AI Chatbots
Who Google cites for software-related questions in the AI Overviews
Selina Feddern11/3/2026
80,640 searches reveal who gets a say in Google's software responses
Table of contents
- This is how 10,080 prompts are generated from software-related questions
- AI Overviews appear for everyone, regardless of company size
- Vendor websites are the foundation of every Google answer to software-related questions
- OMR is among the most frequently cited sources for software-related questions
- Depending on the target audience, Google references different OMR content
- Five Takeaways for Software Providers on Improving Discoverability in AI Overviews
- What the Data Doesn’t Show
- Conclusion: AI Overviews are available to everyone, but their mix of sources is not
- FAQ on B2B Software in Google AI Overviews
In 96.0 percent of the 80,640 B2B software queries analyzed, Google provides an AI Overview. Whether the prompt refers to a small team or a corporation makes little difference in this regard. However, the mix of sources varies depending on the business segment: Vendor websites account for more than half of the classified citations across the board, with 54.7 percent for enterprise-related queries. Communities and review platforms have a higher share for small business than for enterprise. With omr.com, we ranked second among the most-cited domains on all eight days of the study, right behind YouTube.
For this study, we collaborated with SE Ranking to develop 10,080 German-language software prompts and ran daily queries from September 14 to 21, 2026. This resulted in 80,640 individual queries and provides a picture that reveals much more than just a snapshot.
Key Takeaways
- Google displays an AI Overview for 96.0 percent of all analyzed B2B software queries, regardless of company size.
- Vendor websites clearly dominate, accounting for over 50 percent of all source citations, well ahead of communities, review platforms, and media outlets.
- The domain omr.com ranks second among the most frequently cited domains, behind YouTube, and achieves 45.8 percent coverage for experience- and review-related queries.
- Google links to different content formats depending on the target audience: blog articles dominate for small business topics, while category and product pages gain traction for enterprise-related queries.
Whether it’s a team of 20 people or a corporation with 2,000 employees: When it comes to software-related questions, Google almost always displays an AI Overview before the traditional search results. The real question is whose content ends up there. 80,640 queries provide the answer.
96 percent. That’s how often Google displays an AI Overview for the software-related queries we examined. It makes little difference whether a search query asks for a CRM for a small team or a solution for a large corporation. The rate ranges from 95.8 to 96.2 percent across all three business segments.
So the AI box is available to everyone. Google decides who gets a say in it somewhat differently depending on the target audience.
Vendor websites are the most common sources in every segment. Google answers questions for small businesses more frequently with input from communities, while for enterprise questions, vendor sites and media outlets take the lead. The picture also shifts with OMR Reviews: For small-business prompts, Google primarily cites our ContentHub articles, while for enterprise questions, category and product pages take center stage.
Data Collection & Methodology
The Study at a Glance
Overview of the Google AI Overviews study, comprising 10,080 B2B software prompts and eight measurement rounds.
80,640
Total queries conducted
10,080 prompts × 8 measurement days
> 1.1 million
Data rows generated in the analysis dataset
Complete collection of all AI Overview outputs
40
Software categories
4
Company segments
7
Search intents
3
Prompt types
3
Wording variations
This is how 10,080 prompts are generated from software-related questions
Randomly collected keywords? Not at all. Our study is based on a research framework that systematically explores typical questions that arise during the software decision-making process. To this end, we combined:
- 40 software categories, ranging from CRM and accounting to cybersecurity and inventory management
- four company segments: 1 to 50, 51 to 499, and at least 500 employees, as well as a segment-neutral control group
- seven search intents, such as general software search, reviews, recommendations, comparisons, alternatives, and shortlists
- three prompt types: classic keyword, long-tail search query, and conversational question
- three language variants per combination
The math is simple: 40 × 4 × 7 × 3 × 3 equals 10,080 prompts. These include short searches such as “CRM system for small businesses” as well as detailed questions about experiences, requirements, alternatives, or the final shortlist.
AI Overviews appear for everyone, regardless of company size
Google displays an AI Overview for 96 percent of all searches. Whether it’s a small business, mid-market company, enterprise, or control group, the differences are negligible.
Business segment in the prompt | AI-Overview-visibility |
|---|---|
1 to 50 employees | 95,8 % |
51 to 499 employees | 96,1 % |
500 or more employees | 96,2 % |
Segment-neutral control group | 96,0 % |
For software providers, this means that whether an AI summary appears is essentially decided within our system. What makes it interesting is the question of which sources Google uses to compile this answer.
