AI chatbots allow users to get the information they want quickly and easily, and as a result, search engines, including Google, have implemented the technology into their own platforms. Google’s attempt, AI Overviews, got off to a rocky start. But it just got some useful new features that may help turn things around.
On Thursday, Google unveiled several updates aimed at improving the helpfulness of AI Overviews in the Search experience. The best part — users can start experimenting with them in Search Labs today.
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The first update is a new “save” feature that allows users to revisit a specific AI Overview at a later date. All a user needs to do is click the save button under the AI Overview, and the same AI Overview will appear the next time they enter the same search query.
Users can also access their saved AI Overviews under the Interests page by clicking on their profile icon from Search. Google shared that this feature might be useful for Search queries such as “what are some interesting science projects I can do with my 12 year old son.”
The second feature, previewed earlier this year, allows users to simplify the language of an AI Overview by tapping the “Simpler” button option at the top of the AI Overview. This is helpful when you want a more concise, conversational answer explained in simple terms.
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US users can access both of these features, which are available for English queries, by enrolling in “AI Overviews and more” in Search Labs. In addition to Search Labs, other helpful experiments, including Imagen 3, NotebookLM, and Illuminate, are also available on Google Labs right now.
Also: How to sign up for Google Labs – and 5 reasons why you should
To help users more conveniently find what they are looking for, Google is also testing a new right-hand link display for AI Overviews on the desktop that connects users to more relevant websites related to their Search query, as seen below.
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This experience is also accessible to mobile users by tapping the site icons on the upper right of their screen. These updates are beginning to roll out for AI Overviews globally today and to Search Lab users.
Lastly, Google expanded AI Overviews and country-specific language support to six new countries: the United Kingdom, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil.
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Google first launched AI Overviews, then known as the Search Generative Experience, in beta in May 2023. Due to negative public feedback and issues with the product, the company has gone through several iterations of the feature since then.
For example, in May 2024, Google launched AI Overviews to all users. However, after users found that it was generating inaccurate results, the company reeled the feature back in, having it appear on only around 15% of Google queries or about 70% fewer Search results pages.
These updates help bring users more value; the only way to find out is to try it. However, if you would rather try other AI search engines, there are plenty you can choose from. To make picking the best one for you easier, ZDNET has rounded up all the best ones here.
