Google has moved AI Overviews for many brand keywords into the right-hand column of desktop search results, the space where knowledge panels used to sit, Search Engine Roundtable reported on November 2, 2026. Previously, those AI summaries appeared at the top or in the middle of the main results column. The shift changes where brand information appears on the page, and it changes what searchers see first when they look up a well-known company.
For the brand keywords in question, the AI Overview no longer occupies the prime position at the top of the main column. Instead, it sits in the right-hand column, the area long associated with knowledge panels and their quick facts about a company. The main column is left to the traditional organic results, which regain the top of the page for those queries.
That is a meaningful layout change even though no new feature is involved. Position on the page shapes attention, and a summary that once dominated the first screen now competes with a narrower column and a different reading pattern. Searchers who scan down the main column may reach organic listings before they ever look to the right, while searchers who look right first will still find an AI-generated summary waiting there.
The examples reported so far include Apple, Zillow, Coca-Cola, Google itself, and Search Engine Roundtable. Those are large, well-known brands with established knowledge panels, which makes the right column a natural home for a summary about them. The examples all come from US results, so it is not yet clear whether the same layout is appearing in other countries or languages.
The change was spotted by Chris Long on November 2 and by David McSweeney on October 31, a few days apart, which suggests the layout was visible to more than one observer over more than one day. Google has not commented on the change, and it is unclear whether this is a test shown to some users or a wider rollout. Until Google says more, SEOs should treat the layout as observed behaviour, not as a confirmed permanent change.
Brand searches are among the most valuable queries a company owns, because the searcher already knows the name and is often close to a decision. An AI Overview at the top of the page could answer the query before the searcher ever reached the brand's own site. Moving that summary to the right column may restore some of that lost prominence to organic listings, including the brand's own homepage, which again sits at the top of the main column.
At the same time, the summary has not gone away. It still exists, still synthesises information about the brand, and still sits on the first screen for desktop users. Brands therefore still need to care about what the summary says and which sources it draws on. A summary in the right column can still shape a first impression, especially for searchers comparing a company they barely know.
The layout change lands against a backdrop of rapid growth. Ahrefs found AI Overviews on 63 of 100 brand names by September 30, 2026, with 48 of them in position one, compared with just 5 of 98 usable results on July 1. That steep rise over a single quarter shows how quickly AI summaries became a normal part of brand search, and why any change in where they sit deserves attention.
For SEOs and link builders, the practical step is to check brand queries directly and regularly, on desktop, and to record where the AI Overview appears and what it says. Layout tests come and go, and a summary that sits on the right today could return to the top tomorrow. Tracking the position, not just the presence, of AI Overviews on brand terms is now part of the job.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, November 2, 2026, with context from Ahrefs brand AI Overview findings reported alongside it.
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