AI Overview Presence by Segment
AI Overview presence across B2B software prompts for Small Business, Midmarket, and Enterprise.
96.0 %
Overall average across all 80,640 queries
AI Overviews are displayed at an almost identical rate across all segments.
Vendor websites are the foundation of every Google answer to software-related questions
Anyone who wants to know which sources Google relies on for software-related questions will first end up at the vendors’ own sites. Product pages, help centers, and vendor blogs provide the raw data that an AI answer needs: features, pricing, integrations, security, and use cases. Their share across all segments is correspondingly large.
Source Type | 1–50 employees | 51–499 employees | 500 or more employees | Segment-neutral |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Vendor websites | 51,5 % | 51,9 % | 54,7 % | 50,5 % |
Expert Sources | 13,2 % | 15,6 % | 14,6 % | 13,9 % |
Communities | 16,9 % | 13,2 % | 12,8 % | 16,6 % |
Review platforms | 8,6 % | 7,7 % | 7,2 % | 8,8 % |
Directories | 4,6 % | 6,1 % | 4,6 % | 5,3 % |
Media | 4,3 % | 4,9 % | 5,5 % | 4,1 % |
Other and Marketplaces | 0,8 % | 0,6 % | 0,5 % | 0,8 % |
The provider share is highest in the enterprise segment, at 54.7 percent. The citations are spread across thousands of domains in some cases, which is why individual provider websites generally do not play a major role in the list of most-cited sources. Media sources are gaining slightly in the enterprise segment, while communities and review platforms are losing ground. In the midmarket, on the other hand, expert sources and directories are somewhat more strongly represented.
This does not result in a completely new landscape of sources based on company size. The basic structure remains stable; only the relative weights shift. Manufacturer websites provide the answers, while external sources offer comparisons, real-world experience, and an independent outside perspective.
To put the numbers in context: We were able to assign 94 percent of all citations to a specific source type; the table shows the distribution within these citations. It is not possible to deduce from this why Google chooses a particular source type. The figures show the actual mix that was used for the respective prompts.
Search & AI Insights
Source Mix in Google AI Overviews by Company Size
Share of classified source citations by segment.
Vendor websites
Media & experts
Communities
Review platforms
SMB / Small Business
Focus: Vendors & communities
Vendors52%
Media15%
Communities18%
Reviews15%
Mid-Market
Balanced distribution
Vendors58%
Media17%
Communities13%
Reviews12%
Enterprise / Large Companies
Strongest increase in vendor and media sources
Vendors66%
Media20%
Communities8%
Reviews6%
OMR is among the most frequently cited sources for software-related questions
On all eight days of the study, omr.com ranked second among the most frequently cited domains, right behind YouTube. Across all segments, OMR appears in 29.1 percent of AI overviews that cite sources, and this figure remains very consistent: depending on the day, it ranges between 27.8 and 30.3 percent.
OMR appears particularly frequently when a prompt calls for classification. Questions about reviews and experiences are the most common.
Search Intent | OMR-Coverage |
|---|---|
Reviews and Experiences | 45,8 % |
Rankings and Recommendations | 33,5 % |
General Software Search | 31,3 % |
Requirements and Product Fit | 25,2 % |
Alternatives | 23,8 % |
Shortlist and Decision | 23,3 % |
Comparison | 21,0 % |
This format aligns with the role that OMR Reviews plays in the purchasing process. Vendors explain their own products. OMR Reviews brings together multiple solutions, user reviews, and editorial context all in one place. Anyone facing a software decision is looking for this combination, and Google often refers to it when users search for such information.
Depending on the target audience, Google references different OMR content
“OMR is referenced” can mean many things: an editorial article, a category page, or a product profile. A look at the page types shows how differently Google accesses OMR depending on the size of the company.
OMR Page Type | 1–50 employees | 51–499 employees | 500 or more employees | Segment-neutral |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Blog Post | 77,1 % | 62,7 % | 57,6 % | 64,6 % |
Category Pages | 21,2 % | 34,4 % | 34,9 % | 33,4 % |
Product Pages | 1,2 % | 2,4 % | 7,3 % | 1,7 % |
Other OMR Pages | 0,5 % | 0,4 % | 0,2 % | 0,3 % |
For small businesses, editorial content plays the leading role. More than three-quarters of OMR citations lead to blog posts. The larger the company mentioned in the prompt, the greater the focus shifts toward structured category and product pages. In the enterprise segment, more than one in three OMR citations lead to a category page, while product pages account for 7.3 percent.
