Google Moves Brand Search AI Overviews to Right Column

Google has started moving where AI Overviews appear for brand-name searches like Apple or Coca-Cola, shifting from the middle or top of results to the right-hand side of the page, Search Engine Roundtable reported on November 2. The AI Overview is now taking over the spot the Knowledge Panel used to occupy, effectively replacing brand Knowledge Panels with AI Overviews.

The change was first spotted by marketer Chris Long in a post on X. He wrote that Google is changing how it displays AI Overviews for brand searches, showing an AI Overview in the right column for brand terms instead of a Knowledge Panel. David McSweeney also noticed a similar layout shift on October 31, saying it had moved to a right panel on desktop, or in some cases further down the page.

The same change was captured in searches for Apple, Zillow, Coca-Cola, Google, and Search Engine Roundtable itself. Earlier, on October 27, Sachin Patel spotted that Google's Knowledge Panel had started showing an AI-generated label, which appears to be part of the same shift. Google hasn't issued any separate statement about the change.

Search Engine Roundtable's Executive Editor Barry Schwartz said this works much better than having it inside the main results, while also noting it's hard to trust that AI will describe a brand as accurately as the brand's own site would. McSweeney reacted more simply, saying that if it's really a change, it's a good one.

Knowledge Panels have long drawn from structured data like Wikipedia, Wikidata, or Google Business Profiles to present fixed facts, while AI Overviews pull sentences from multiple sources and have the model write a fresh summary each time, so the two work very differently even when they occupy the same spot. That means inaccurate summaries or outdated information, rarely an issue with Knowledge Panels, can now more easily creep into brand-name search results.

Search Engine Roundtable said it confirmed the same shift by searching its own brand name, though the article doesn't make clear whether the change applies to all brand searches or is still being tested on a limited basis.

So far this shift has only been documented on desktop, for a handful of brand names like Apple and Coca-Cola, and it isn't clear how broadly it applies, which countries are affected, or whether mobile shows the same thing. Still, having AI Overviews take over the spot Knowledge Panels used to hold means the summary text shown for a brand-name search now sits in a more prominent position than before. Checking what AI Overviews say about your own brand name now, before this spreads further, means fewer surprises if the same shift reaches your market.

Source: Search Engine Roundtable, November 2, 2026. Checked November 3, 2026. Read the original