— Ranking Top 10 · AI Overview —
Who controls Google's AI Overview for Premium Education US West Coast, San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles?
reddit.com holds the strongest AI opening share on the Premium Education US West Coast market at 27.02%, observed across 6 comparable scheduled runs in the observation period August 10–16, 2026.
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- Market
- Premium Education US West Coast
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles
- Observed period
- August 10–16, 2026
- Run type
- Period run · 6 comparable runs
- Queries
- 105 queries per run
- Search engine
- Device
- Desktop
- Source location
- United States
- Reading
- Ranking Top 10 · AI Overview
“On Premium Education US West Coast, a discussion platform — not an institution — opens AI answers more than any other source.”
Quick answer
reddit.com holds the strongest AI opening share on the Premium Education US West Coast market at 27.02%, observed across 6 comparable scheduled runs in the observation period August 10–16, 2026.
Key reading
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 10–16, 2026
reddit.com accumulated 27.02% of all AI answer openings observed across the 6-run window, opening AI answers on 6 of 6 comparable runs. niche.com sits 11.58 percentage points behind reddit.com on AI opening share on this market, at 15.44%, while boardingschoolreview.com records 12.28%. The top 3 actors together hold more than the remaining 7 combined. The non-obvious read is structural: the rank-1 position on this AI Overview opening-control rail belongs to a user-generated discussion platform, not to a focused education domain — and the spread from rank 1 to rank 10 is 25.26 percentage points, meaning the surface is sharply top-heavy.
Core metric
AIO opening control — top 10 · Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 10–16, 2026
Observed metric
AIO opening control — top 10
| Actor | Rank | AIO opening share | Presence |
|---|---|---|---|
| reddit.com | #1 | 27.02% AI opening share | opening in 6/6 runs |
| niche.com | #2 | 15.44% AI opening share | opening in 6/6 runs |
| boardingschoolreview.com | #3 | 12.28% AI opening share | opening in 6/6 runs |
| usnews.com | #4 | 8.77% AI opening share | opening in 6/6 runs |
| youtube.com | #5 | 7.72% AI opening share | opening in 5/6 runs |
| executive.berkeley.edu | #6 | 7.37% AI opening share | opening in 6/6 runs |
| topuniversities.com | #7 | 4.91% AI opening share | opening in 6/6 runs |
| quora.com | #8 | 3.86% AI opening share | opening in 5/6 runs |
| en.wikipedia.org | #9 | 2.11% AI opening share | opening in 4/6 runs |
| facebook.com | #10 | 1.75% AI opening share | opening in 4/6 runs |
How the actors read on the surface
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 10–16, 2026
reddit.com holds the strongest AI opening share on this market in this card scope, at 27.02%. It opened AI answers on 6 of 6 comparable runs across the window — a user-generated discussion platform occupying the primacy slot on an education-market surface.
niche.com records 15.44% AI opening share on this market and sits 11.58 percentage points behind reddit.com. It opened AI answers on 6 of 6 comparable runs, holding the rank-2 position as a focused source on this opening-control rail.
boardingschoolreview.com records 12.28% AI opening share on this market and sits 14.74 percentage points behind reddit.com. It opened AI answers on 6 of 6 comparable runs — a niche domain anchoring the rank-3 position on this surface.
usnews.com records 8.77% AI opening share on this market and sits 18.25 percentage points behind reddit.com. It opened AI answers on 6 of 6 comparable runs, occupying the rank-4 position on the period-wide panel.
youtube.com records 7.72% AI opening share on this market and sits 19.30 percentage points behind reddit.com. It opened AI answers on 5 of 6 comparable runs — a social platform that does not appear on every run yet still accumulates a mid-panel share.
executive.berkeley.edu records 7.37% AI opening share on this market and sits 19.65 percentage points behind reddit.com. It opened AI answers on 6 of 6 comparable runs — the highest-ranked institutional subdomain on this panel.
topuniversities.com records 4.91% AI opening share on this market and sits 22.11 percentage points behind reddit.com. It opened AI answers on 6 of 6 comparable runs, holding a lower-panel position as a visible domain on this surface.
quora.com records 3.86% AI opening share on this market and sits 23.16 percentage points behind reddit.com. It opened AI answers on 5 of 6 comparable runs — a second discussion platform appearing in the lower portion of the panel.
en.wikipedia.org records 2.11% AI opening share on this market and sits 24.91 percentage points behind reddit.com. It opened AI answers on 4 of 6 comparable runs, registering the lowest presence frequency among the governed panel's platforms.
facebook.com records 1.75% AI opening share on this market and sits 25.26 percentage points behind reddit.com. It opened AI answers on 4 of 6 comparable runs, occupying the rank-10 position at the bottom of the panel.
