Google AI Overviews now appear in 39% of U.S. desktop searches

Google AI Overviews appeared in nearly 4 in 10 U.S. desktop searches in June. At the same time, AI assistants increasingly shaped how consumers researched products and discovered brands, according to Comscore’s Q2 2026 AI Intelligence Report.

By the numbers. Google searches with an AI Overview reached 39.4% in June, up from 25.8% in July 2025, according to Comscore’s U.S. desktop data.

• Bing searches with Copilot Search reached 17.3%, up from 11.8% in July 2025. The report measured the share of searches that included these AI experiences. It did not measure clicks or traffic generated by them.
• Overall U.S. desktop search volume also remained above levels seen before AI Overviews. Comscore counted 77 billion searches in Q2 2026, up 8% from 71 billion in Q2 2024.

YouTube, Reddit prominent in AI citations. Comscore also measured which domains appeared as citations in Google and Bing AI-generated search results in June.

• YouTube was the most frequently cited domain among the report’s top sources for entertainment, retail and financial services searches. Wikipedia ranked first for sports.
• Reddit also ranked near the top across all four categories. It ranked third for entertainment and retail and fifth for sports. In financial services, it tied with several sites at 7%.
• For retail searches, YouTube appeared in 23% of searches among the top listed AI Overview citations. Amazon followed at 14%, Reddit at 12% and Wikipedia at 11%.
• Financial services results were less concentrated. YouTube appeared in 9% of searches, while NerdWallet, Reddit and Bankrate each appeared in 7%.

Sources and citations diverged. Comscore found another visibility gap in lodging-related AI responses. A site could help inform an AI answer without receiving a visible citation.

• Tripadvisor appeared as a source link in 61% of the lodging-related AI responses Comscore measured. But it appeared as a cited link in only 21%. The analysis covered December 2025 through May 2026.
• The same pattern appeared for other travel sites. Hotels.com had 50% source presence but 18% citation presence. Expedia went from 46% to 16%, while Booking.com went from 33% to 9%.

AI assistant competition shifted. ChatGPT still accounted for half of AI prompt volume in June. But its share fell from 70% in January.

• Gemini increased from 17% to 30%, while Claude increased from 2% to 11%. Copilot held at 5%.
• AI assistant reach also continued to grow. The category reached 35% of U.S. desktop users and 29% of mobile users in June. Those figures were up from 25% and 12%, respectively, in January 2025.

Why we care. Search visibility increasingly depends on whether a site appears inside an AI-generated answer, not just where it ranks in traditional results. Comscore’s data also distinguishes between being used as an AI source and receiving a visible citation. These are two distinct forms of visibility.

About the data. Comscore based the report on its U.S. desktop, mobile, and home router panels, along with its CustomIQ and custom search datasets. Populations and measurement periods vary by analysis. The AI Overview data covers U.S. desktop searches through June 2026. The lodging source and citation analysis covers U.S. PC activity from December 2025 through May 2026.

The report. Q2 2026 AI Intelligence Report (registration required)