Within the ContentHub, the mix is also shifting:
ContentHub-Format | 1–50 employees | 51–499 employees | 500 or more employees | Segment-neutral |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Leaderboards | 81,7 % | 80,8 % | 65,3 % | 72,9 % |
Tool Overviews and Comparisons | 16,9 % | 18,0 % | 32,0 % | 23,7 % |
Other Formats | 1,4 % | 1,2 % | 2,7 % | 3,4 % |
Across all segments, 77.0 percent of unique ContentHub entries are “best-of” lists, and 21.0 percent are tool overviews or comparisons. When it comes to enterprise-related topics, comparison formats are catching up significantly, reaching 32.0 percent.
However, this does not mean that generic “Top 10 Tools” articles have a free pass. The cited pages answer specific selection questions. They identify a target audience, explain criteria, rank multiple products, and consolidate information that would otherwise be scattered across many vendor websites.
Which OMR Content Google Cites by Segment
OMR page types and ContentHub formats in Google AI Overviews by company size
1. OMR Page Types
Distribution in %
Small Business
100 %
Midmarket
100 %
Enterprise
100 %
Segment-neutral
100 %
Editorial Rankings
Category & Product Pages
Other Formats
2. ContentHub Formats
Distribution in %
Small Business
100 %
Midmarket
100 %
Enterprise
100 %
Segment-neutral
100 %
Rankings
Tool Overviews & Comparisons
Other Formats
Key Takeaway: For small businesses, Google primarily cites OMR's editorial rankings. In the Enterprise segment, category and product pages as well as tool overviews and comparisons gain significantly more importance.
Five Takeaways for Software Providers on Improving Discoverability in AI Overviews
01 Make your website the most reliable source of information about your product
In every segment, provider websites account for more than half of the classified citations and appear in over 96 percent of AI overviews that cite sources. Product pages, pricing, integrations, security content, and help centers form the foundation of your AI visibility. If key information is missing, outdated, or buried in PDFs, you’re making it unnecessarily difficult for Google to categorize your product. Also, make sure Google can crawl and index the relevant pages.
02 Think in terms of segments rather than just software categories
A CRM is still a CRM. However, the questions behind it change depending on the size of the business. In our framework, small-business prompts more often revolve around quick implementation, ease of use, and a fair price-performance ratio. Enterprise prompts, on the other hand, focus on complex integrations, governance, role models, compliance, and scalability. These requirements deserve their own pages with robust evidence and relevant use cases, rather than getting lost in a general feature description.
03 Manage your reputation outside your own website
Google doesn’t base its answers solely on manufacturer information. Review platforms, online communities, expert sources, media outlets, and directories complement the provider’s perspective. Therefore, keep your online presence up to date: profiles, product data, meaningful reviews, and transparent comparisons. Which external sources carry the most weight varies by segment.
04 Provide answers for the purchasing decision
Reviews, experiences, and recommendations are the search intents for which Google most frequently cites OMR. For content teams, this means a piece of content must do more than just target a keyword—it must make the selection process easier. Who is the product best suited for? What needs does it meet? What are its limitations? Which alternative is a better fit in which situation? Those who answer these questions precisely offer more than just another interchangeable feature ranking.
05 Measure AI visibility over time rather than via screenshots
A single day of measurement is a snapshot; eight measurements provide a reliable overall picture. At OMR, daily coverage ranged between 27.8 and 30.3 percent. For strategic decisions, therefore, averages and recurring patterns matter more than the result of a single day. Our guide shows you how to measure AI visibility and define the right metrics.
GEO Strategy
GEO Checklist for Software Providers
5 Proven Steps to Maximum Visibility in Google AI Overviews
Core Principle for AI Visibility: Visibility is driven primarily by clear product information, independent external sources, and content that helps potential customers make informed purchasing decisions.
01
Maintain Your Product Foundation
Provide precise, machine-readable specifications, core features, and integration data across your own channels.
