— Ranking Top 10 · AI Overview —
Who controls Google's AI Overview for Premium Education US West Coast, San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles?
niche.com holds the strongest AI opening share on this market across the 7-run window (August 3–9, 2026), at 16.92%.
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- Market
- Premium Education US West Coast
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles
- Observed period
- August 3–9, 2026
- Run type
- Period run · 7 comparable runs
- Queries
- 105 queries per run
- Search engine
- Device
- Desktop
- Source location
- United States
- Reading
- Ranking Top 10 · AI Overview
“No single source controls the AI opening slot for Premium Education US West Coast — the top-10 panel is fully contested.”
Quick answer
reddit.com follows at 15.69%, just 1.23 percentage points behind.
Key reading
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 3–9, 2026
niche.com holds the rank-1 position on the AI Overview opening-control rail for Premium Education US West Coast across 7 comparable scheduled runs in the observation period August 3–9, 2026, at 16.92% AI opening share on this market. reddit.com sits 1.23 percentage points behind niche.com on AI opening share on this market, recording 15.69%. boardingschoolreview.com records 10.77%, and the 9 sources behind niche.com range from 15.69% down to 3.69%. With 7 runs in this custom window, these panel positions are directional indicators of the current competitive shape on this observed surface — not established structural facts.
Core metric
AIO opening control — top 10 · Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 3–9, 2026
Observed metric
AIO opening control — top 10
| Actor | Rank | AIO opening share | Presence |
|---|---|---|---|
| niche.com | #1 | 16.92% AI opening share | opening in 7/7 runs |
| reddit.com | #2 | 15.69% AI opening share | opening in 7/7 runs |
| boardingschoolreview.com | #3 | 10.77% AI opening share | opening in 7/7 runs |
| youtube.com | #4 | 8.31% AI opening share | opening in 6/7 runs |
| executive.berkeley.edu | #5 | 8.00% AI opening share | opening in 7/7 runs |
| usnews.com | #6 | 7.38% AI opening share | opening in 6/7 runs |
| topuniversities.com | #7 | 4.92% AI opening share | opening in 5/7 runs |
| quora.com | #8 | 4.31% AI opening share | opening in 6/7 runs |
| facebook.com | #9 | 4.00% AI opening share | opening in 6/7 runs |
| solomonadmissions.com | #10 | 3.69% AI opening share | opening in 5/7 runs |
How the actors read on the surface
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 3–9, 2026
niche.com holds the strongest AI opening share on this market in this period, at 16.92%. It opened AI answers on 7 of 7 comparable runs, making it one of 4 actors on the panel to appear across every run in the window.
reddit.com records 15.69% AI opening share on this market and sits 1.23 percentage points behind niche.com. As a discussion platform, it opened AI answers on 7 of 7 comparable runs — matching the rank-1 actor's presence across the window.
boardingschoolreview.com records 10.77% AI opening share on this market, sitting 6.15 percentage points behind niche.com. It opened AI answers on 7 of 7 comparable runs, anchoring the third position in the period-wide ranking.
youtube.com records 8.31% AI opening share on this market and sits 8.62 percentage points behind niche.com. As a general-purpose platform, it opened AI answers on 6 of 7 comparable runs.
executive.berkeley.edu records 8.00% AI opening share on this market, sitting 8.92 percentage points behind niche.com. It opened AI answers on 7 of 7 comparable runs — one of 4 actors on the panel to do so.
usnews.com records 7.38% AI opening share on this market and sits 9.54 percentage points behind niche.com. It opened AI answers on 6 of 7 comparable runs.
topuniversities.com records 4.92% AI opening share on this market, sitting 12.00 percentage points behind niche.com. It opened AI answers on 5 of 7 comparable runs.
quora.com records 4.31% AI opening share on this market as a discussion platform, sitting 12.62 percentage points behind niche.com. It opened AI answers on 6 of 7 comparable runs.
facebook.com records 4.00% AI opening share on this market, sitting 12.92 percentage points behind niche.com. As a social platform, it opened AI answers on 6 of 7 comparable runs.
solomonadmissions.com records 3.69% AI opening share on this market and sits 13.23 percentage points behind niche.com at the bottom of the governed top-10 panel. It opened AI answers on 5 of 7 comparable runs.
Pattern on the observed surface
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 3–9, 2026
The panel mixes focused sources and general-purpose platform
The panel mixes focused sources and general-purpose platforms in roughly equal measure. The top 3 actors together hold more than the remaining 7 combined, yet the rank-1 share itself is modest — the surface is top-weighted but not concentrated around a single source. The 9 sources behind niche.com sit between 1.23 and 13.23 percentage points behind it. 4 of the 10 actors on the panel opened AI answers in all 7 comparable runs; 6 opened AI answers in fewer runs. The spread of 13.23 percentage points between the rank-1 and rank-10 positions signals a graduated descent rather than a sharp cliff.
Why this reading matters
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 3–9, 2026
niche.com — a focused source, not an educational institution — holds the rank-1 position on this AI opening-control rail for Premium Education US West Coast. The surface reaches for aggregator-style and discussion-platform sources alongside a single institutional subdomain (executive.berkeley.edu), suggesting that AI Overview opening behavior on education queries in this market draws heavily on intermediary content rather than direct institutional sources.
