Google moved AI answers on brand searches to the side
Search your own business name and the AI written answer may now sit beside the results instead of above them.
Google is showing the AI Overview (the AI written answer at the top of results) for brand searches in the right column instead of in the main results. Chris Long spotted the change, saying Google is showing AI Overviews for brand terms in the right column instead of a Knowledge Panel. Barry Schwartz passed the find along, and Glenn Gabe said he is seeing this too for larger brands.
Why this is good news for your own name
When the AI answer sits at the top of the page, it is the first thing a searcher reads, and it can push your real pages down. Move it to the right column and the first result in the main list goes back to being the top thing on the page. On a search for your own brand name, that first result is usually your own site.
Lily Ray said she prefers the new layout, pointing out that branded AI Overviews at the top often link out to competitors or other third parties. That is the real cost of an AI answer on a brand search. Someone types your business name, and the summary above the results hands them links to other companies before they ever reach you.
What is not clear yet
The sources do not say how widely this is rolling out, when it started, or whether it is a test that Google could pull back. Gabe says he is seeing it for larger brands. Nobody in the sources has said what happens on searches for small or less known businesses, so treat this as something a few SEOs are seeing rather than a confirmed change everywhere.
This also only covers brand searches, meaning people typing your company name. The AI Overview on everything else, the searches where people describe a problem instead of naming a business, is not part of what these accounts reported. AI answers already show up on most searches, including brand queries, so one layout change on one type of search does not undo that.
What to do
Search your own business name in Google on a desktop browser and look at where the AI answer sits. If it is in the right column, your homepage should now be the first thing in the main results. If it is still at the top, read what it says about you and check which sites it links to, because those links are what a customer sees first when they look you up by name. There is nothing to change on your site either way.
I prefer this to branded AIOs as the top result (often with links to competitors or other third parties)
Instead of a Knowledge Panel, they're showing AI Overviews for brand terms in the right column.
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