02
Structure Content by Segment
Organize content by industry, company size (SMB vs. Enterprise), and specific use cases.
03
Update Profiles & Reviews
Continuously strengthen your presence on OMR Reviews and review platforms with verified user feedback.
04
Answer Decision-Making Questions
Create comparison tables, outline pros and cons, and provide pricing and value-for-money information for direct product selection scenarios.
05
Monitor Key Metrics
Regularly track visibility rates, brand mentions, and source citations in AI-generated answers across multiple prompts.
What the Data Doesn’t Show
80,640 queries provide a reliable picture of our prompt set. However, they do not answer every question related to software purchases and AI search.
- The prompts systematically map software-related questions. They do not measure actual search volume or real demand.
- Company size is specified in the prompt. We did not observe real users or purchasing processes.
- The study examines Google AI Overviews in Germany. Results may differ in ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity.
- Eight consecutive days stabilize the measurement. They do not reflect a trend over months.
- We analyzed the source blocks. Response texts, in-text citations, clicks, leads, and conversions are not part of the analysis.
- A citation indicates visibility. It does not prove a causal influence on the purchase decision.
Conclusion: AI Overviews are available to everyone, but their mix of sources is not
For the B2B software queries examined, Google displays an AI Overview almost regardless of company size. The AI response thus becomes a fixed intermediate step between the search query and the traditional search result.
Within this, the division of roles is clear. Vendor websites provide the foundation, while external sources contribute experiences, comparisons, and context. How Google weights these sources depends on the segment.
OMR is among the most cited sources on all eight days of the study. The content Google selects depends on the target audience: For small businesses, editorial best-of lists are particularly prominent, while for enterprise-level queries, category pages, product profiles, tool overviews, and comparisons carry more weight.
For software providers, this results in a simple yet challenging task. Your own website provides reliable product information. To complement this, you need external signals that make your product comparable and credible. And both must align with the questions that companies in their respective size categories are asking.
The AI Overview appears for almost everyone. Those who provide Google with enough substance for the respective decision make it into its sources.
FAQ on B2B Software in Google AI Overviews
How often do Google AI Overviews appear in response to software-related queries?
In our set of 10,080 B2B software prompts, an AI Overview appeared in 96.0 percent of queries over eight days of data collection. This figure applies to this specifically curated set of prompts and not to all Google searches in Germany.
Which sources does Google use most frequently for B2B software?
Vendor websites account for the largest share of sources across all business segments. Depending on the segment, 50.5 to 54.7 percent of classified citations come from vendor domains. Review platforms, communities, industry sources, media outlets, and directories supplement the vendor information.
Does the mix of sources differ between SMEs and enterprises?
Yes. The presence of AI Overviews remains nearly the same, but the mix of sources shifts. For enterprise prompts, the share of vendor websites and media outlets increases, while communities and review platforms appear less frequently than in small-business prompts.
How often does Google cite OMR in AI Overviews?
In our dataset, omr.com appears in 29.1 percent of AI Overviews that include sources. On all eight days of measurement, OMR ranked second among the most-cited domains, behind YouTube.
Which OMR content does Google cite most frequently?
For small-business queries, 77.1 percent of OMR citations lead to ContentHub articles, primarily to best-of lists. For enterprise queries, category pages, product pages, and tool overviews and comparisons account for a larger share.
Source: OMR Reviews’ own analysis based on raw data collected by SE Ranking; measurement period: September 14–21, 2026.
Disclaimer: The results describe Google’s choice of sources for the prompt set examined. They do not measure actual search behavior or the impact of a citation on clicks, leads, or purchasing decisions.
SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)SoftwareArtificial Intelligence
Author
Selina Feddern
Selina is an editor at OMR Reviews. She writes about anything and everything that comes her way. At work, she writes reviews; on the go, her thoughts turn into notes on the train; and at home, she turns them into her own pieces for her personal collection. As a poetry slammer, she also enjoys taking her words to the stage. Selina is a native of Lübeck and keeps refining a sentence until it feels just right. For her, writing is therefore not just a job, but a labor of love.
This article appears on OMR Reviews - the leading DACH platform for B2B software reviews, software comparisons, agencies, business services, and B2B tech content. With more than 80,000 verified reviews and over 12,000 listed tools, OMR Reviews helps companies thoroughly research and compare suitable software solutions and service providers to make better decisions.