Pattern on the observed surface
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 10–16, 2026
The panel is sharply top-heavy
The panel is sharply top-heavy: the top 3 actors together hold more than the remaining 7 combined, and the 9 sources behind reddit.com range from 15.44% down to 1.75%. Platforms dominate the composition — reddit.com, youtube.com, quora.com, en.wikipedia.org, and facebook.com are all general-purpose or discussion platforms, while the remaining positions belong to focused or niche domains. 6 of the 10 actors on the panel opened AI answers in all 6 comparable runs; 4 opened AI answers in fewer runs. The surface mixes user-generated discussion platforms with education-focused domains, yet no single institutional subdomain rises above the rank-6 position.
Why this reading matters
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 10–16, 2026
reddit.com's rank-1 position on this AI Overview opening-control rail means that when Google's AI answers a premium-education query on the US West Coast, it reaches for a discussion platform first more often than for any education-specific source across the 6-run window. The only institutional subdomain on the panel — executive.berkeley.edu — sits at rank 6, separated from reddit.com by 19.65 percentage points on AI opening share.
Market implication
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 10–16, 2026
On this observed AI Overview opening-control surface, the primacy slot is held by a general-purpose platform across the 6-run window August 10–16, 2026. The top 3 actors together hold more than the remaining 7 combined, which signals that the opening-control rail is concentrated at the top rather than evenly distributed. For any institution monitoring its AI-answer visibility on this market, the observation reframes the contest: the opening slot is not contested among education domains alone — it is contested against platforms that aggregate user-generated discussion.
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Observatory Reading — Citable Proof Capsule
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- Scope:
- Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles
- Surface:
- AI Overview · Google · Desktop
- Observed:
- August 10–16, 2026
- Published:
- August 18, 2026
Method: How readings are scoped · Run metadata · Source protocol · Corrections and right of reply
Observed by The Observatory. Not an endorsement, recommendation, market-share claim or commercial ranking.
Free reuse, including commercial republication, under The Observatory’s Terms. Retain attribution, source link, scope and date. Terms · Citation guide
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The complete citation record · revision 1343a6e7673820d9
Who controls Google's AI Overview for Premium Education US West Coast, San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles? Source: https://theobservatory.io/articles/premium-education-san-francisco-bay-area-los-angeles-ai-overview-control-august-10-16-2026 Scope: Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · Google · Desktop Family: Ranking Top 10 Observed: August 10–16, 2026 (2026-08-10/2026-08-16) Published: August 18, 2026 Method — How readings are scoped: https://theobservatory.io/method#standards Method — Run metadata: https://theobservatory.io/method/panel#run-metadata Method — Source protocol: https://theobservatory.io/method#source-protocol Method — Corrections and right of reply: https://theobservatory.io/method#corrections Public table: https://theobservatory.io/articles/premium-education-san-francisco-bay-area-los-angeles-ai-overview-control-august-10-16-2026/data.csv Citation text: https://theobservatory.io/articles/premium-education-san-francisco-bay-area-los-angeles-ai-overview-control-august-10-16-2026/citation.txt Reuse terms: https://theobservatory.io/terms reddit.com holds the strongest AI opening share on the Premium Education US West Coast market at 27.02%, observed across 6 comparable scheduled runs in the observation period August 10–16, 2026. Key facts: • reddit.com: 27% AI opening share · opening in 6/6 runs • niche.com: 15% AI opening share · opening in 6/6 runs • boardingschoolreview.com: 12% AI opening share · opening in 6/6 runs Published table — AIO opening control — top 10 (August 10–16, 2026 · 105 queries per run · 6 comparable runs): Rank · Actor · AIO opening control 1. reddit.com — 27.02% AI opening share · opening in 6/6 runs — #1 2. niche.com — 15.44% AI opening share · opening in 6/6 runs — #2 3. boardingschoolreview.com — 12.28% AI opening share · opening in 6/6 runs — #3 4. usnews.com — 8.77% AI opening share · opening in 6/6 runs — #4 5. youtube.com — 7.72% AI opening share · opening in 5/6 runs — #5 6. executive.berkeley.edu — 7.37% AI opening share · opening in 6/6 runs — #6 7. topuniversities.com — 4.91% AI opening share · opening in 6/6 runs — #7 8. quora.com — 3.86% AI opening share · opening in 5/6 runs — #8 9. en.wikipedia.org — 2.11% AI opening share · opening in 4/6 runs — #9 10. facebook.com — 1.75% AI opening share · opening in 4/6 runs — #10 Reading basis: This card observes the AI Overview opening-control rail for Premium Education US West Coast in United States on Google desktop across 6 comparable scheduled runs in the observation period August 10–16, 2026. The panel ranks the top-10 actors by cumulative AI opening share aggregated from 105 observed queries. Per-actor values reflect the sum of each actor's openings across all comparable runs divided by one single period-wide denominator. AI Overview opening-control evidence was available on 6 of 6 runs in the window. Limitations and non-claims: — Observes the observed AI answer surface only; within a defined scope and window. — A period aggregate (6 comparable runs) — not a claim about bookings, revenue, or market share. — Scoped to Premium Education US West Coast San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles, August 2026; not generalisable beyond this market and window. — The Observatory · Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · Google · Desktop · August 10–16, 2026 Based on governed AAI Kernel evidence. Capture identifier: pr_1787892680498_u5sqd2. Cite freely with attribution. Published by The Observatory. Source footnote: Sourced from a published AAI MIB card. The Observatory publishes this card’s public findings; values are as observed on the search surface, not business-market claims. Attribution: Published by The Observatory · Based on an AAI Kernel capture · governed by The Observatory editorial system Cite: According to The Observatory (August 18, 2026), Who controls Google's AI Overview for Premium Education US West Coast, San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles?. https://theobservatory.io/articles/premium-education-san-francisco-bay-area-los-angeles-ai-overview-control-august-10-16-2026 This record is the published reading and its public table/slice as served on the card — not the complete underlying capture or provider dataset. Observed by The Observatory. Not an endorsement, recommendation, market-share claim or commercial ranking. Free reuse, including commercial republication, under The Observatory’s Terms. Retain attribution, source link, scope and date. Revision: 1343a6e7673820d9
This record is the published reading and its public table/slice as served on the card — not the complete underlying capture or provider dataset.