Market implication
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 3–9, 2026
The fully contested shape of this opening-control surface across the 7-run window means no single source has locked down the AI primacy slot for Premium Education US West Coast queries. The top 3 actors together hold more than the remaining 7 combined, but the rank-1 share of 16.92% leaves the opening position structurally open. For any operator monitoring AI opening-control visibility on this surface, the observation signals that the primacy slot is distributed across a mix of focused sources and platforms — not anchored to a single institutional or specialist domain.
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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 3–9, 2026
- Published:
- August 11, 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 80b690c297630d62
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-3-9-2026 Scope: Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · Google · Desktop Family: Ranking Top 10 Observed: August 3–9, 2026 (2026-08-03/2026-08-09) Published: August 11, 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-3-9-2026/data.csv Citation text: https://theobservatory.io/articles/premium-education-san-francisco-bay-area-los-angeles-ai-overview-control-august-3-9-2026/citation.txt Reuse terms: https://theobservatory.io/terms niche.com holds the strongest AI opening share on this market across the 7-run window (August 3–9, 2026), at 16.92%. Key facts: • niche.com: 17% AI opening share · opening in 7/7 runs • reddit.com: 16% AI opening share · opening in 7/7 runs • boardingschoolreview.com: 11% AI opening share · opening in 7/7 runs Published table — AIO opening control — top 10 (August 3–9, 2026 · 105 queries per run · 7 comparable runs): Rank · Actor · AIO opening control 1. niche.com — 16.92% AI opening share · opening in 7/7 runs — #1 2. reddit.com — 15.69% AI opening share · opening in 7/7 runs — #2 3. boardingschoolreview.com — 10.77% AI opening share · opening in 7/7 runs — #3 4. youtube.com — 8.31% AI opening share · opening in 6/7 runs — #4 5. executive.berkeley.edu — 8.00% AI opening share · opening in 7/7 runs — #5 6. usnews.com — 7.38% AI opening share · opening in 6/7 runs — #6 7. topuniversities.com — 4.92% AI opening share · opening in 5/7 runs — #7 8. quora.com — 4.31% AI opening share · opening in 6/7 runs — #8 9. facebook.com — 4.00% AI opening share · opening in 6/7 runs — #9 10. solomonadmissions.com — 3.69% AI opening share · opening in 5/7 runs — #10 Reading basis: This card observes the AI Overview opening-control rail for Premium Education US West Coast in the United States on Google desktop, across 7 comparable scheduled runs in the observation period August 3–9, 2026. The panel ranks the top-10 actors by cumulative AI opening share on this market, aggregated from 105 observed queries. AI Overview opening-control evidence was available on 7 of 7 runs. Per-actor values reflect the sum of each actor's openings across all comparable runs in the period, divided by one single period-wide denominator. Limitations and non-claims: — Observes the observed AI answer surface only; within a defined scope and window. — A period aggregate (7 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 3–9, 2026 Based on governed AAI Kernel evidence. Capture identifier: pr_1787902568388_lb5ljk. 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 11, 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-3-9-2026 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: 80b690c297630d62
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 3–9, 2026
Based on governed AAI Kernel evidence. Capture identifier pr_1787902568388_lb5ljk. 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 which source AI reaches for first — the primacy slot — not general citation frequency or organic search ranking.
- Does this card prove a longer-term trend or measure general citation share?
- No. This observation covers 7 comparable scheduled runs in an observation period (August 3–9, 2026). It does not establish a longer-term trend. It measures AI opening share only — not general citation share and not organic visibility.
- Why might the opening-control panel look different in a future window?
- AI Overview opening behavior is volatile across queries, models, and dates. The sources AI reaches for first can shift between observation windows, so a future observation period or rolling window may surface a different panel composition.
Scope and limitations
Premium Education US West Coast · San Francisco Bay Area / Los Angeles · AI Overview · August 3–9, 2026 · what this card does not claim
- Observes the observed AI answer surface only; within a defined scope and window.
- A period aggregate (7 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 the United States on Google desktop, across 7 comparable scheduled runs in the observation period August 3–9, 2026. The panel ranks the top-10 actors by cumulative AI opening share on this market, aggregated from 105 observed queries. AI Overview opening-control evidence was available on 7 of 7 runs. Per-actor values reflect the sum of each actor's openings across all comparable runs in the period, divided by one single period-wide denominator.
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 7 comparable scheduled runs (August 3–9, 2026). AI Overview opening-control evidence available on 7 of 7 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 2026-08-11 · Governed capture ID · pr_1787902568388_lb5ljk
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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Send the reading link and your proposed correction or statement to right-of-reply@theobservatory.io. We review attribution, relevance and legal concerns before publication. Our correction and reply process explains what happens next.
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 3–9, 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 Boston / New York reading and Dubai Abu Dhabi reading examine the same AI Overview Ranking — Top 10 for August 3–9, 2026; compare the stated reading bases before drawing a cross-market conclusion.
