Data Study · AI SEO

    Google AI Mode Adds a Comparison Table to 40% of Product Answers vs 1.3% for AI Overviews

    Matt SuffolettoWritten by Matt Suffoletto
    Published Sept. 24, 2026 5 min read
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    Google AI Mode lays out products side by side in a comparison table in 40.2% of its answers to "best product" questions, 31 times the 1.3% rate of Google AI Overviews. Across five AI engines, 21.7% of product answers include a table.

    Analysis of 17,524 AI product answers · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features, September 2026

    Key Findings

    1. 1.Google AI Mode includes a comparison table in 40.2% of its answers to "best product" questions, 31 times the 1.3% rate of Google AI Overviews.
    2. 2.21.7% of AI answers to "best product" questions include a comparison table, about one answer in five.
    3. 3.AI answers to "best software" questions include a comparison table 55.7% of the time, more than any other category.
    4. 4.AI answers about electronics include a comparison table 10.3% of the time, about one in ten, with beauty at 11% and health at 12%.
    5. 5.Gemini includes a comparison table in 28.4% of product answers, ChatGPT in 18.7% and Perplexity in 13.5%.

    Summary

    Ask Google AI Mode for the best project management software for a small team and the answer can arrive as a grid: five tools down the side, and price, free plan, key features and "best for" across the top. Ask the same question in a regular Google search and the AI Overview at the top is a few sentences and bullets.

    That matters because a table changes what a brand is judged on. Instead of a line of praise, each product gets a row of facts: its price, its plans, what it includes and who it suits. The engine fills those cells from the pages it reads. If your page states those facts plainly, the cells are right; if it does not, the engine fills them from someone else's page or leaves them blank.

    Google AI Mode builds a table in 40.2% of product answers, and Google AI Overviews in 1.3%. Across all five engines, 21.7% of product answers include a table, and for software questions more than half do.

    What we measured

    On September 23, 2026 we asked 2,000 "best product or service" questions, such as "best CRM for small business" or "best air fryer", across 20 categories, to five AI engines: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews (the AI summary above Google's search results). That produced 17,524 answers.

    An answer counts as including a comparison table when it lays out options in rows and columns, such as products against price, features or ratings. We compared the rate by AI engine and by product category.

    One AI product answer in five is built around a table

    21.7%
    of AI answers to "best product" questions include a comparison table.

    About one AI product answer in five lays options out side by side. A table compresses a comparison into rows and columns: price, features, best for. It is the format a careful shopper would build by hand, and AI engines now build it for them.

    The facts that fill those cells have to come from somewhere. A table needs the same attribute for every product, so an engine looks for pages that state price, plans and features in clear, comparable terms. Brands whose pages bury those facts in marketing copy or behind a sales form give the engine nothing to put in their row.

    Google AI Mode builds tables, AI Overviews almost never do

    40.2%
    of Google AI Mode's product answers include a comparison table.

    The two Google features behave in opposite ways. Google AI Mode builds a table in four answers in ten. Google AI Overviews, the short summary at the top of Google's search results, include one in 1.3% of answers, so a Google AI Mode user sees a table 31 times as often as someone reading an AI Overview.

    Product answers with a comparison table by AI engine
    Google AI Mode
    40.2%
    Gemini
    28.4%
    ChatGPT
    18.7%
    Perplexity
    13.5%
    Google AI Overviews
    1.3%

    Source: Suff Digital analysis of 17,524 AI product answers · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features, September 2026

    Gemini (28.4%) and ChatGPT (18.7%) use tables regularly, and Perplexity includes one in 13.5% of product answers. A shopper who asked the same product question on all five engines would see about one table across the five answers, most likely on Google AI Mode and almost never in the AI Overview at the top of Google's results.

    Software and services get the most tables

    More than half of software answers, 55.7%, include a table, the highest rate of any category. Software is compared on plans, prices, user limits and integrations, attributes that fit naturally in columns. Services (36.7%), travel (33.6%) and finance (30.6%) follow, all categories where buyers compare prices, fees or terms.

    Answers with a comparison table by category
    Software
    55.7%
    Services
    36.7%
    Travel
    33.6%
    Finance
    30.6%
    Cars
    24.8%
    Insurance
    22.6%
    Gaming
    21.7%
    Home
    21.5%
    Outdoor
    19.5%
    Phones
    19.4%
    Kitchen
    13.6%
    Pets
    12.7%
    Health
    12%
    Beauty
    11%
    Electronics
    10.3%

    Source: Suff Digital analysis of 17,524 AI product answers · answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features, September 2026

    Physical consumer products get fewer tables. Electronics (10.3%), beauty (11%), health (12%) and pets (12.7%) sit at the bottom, and streaming, kids and office products fall between 18% and 19%. Cars (24.8%), insurance (22.6%), gaming (21.7%) and home (21.5%) sit close to the overall rate. If you sell software or services, a comparison table is the format your product is most likely to be judged in.

    What this means for software, services and ecommerce brands

    Give AI engines the cells to fill. Publish a clear comparison page or specification table for your product with the attributes buyers compare: price, plans, key features and who it suits. Use a real HTML table rather than an image, so engines can read every value.

    Keep the numbers current. A table cell showing last year's price or a retired plan is repeated as fact. Check the tables AI engines build in your category: if a competitor's row shows a feature you also offer, but your cell is blank or wrong, the fix is usually on your own pricing or features page.

    Then check Google AI Mode in particular, where tables are most common. Our ecommerce seo services build the product and comparison pages AI engines draw their tables from.

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<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-comparison-tables-product-answers">Google AI Mode Adds a Comparison Table to 40% of Product Answers vs 1.3% for AI Overviews - Suff Digital</a></p>

    Cite this study

    APA

    Suff Digital. (2026). Google AI Mode Adds a Comparison Table to 40% of Product Answers vs 1.3% for AI Overviews. https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-comparison-tables-product-answers

    Plain link

    Google AI Mode Adds a Comparison Table to 40% of Product Answers vs 1.3% for AI Overviews - Suff Digital - https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/ai-comparison-tables-product-answers

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