— The Observatory · Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · Google · Desktop · August 10–16, 2026
Based on governed AAI Kernel evidence. Capture identifier pr_1787892680498_u5sqd2. Cite freely with attribution. Published by The Observatory.
FAQ
- What does 'AI opening share on this market' measure?
- It measures how often a given domain is cited at the very opening of an AI Overview answer across the market's observed query set. It captures the primacy slot — who AI reaches for first — not general citation frequency and not organic search ranking.
- Does this card prove that reddit.com is the most important education source on the US West Coast?
- No. The card observes AI Overview opening-control behavior across 6 comparable scheduled runs in the window August 10–16, 2026. It does not measure educational quality, institutional reputation, or business-market position. AI Overview opening behavior is volatile across queries, models, and dates.
- How were the period values calculated?
- Each actor's raw AI answer openings were summed across all 6 comparable runs in the window, and shares were computed against one single period-wide denominator. The panel is ranked by cumulative opening volume over the period, not by an average of daily values. AI Overview opening-control evidence was available on 6 of 6 runs.
Scope and limitations
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 10–16, 2026 · what this card does not claim
- Observes the observed AI answer surface only; within a defined scope and window.
- A period aggregate (6 comparable runs) — not a claim about bookings, revenue, or market share.
- Scoped to Premium Education US West Coast San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles, August 2026; not generalisable beyond this market and window.
Method & source
This card observes the AI Overview opening-control rail for Premium Education US West Coast in United States on Google desktop across 6 comparable scheduled runs in the observation period August 10–16, 2026. The panel ranks the top-10 actors by cumulative AI opening share aggregated from 105 observed queries. Per-actor values reflect the sum of each actor's openings across all comparable runs divided by one single period-wide denominator. AI Overview opening-control evidence was available on 6 of 6 runs in the window.
The complete methodology — scope, panels, run conditions and corrections — is set out on the Method page.
Source protocol · How readings are scoped · Run metadata · Corrections
Period observation across 6 comparable scheduled runs in the observation period August 10–16, 2026. AI Overview opening-control evidence available on 6 of 6 runs. This observation does not establish a longer-term trend. No claim about general citation share or organic visibility.
A capture from AAI Kernel’s governed intelligence — published by The Observatory. One reading of many; the publication date is distinct from the observed window shown above.Published 2026-08-18 · Governed capture ID · pr_1787892680498_u5sqd2
Sourced from a published AAI MIB card. The Observatory publishes this card’s public findings; values are as observed on the search surface, not business-market claims.
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Governed measurements and verbatim quotations from observed AI models are distinct from The Observatory’s editorial interpretations. Original model statements are preserved as observed, including any inaccuracies they may contain. Learn more about our verification and editorial standards
Submit a statement → right-of-reply@theobservatory.ioHow we read this
Sourced from a published AAI MIB card. The Observatory publishes this card’s public findings; values are as observed on the search surface, not business-market claims.
Method & SourceContinue the reading
The Premium Education US West Coast room places this AI Overview Ranking — Top 10 reading alongside the market’s other published observations.
For the same observation window, August 10–16, 2026, Premium Education US West Coast is also read in the AI Citation Ranking — Top 5 table, the Organic Ranking — Top 5 table and the Query Spotlight table; each keeps its own reading basis.
The Paris reading and Singapore reading examine the same AI Overview Ranking — Top 10 for August 10–16, 2026; compare the stated reading bases before drawing a cross-market conclusion.
