Google's AI Overviews takes a backseat after bumpy ride

Google’s AI Overviews launched earlier this year to all US users. This feature leveraged AI to display concise summaries of topics, making it easier and faster for users to find relevant information. While it seemed like AI Overviews could significantly improve the user experience, it wasn’t long before users began to spot that it spewed misleading and, at times, downright dangerous information, like suggesting people add glue to their pizza. Things have changed since then, though, and it appears that Google has been working to reduce the visibility of its AI Overviews.

In June alone, the presence of AI Overviews dropped from 11% to 7% of queries, revealed a report from Search Engine Land (via AndroidPolice) that featured data from BrightEdge. Furthermore, queries related to education, entertainment, and e-commerce showed the biggest drop. For education queries, the percentage of AI Overviews dropped from 26% to 13%. Similarly, entertainment saw a drop from 14% to almost 0%, while e-commerce showed a decrease from 26% to 9%.

While these numbers are significant, BrightEdge’s data also reveals that AI Overviews now take up less real estate on the search page. On average, even when they make an appearance, they are now 13% smaller than they used to be. What’s more, Google is also trying to prevent duplication of information by not citing the same sources for its AI Overviews that appear in its Classic Search. In particular, Google is citing Reddit and Quora less frequently, which has affected the legitimacy and reliability of AI Overview results due to user forums often featuring unreliable and satirical information.

Another key finding that the data revealed was that search intent plays a significant role in whether or not an AI Overview appears on your page. Queries that begin with “Best,” “What is,” “How to,” and “Symptoms of” appear to trigger AI Overviews. In contrast, search queries related to lifestyle, a brand or product, or a comparison remain relatively free of these AI-generated snippets.

Although the presence of AI Overviews has generally decreased, we’re unsure if Google is considering rolling back this feature or if this is a temporary measure while the Mountain View tech giant reassesses its strategy.