What Are Google's AI Overviews? How to Turn Them Off (2024)

Noticed an AI-generated answer the last time you Googled something? Here, we explain AI Overviews—and how to turn them off.

What Are Google AI Overviews?

AI Overview is a Google search results feature that provides an AI-generated answer to your search query. It summarizes information curated from several web pages, showing a concise answer. It also provides links to sources so you can double-check the information.

Though it sounds like a great feature, Google AI Overviews can make the search process much slower and annoying. Worst of all, the answers can sometimes be outright wrong.

How to Turn Off Google AI Overviews

While Google doesn't let you turn off AI Overviews, there are a few workarounds you can try.

1. Use the Web Filter

Google's search results page is now cluttered with a lot of stuff, including AI Overviews. If you don't want to see all these newer features and prefer the traditional blue links, you can use the Web filter.

Just do a usual Google search as you would and select More > Web from the top of the page (below the search bar). Similarly, on a mobile phone, you can swipe left to view the Web filter.

While this method is pretty simple, removing the AI Overview requires a couple of additional clicks, and you'll have to do it every time you search.

2. Install a Chrome Extension

Another easy way to turn off AI Overviews is to install a Chrome extension that does so.

Bye Bye, Google AI is one such extension that improves the Google search results page. By default, the extension hides AI Overviews. However, you can hide other search results features, like sponsored links, People Also Ask For, Discussions and Forums, etc. Moreover, you can press w+space before typing your search query, and the extension will automatically turn on the Web filter.

Likewise, there's another extension called Hide Google AI Overviews. Simply install this extension, and you won't see AI Overview the next time you search.

Download:Bye Bye, Google AI (Free)

Download:Hide Google AI Overviews (Free)

3. Use uBlock Origin Filters

You can also avoid AI Overviews using uBlock Origin filters. Install the uBlock Origin extension and click on the extension icon. Select Settings > My filters. Here, paste either of the following and select Apply Changes.

google.com##div[data-mcpr]:has-text(AIOverview)
google.com##.GcKpu 

If you already have the uBlock Origin extension installed on your browser, this is the easiest way to turn off AI Overviews.

Download:uBlock Origin (Free)

4. Use &udm=14 Website

If you want consistent results with the Web filter, you can use the &udm=14 website for your Google searches.

The site looks like a normal search engine but redirects you to Google. It adds an &udm=14 tag to the search string so that Google shows you Web results directly.

5. Create a Custom Search Engine

If you prefer using Google instead of a third-party website, you can create a custom search engine that adds &udm=14 to your queries every time you search.

On Chrome, go to Settings > Search engine and select Manage search engines and site search. Scroll down to Site search and click Add. Enter a name and shortcut (you can keep them Web or Google Web), paste the following in URL with %s in place of query field, and select Save.

{google:baseURL}search?q=%s&udm=14 

When making a Google search, type the shortcut you entered and press the Space bar. Then, type your query. With the custom search engine set up correctly, you'll directly view the Web results, bypassing the annoying AI.

6. Sign Out of Google

A sneaky way to avoid AI Overviews is to search after signing out of your Google account. While you might want to remain signed in for multiple reasons, this method doesn't require you to install extensions or enable the Web filter every time. Perhaps you can create a secondary Chrome profile to search without signing in.

Whichever method you choose, beware that Google might start cracking down on these workarounds, so they won't work for long. If that does happen, perhaps the only way to avoid AI Overviews would be to switch to Google Search alternatives.