Let’s be honest…
The AI Overview section is just a rebranded featured snippet, that isn’t intelligent at all.
Look at this example result from Tim Onion where it’s telling people to eat rocks:
Surely the “intelligence” part of AI should recognize that rocks aren’t food, and conduct further analysis to reach an informed conclusion.
But:
The really weird thing, is that…
Google nuked websites in March because AI content was inaccurate, and then added AI content to the top of their own search results in May.
Does that make sense to you?
Google have got caught with their pants down in the AI search race building something that no one wanted, and are facing heavy criticism from global media outlets including the BBC, New York Times and CNN.
So:
Here are 3 ways to disable Google AI search results
What Will I Learn?
Now you can just use the new “Web” tab when searching to remove all of the junk from the search results:
But who wants to click to a different tab everytime they search?
Instead:
You can use any of the 3 methods below to disable the Google AI overviews once and for all.
This method works for Chrome, Edge and Arc browsers.
The easiest way to block Google’s AI overviews is with a simple browser extension.
There are two options:
My favourite is Hide Google AI Overviews. It’s easy to install, doesn’t require any configuration and has tons of 5-star reviews.
Here’s how to install it:
Head over to Hide Google AI Overviews and click “Add to Chrome”.
Click “Add Extension”.
That’s it! The extension will automatically hide the AI overviews whenever you search in Google.
It doesn’t get easier than that!
Think of Google Web like the classic version of Google Search.
It trims all the extra elements out of the SERPs including AI overviews. This leaves you with a faster and cleaner user interface while searching.
Simple, right?
Here’s how to set it up:
In Google Chrome, click the three dots in the top right and select “Settings”.
Then click “Search Engine” and “Manage search engines and site search”.
Click “Add” next to Site search.
Now you need to fill in the following details:
Finalise it all by clicking “Add”.
Lastly, click on the 3 dots next to Google Web and select “Make Default”.
All done!
Whenever you search in Google, you will use the web version by default and avoid the AI overviews altogether.
While extensions make it easy to block AI overviews on desktop – Its a different story for mobile.
Let me explain:
The only way to disable Google AI on mobile is to use Google Web as the default search engine.
Unfortunately, the mobile versions of Chrome, Safari and Edge don’t allow you to manually add a search engine.
That means you will need to use the Firefox browser application.
Here are the steps to configure it:
Install the Firefox app on your phone. Then, head over to “Settings”.
Tap “Search”.
Now tap on “Add Search Engine”.
Next, fill in each of the fields with the following information:
Tap “Save”.
Finally, select “Google Web” as the default search engine.
Done! Every time you search in Firefox, you will use the Google Web version of Google Search.
This will cut out the AI overviews and leave you with a simplified version of Google.
Keep In Mind: The example above was done on an iPhone, but the Android setup follows a similar process.
Google search AI overviews are AI-generated answers that appear at the top of your search results.
The goal is to offer more personalised results and better handle complex search queries.
The AI overviews will appear in the SERPs anytime Google’s systems determine that an AI result would better suit the query.
This is the biggest change to Google search ever.
It’s evolving from a search engine that organises information into a tool that aims to be your personal search assistant.
And not everyone is happy about it.
Make no mistake…
Google is going to push forward with AI search and AI overviews. This is a huge project that they’ve invested millions of dollars into.
But just because they’ve added AI overviews – doesn’t mean you need to use it!
Use the 3 methods above to disable Google AI overviews on your device and browser.
Simple!
One Response
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I have searched for company info for a specific company and google AI gave me completely inaccurate information. also, for Coding or programing help with java, SQL, and several other languages, the AI results provided were not accurate as well. So I avoid the AI stuff all together. It might help with writers block but that s about all it is good for.