen strategies to protect performance and revenue.

The real question isn’t whether AI Overviews will impact your campaigns, it’s whether you have the right intelligence to adapt quickly and stay ahead.

When AIOs dominate high-value queries, the effects ripple across every metric that matters. You still get impressions, but CTR can decline, meaning fewer clicks and, ultimately, less revenue.

The danger is also competitive. While you absorb the impact, rivals may be adjusting their strategies, becoming more aggressive on queries dominated by AIOs, or expanding into those with low AIO presence to gain visibility more easily.

Yet, AIOs don’t appear everywhere and where they do, their impact isn’t uniform. In categories where AIO penetration is still low, advertisers can double down on capturing SERP real estate. Where AIOs are prominent, the battle shifts: bidding more aggressively to secure more visibility, expanding reach to capture more revenue, and adjusting ad copy strategy becomes vital. 

Device-specific behaviors also create opportunities. In many industries, AIO frequency varies between desktop and mobile, offering smart teams a chance to redirect spend to where visibility is clearer. And perhaps the most powerful lever is intent. Not every query is treated equally by AIOs. For example, informational queries may trigger summaries, while transactional queries still leave space for ads to close the deal.

Financial services: Why intent splits matter

Adthena’s Search Landscape showing AIO frequency changes over the last 7 weeks in the US financial services market.

Adthena’s AIO Dashboard reveals AI Overview Frequency, Complex Query Frequency, Search Intent Distribution, and individual search term breakdown for the US financial services market.

Financial services show stable AIO presence, but the real insight lies in the intent breakdown. Around 17% of queries are investigational with users seeking information or context, while 14% are problem solving where searchers want specific answers or solutions.

For advertisers, this rules out a one-size-fits-all approach. Problem-solving queries call for strong, direct ad placements to capture conversions, while investigational queries require a different strategy: competing where AIOs provide context but stop short of delivering the final answer, and positioning ads as the natural next step.

Retail: Discount terms as a hidden goldmine

Adthena’s Search Landscape showing AIO frequency changes over the last 7 weeks in the UK Retail market.

Adthena’s AIO Dashboard reveals AI Overview Frequency, Complex Query Frequency, Search Intent Distribution, and individual search term breakdown for the UK Retail market.

Adthena’s AIO Dashboard for Retail UK shows a lower AIO presence, with frequency reaching 6% for discount search terms. 

Despite low AIO coverage, the search term “discount” is purely transactional, capturing users with high intent. That means ads positioned just below the AIO block can still intercept high-value traffic at the moment of purchase. 

Travel: A pure opportunity sector

Adthena’s Search Landscape showing AIO frequency changes over the last 7 weeks in the AU travel market.

Adthena’s AIO Dashboard reveals AI Overview Frequency, Complex Query Frequency, Search Intent Distribution, and individual search term breakdown for the AU travel market.

In travel, the picture looks very different. If we look at the search term “last minute deals”, AIOs appear only 32% of the time, and every one of those queries signals transactional intent. This makes the stakes crystal clear: each time an AIO appears, it intercepts a user who is ready to convert.

For travel brands, this creates urgency. Protecting visibility through top ad placements is not optional, it’s essential for remaining part of the booking funnel. The relative scarcity of AIOs also suggests that travel remains one of the industries with the greatest headroom for paid search to thrive, as we previously outlined in our Search Engine Land article, How Google AI Overviews are changing the PPC game. However, it’s worth noting that niche or specialist travel brands might experience a more significant impact from AIOs on their specific, high-value queries.

Healthcare: Elevated but logical AIO presence

Adthena’s Search Landscape showing AIO frequency changes over the last 7 weeks in the US healthcare market.

Adthena’s AIO Dashboard reveals AI Overview Frequency, Complex Query Frequency, Search Intent Distribution, and individual search term breakdown for the US healthcare market.

Healthcare stands apart, with AIOs appearing on more than half of all queries for the search term “treatment”, the highest penetration across industries. This makes sense given the nature of user behavior: 87% of healthcare queries are problem solving in intent, and Google has leaned on AIOs to provide quick informational answers.

Healthcare advertisers should re-evaluate ad copy based on funnel stage and query type. For high AIO queries, more targeted lower-funnel messaging that emphasizes trusted solutions, professional care, or product options will resonate once the informational need is met. On queries with lower AIO presence, upper and mid-funnel ad copy can continue to capture attention earlier in the journey.

Automotive: A wide open landscape 

Adthena’s Search Landscape showing AIO frequency changes over the last 7 weeks in the UK Automotive market.

Adthena’s AIO Dashboard reveals AI Overview Frequency, Complex Query Frequency, Search Intent Distribution, and individual search term breakdown for the UK Automotive market.

Automotive is perhaps the most surprising category. Despite being heavily research-driven, AIOs are almost absent, appearing on just 11% of any buying-related queries. For now, consumers are still moving through the research and purchase funnel without major AI disruption.

For car dealers and manufacturers, this represents a significant opportunity. By investing in paid visibility now, brands can lock in market share before AIO adoption expands more aggressively into the sector.

Search is evolving fast, and AIO presence varies by industry and location. While some sectors see relatively low coverage, others experience higher visibility, highlighting the need for advertisers to monitor trends closely and adapt strategies to maintain performance.

Review your CTR

While a decline in CTR doesn’t necessarily mean AIO presence, it could definitely be a signal, especially if nothing else has changed in your campaigns. 

Differentiate with smarter ad copy

1. Many AIOs under-represent brand nuances and emotional triggers. Ads that highlight trust, guarantees, or speed can stand out against AI’s generic summaries. 
2. Creating ad copy variants that counter AIO narratives is another tactic. For example, for the search term  “best credit cards for students,” dynamic keyword insertion could help you serve a message like “Rated #1 by Students—Compare Offers Today.”

Get ahead with new intelligence

If you’d like to see how AIOs are disrupting different industries, our free Market Share reports will soon include insights similar to those shown above. 

In the meantime, you can already use the existing reports to spot trends and competitor movements shaping your market.

Adthena’s AIO Dashboard: Intent-based intelligence

These sample insights only scratch the surface. Adthena’s AIO Dashboard reveals the intent patterns behind AIO appearances and that’s where strategy becomes actionable. Each advertiser gets a completely tailored view to their competitive landscape. Not only can you select specific search terms or categories, you can even see how AIOs impact the terms your competitors bid on.

Where other solutions only capture snapshots of AIOs once a week or even month, Adthena continuously indexes search results multiple times per day. This gives advertisers far more accurate and timely visibility into AIO frequency, essential for those relying on Google Ads as a revenue driver, especially as ads begin surfacing directly within AIOs.

Unlock advanced AIO intelligence

By tying AIO visibility to intent, advertisers can prioritize spend, messaging, and positioning with precision. Without visibility into how AI is disrupting your PPC campaigns, revenue forecasts get disrupted, performance gaps go unexplained, and brands get left behind while competitors adapt faster.

With Adthena’s AI Overviews Dashboard, you can see how AI is impacting your PPC campaigns in real time. Book a demo today to explore insights tailored to your brand.