Jon Gilbert is a technology journalist with five years of experience covering mobile technology. He's covered smartwatches, tablets, smartphones, and Android accessories. He's attended CES to explore unique hardware like the Pebble Round 2 or Mudita Kompakt. His daily mobile tech life revolves around Pixel devices, which he has used since the Pixel 2 XL. Jon loves exploring the latest Android features, but is highly sceptical of anything related AI.
Google's AI Overviews have become a staple feature of Google Search. Although the initial rollout was disastrous, it has improved dramatically since. However, I'm still not a fan.
The problem with AI Overviews is that I have to verify every fact by clicking the source link. It still hallucinates, and sometimes the sources it pulls from are incorrect. So I find that it's quicker to skip the go-between and ignore them altogether. Fortunately, there are two simple ways to do this.
The Web tab is the simplest way to circumvent AI Overviews
Just use Google's tool to skip AI Overviews
It's reasonable to assume Google wants to make it as difficult as possible to ignore AI Overviews. There is no switch to toggle the feature off anywhere in the Chrome browser or the Google app.
However, the Web option is buried in Search's filters.
On desktop, you'll find this option under the More tab, where Google usually places the filters it thinks are least related to your search. On mobile, swipe left on the search filter bar.
Clicking this option not only removes AI Overviews, but also every other filter. In Web mode, a search will not show any videos, images, news articles, Maps results, or shopping suggestions.
Instead, search results show only blue links. Simple. Elegant. Beautiful.
However, Google does not provide a way to set this as the default filter. To do so, we need to look elsewhere.
Filter out AI Overviews with custom queries
Custom search engines are here to help
A simple way to skip AI Overviews is to add the "-ai" prefix before the search query. This method works on mobile and desktop. This phrase removes AI Overviews from the search results, while keeping the other filters (for example, shopping, Maps, Images).
The catch is that you have to type it every time. A keyboard shortcut can speed this up slightly, but it's still a hassle. On the desktop, the best way to use this filter is to build it into a custom search engine.
The website Udm14 provides a filter that directs you to the Web filter. But to speed up searches, we can skip going to the website first.
I use custom search engines for a variety of websites. This trick directs all searches through the Udm14 website first to filter out AI Overviews.
- Enter chrome://settings/searchEngines into Chrome's address bar.
- Click Add next to Site Search.
- Fill out the Name and Shortcut fields with anything you want.
-
Enter https://www.google.com/search?udm=14&q=%s in the URL field.
I set my shortcut to "gg" so I can type "gg" into Chrome's address bar, enter my search, and instantly get web-filtered results.
Best of all, new searches made while remaining on the page will still be filtered, so you don't have to repeat this process for every new search.
This process works in any browser that supports custom search engines, like Firefox and Vivaldi.
However, it doesn't work on mobile, since Chrome's Android and iOS apps don't support custom search engines.
For mobile, the "-ai" prefix is the quickest way to skip AI overviews.
Extensions are another nifty fix
But they don't actually stop Search from triggering AI Overviews
I'm hesitant to recommend extensions that affect Google Search, as they tend to break frequently. They also don't actually stop AI Overviews from triggering. Instead, they just hide them.
So if your main reason for skipping AI Overviews is to reduce your search costs, I recommend using the methods above instead of an extension.
Several Chrome Web Store extensions can hide AI Overviews. I find the Hide Google AI Overviews extension works best, but most others work just as well.
AI Overviews can be useful
Know their value before you block them
I find AI Overviews to be a relatively pointless feature. I have to click the source link to check the statements, and by doing so, I get the context of my query.
However, it provides a neat summary of those sources. Is it more useful than clicking on the blue links? Debatable. But it's not entirely worthless.
My ideal search experience is the Web filter, so I use that method over an extension or the "-ai" prefix. However, it doesn't work on mobile.
Blocking AI Overviews on Chrome's Android and iOS apps is much more inconvenient. I'm frustrated that the "-ai" prefix is the only method, but for now it'll have to do.
Build the search experience that works for you
Many people are angry that Google is forcing AI Overviews on us, and I get it. But more important than blocking AI Overviews is learning how to use Google.
Understanding how prefixes like "-ai" work is just the start. Google Search supports a range of prefixes that can fine-tune your query so you find what you want as quickly as possible.
Blocking AI Overviews is just the start. Next, learn how Google Search works.