The short version
Many Google searches now show an AI Overview: a short AI-written summary above the usual links. It’s handy for quick questions, but it can be wrong, so click through to the sources for anything important.
What you’re seeing
- AI Overview: a summary box at the top of some results, with links to the web pages it drew from.
- AI Mode: a separate tab in Google Search where you can ask follow-up questions in a chat style.
- Regular results: the familiar list of links is still below. Tap the Web filter to see just links.
How people use it
In a Pew Research Center study published in July 2025 (based on March 2025 browsing by 900 U.S. adults), about 1 in 5 Google searches produced an AI summary. When one appeared, people clicked a regular result link in 8% of visits, versus 15% without one, and rarely clicked the summary’s own sources. That’s convenient, but it means more people take the summary at its word.
Think of it like this: an AI Overview is like a friend skimming a few articles and telling you the gist. Quick and often right, but they might mix things up, so read the article yourself when it counts.
When to double-check
- Health, medicine and doses
- Money, taxes and legal questions
- Phone numbers and customer service contacts (scammers try to plant fake ones online)
- Opening hours, prices and anything local
Tap the little link icons in the Overview to see its sources, and prefer official sites.
Quick tips
- For customer service numbers, go to the company’s own website or the back of your card.
- Use the Web filter when you just want links.
- If an Overview looks wrong, use the thumbs-down to report it.
Sources
- Google Search Help: Find information in faster and easier ways with AI Overviews
- Pew Research Center (July 2025): Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears
Test yourself: play AI or Not?, a quick free game.