AI Overviews is a feature integrated into Google's search engine that produces AI-generated summaries of the search results.

History and development

AI Overviews were first introduced as part of Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE), which was unveiled at the

Google I/O Google I/O, or simply I/O, is an annual developer conference held by Google in Mountain View, California. The name "I/O" is taken from the number googol, with the "I" representing the first digit "1" in a googol and the "O" representing the s ...

conference in May 2023. In May 2024, the feature was rebranded as AI Overviews and launched in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The introduction of AI Overviews was seen as a strategic move to compete with other generative AI advancements, including OpenAI's

ChatGPT ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and released on November 30, 2022. It uses large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4o as well as other Multimodal learning, multimodal models to create human-like re ...

. By August 2024, AI Overviews were rolled out to several other countries, including the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, and

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, with support for multiple languages. In October 2024, Google expanded the feature globally, making it available in over 100 countries. On February 24, 2025,

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sued

Alphabet An alphabet is a standard set of letter (alphabet), letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from a ...

over the AI Overviews feature, claiming that it was leading to students preferring "low-quality, unverified AI summaries", thus violating

antitrust law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...

. Chegg also said it was considering either a sale or a take-private transaction. In March 2025, Google started testing an "AI Mode", where ''all'' of the content is AI-generated. The company was also considering adding ads to the AI Mode, as they already exist in AI Overviews.

Functionality

The AI Overviews feature uses advanced

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...

algorithms to generate summaries based on diverse

web content Web content is the text, visual or audio content that is made available online and user encountered as part of the online usage and experience on websites. It may include text, images, sounds and audio, online videos, among other items place ...

. The overviews are designed to be concise, providing a snapshot of relevant information on the queried topic. To enhance

user interaction Ancient Egyptian roles * User (ancient Egyptian official), an ancient Egyptian nomarch (governor) of the Eighth Dynasty * Useramen, an ancient Egyptian vizier also called "User" Other uses * User (computing), a person (or software) using an ...

, Google allows users to adjust the complexity of the language in the summaries, offering both simplified and detailed options. The feature also includes prominent links to source content, ensuring that users can access more in-depth information directly from authoritative websites. As of October 2024, Google has implemented in-line links within AI Overviews, allowing users to directly access source content within the generated summaries, enhancing user engagement with authoritative sources.

Reception

AI Overviews received mixed

feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause and effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handle ...

upon its introduction. Many users appreciated the convenience of obtaining immediate and relevant information without navigating through multiple search results. However, early iterations of the feature faced criticism for inaccuracies, including instances where erroneous or nonsensical content was generated. Google addressed these issues by improving content validation and refining the

algorithms In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for per ...

used to filter unreliable information. Concerns were also raised by content publishers, who feared a decline in

web traffic Web traffic is the data sent and received by visitors to a website. Since the mid-1990s, web traffic has been the largest portion of Internet traffic. Sites monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic to see which parts or pages of their site are ...

as users relied on the summaries instead of visiting source websites. In response, Google implemented measures to prioritize link placement within AI Overviews, aiming to balance user convenience with the needs of content creators.

Criticism and challenges

Since its introduction, the feature has faced ongoing scrutiny. Critics argue that relying on AI-generated summaries may perpetuate inaccuracies or oversimplify complex topics. Furthermore, there is apprehension about the

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implications of AI-driven content aggregation, including its impact on

intellectual property rights Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

and the visibility of smaller content providers. Depending on what is searched for, the overview may also consist of hallucinated content, such as when searching for idioms that do not exist. In response, Google has stated its commitment to addressing these challenges by continuously refining the system and engaging with stakeholders to ensure a balanced and accurate search ecosystem. Furthermore, Google had to restrict the AI tool temporarily after it provided nonsensical and harmful suggestions, such as telling users to eat rocks or apply glue on pizza.

References

{{Google LLC Google software Search engine optimization Artificial intelligence Google Google Search