Google’s AI Mode Drowns Out Search Results

Google is rolling out automatic expansions of its AI search summaries at the top of the results page for certain queries. This update shifts the usual list of links much further down the page. Instead of just seeing a snippet of an AI Overview with a “Show more” button, users will now find a complete AI Overview right at the top, followed by an “Ask anything” box, and then the list of links. This change can result in quite a bit of scrolling.

The exact criteria for when these auto-expanding AI Overviews appear remains unclear. In my testing, I noticed them frequently, but now they often only display the initial part of the response along with the “Show more” button. One query that consistently triggers the auto-expanding AI Overview is “what is the best game on switch 2,” though even that varies across different searches and browsers.

According to a Google spokesperson, “For some queries, AI Overviews may dynamically expand for topics where our systems determine it’s most useful for people. Our research has shown that with this dynamic experience, users find Search more helpful and engage deeper in follow-up exploration.” They also mentioned that if users start scrolling to view content below the AI Overview, the expansion is canceled to maintain their reading position.