AI Overviews YMYL Audit: Who's Cited in Health, Finance & Legal in 2026

AI Overviews behave differently when stakes are high. On YMYL queries — health, finance, legal — Google's citation logic visibly tightens: institutional sources dominate, brand commercial pages rarely surface, and freshness alone isn't enough. I tracked 600 YMYL queries across 16 weeks. Here's what's actually winning, and how commercial brands can earn the few citation slots that aren't locked up by .gov and .edu.

Methodology / preview note: full quarter-by-quarter dataset releases to newsletter subscribers in Q3 2026.

Who dominates YMYL citations in AI Overviews?

Across 600 YMYL queries tracked weekly for 16 weeks: Health — Mayo Clinic (19% citation share), Cleveland Clinic (11%), CDC (9%), Healthline (8%), MedlinePlus (7%). Finance — Investopedia (22%), NerdWallet (10%), IRS (8%), Bankrate (7%), the SEC (5%). Legal — Nolo (14%), FindLaw (11%), Cornell Law (9%), state bar associations combined (12%). Commercial brands collectively held under 20% of citation slots in every YMYL vertical.

Why YMYL citations look so different

Google's Quality Rater Guidelines explicitly weight E-E-A-T more heavily on YMYL topics, and AI Overviews appear to apply the same lens at retrieval time. Institutional credibility, named medical/legal/financial reviewers, and primary-source citations all get rewarded. Generic SEO content with no credentialed author is essentially invisible.

What the few commercial winners get right

Healthline, NerdWallet, and Nolo are the rare commercial brands that crack YMYL leaderboards. Three shared patterns: (1) every page is byline-reviewed by a credentialed expert (MD, CFP, JD) with full Person schema and sameAs to professional registries; (2) primary sources are linked inline (PubMed, FDA, IRS, court records); (3) content is dated, version-tracked, and 'last reviewed by' is visible above the fold.

The commercial brand playbook for YMYL AEO

(1) Hire credentialed reviewers and put them on every page byline — not 'medically reviewed' generically, but a named, credentialed person with a verifiable profile. (2) Ship Person + MedicalEntity / FinancialProduct / Legislation schema where applicable. (3) Cite primary sources inline, not in a footer. (4) Add a 'Last reviewed: <date> by <person>' line above the fold. (5) Build third-party citations on .edu and .gov sites (guest research, data partnerships, policy submissions).

What doesn't work

AI-generated YMYL content. Anonymous bylines. 'Reviewed by our editorial team' generics. Listicles without credentialed sources. Affiliate-stuffed comparison pages. All of these fail badly on YMYL even when they rank in classic search.

How long does YMYL citation share take to build?

Realistically 9–18 months from a standing start. Credentialed authorship and third-party citation density both have long lead times. The brands cited today were investing in E-E-A-T 3+ years ago. Start now if you want to be on the leaderboard in 2027.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are local YMYL queries (e.g. 'best dentist in Dhaka') easier to win?

Yes. Local YMYL has weaker institutional incumbents, so a properly schemaed local business with credentialed practitioners can crack citations within 6 months.

Does Google treat health and legal differently from finance?

Slightly. Health weights .gov/.edu most heavily; finance weights regulatory primary sources (IRS, SEC) more; legal weights court opinions and bar associations. But the underlying E-E-A-T pattern is consistent.

Can a credentialed solo expert outrank big brands?

On long-tail YMYL queries, yes. A credentialed solo expert with strong Person schema and 5+ third-party authoritative bylines can win specific niches incumbents under-cover.

What's the single highest-leverage YMYL move?

Add a credentialed reviewer byline with full Person schema to every YMYL page. Single move, biggest E-E-A-T lift, and a prerequisite for everything else.

Are AI Overviews getting more or less commercial-friendly on YMYL?

Slightly less commercial-friendly. Over the 16 weeks tracked, institutional citation share grew ~3 percentage points. The trend favors gov/edu/major-brand consolidation.