How to Disable Google Search AI

What are AI Overviews at Google?

It has been quite some time since Google decided to take a step forward in its commitment to generative AI and integrate this technology into its flagship: the searches. When this functionality was announced, the company named it SGE, that is, Search Generative Experience.

If we simplify it a lot, it works in a similar way to Microsoft’s proposal with Bing Chat. A language model (in the case of Bing it is almost identical to that of ChatGPT) is responsible for provide answers to user queries. It does this by generating text based on various sources, either thanks to previous training or with a real-time search.

language models They are an unreliable technology in some contexts, especially in general uses, such as Internet searches. Like any neural network, it is difficult to predict what response it will offer and whether it will be appropriate. We must also remember that despite the use of the term “artificial intelligence”, these algorithms do not understand what they read or what they write.

Therefore, quite grotesque situations arise. This is what happened to user Peter Yang, who received the suggestion to cast glue on a pizza in the AI-generated summary, a response taken from a Reddit user who was actually joking. For now, Google has managed to fill Internet forums with users asking how to disable AI Overviews.

Searches with AI are still for a few

Google has decided to implement AI-generated responses by default. In Spain we still do not see this type of personalized content, but in the United States some are already viewing it. They even appear even if they have not signed up for the Search Labs experiment. Therefore, it seems that the idea is that this functionality will be extended little by little to all users.

At the moment, in our market it is necessary to use a VPN (it can be a free VPN) that makes it easier for you to connection from a server located in the United States. So, if the responses do not appear by default, they must be activated from the Search Labs.

From that moment on, for some queries, AI-generated summaries will appear. In addition to being logged in from the United States, your account needs to be a personal one, not a professional Workspace account.

How to disable Google AI

Regarding AI-generated results on Google, there are several reasons why they have been activated in your account. There are also reasons why you still don’t see this type of content. These are the possibilities, according to the experience of some users:

• If you are in an unsupported market. For example, in Spain you should not see AI-generated content. The only thing that appears in searches are the famous knowledge blocks, where information related to the query you have made appears.
• If you have activated this functionality from Search Labs. In that case, it is best to return to Search Labs and disable the feature to prevent the AI ​​from generating its own results.
• If they have just appeared. There are many users who complain that AI summaries have just appeared in their account. And the worst thing in this case is that there is no possibility of deactivating them, at least in a simple way.

If the AI ​​results bother you, then you can try one of the two methods we propose below.

Use the web filter manually

The web filter restricts results to sites on the Internet. In this way, the user can completely disable any AI-generated content, and even Google knowledge blocks.

The only thing you have to do to activate it is press the button Further and select Web, as shown in the image above. By doing this, you will receive “clean” results and free of elements that are usually superfluous.

In fact, we emphasize the idea that, in addition to deactivating the results by AI, you are going to eliminate the blocks of knowledge. Here is a search for the term “Barcelona” without the Web filter activated:

And here is one with the Web filter activated:

Without a doubt, this last format is less chaotic.

Configure the browser’s search engine to always use the Web filter

Another possibility is to convert the previous method, that is, the Google search with the Web filter enabled, into the default search engine in your browser. Taking Chrome as a reference, just follow a few very simple steps.

If you use another browser, the idea is the same: you must create a new search engine and set it as default. This is how we have done it in Chrome:

1. Go to Chrome settings and tap on Seeker.
2. Then tap the button Manage search engines and site searches.
3. In section Site Searchesclick on Add.

   

4. In the pop-up window, in the field Namewrite something like Google Web.
5. In the shortcut, type Google is
6. Finally, the last field enters this code: {google:baseURL}/search?udm=14&q=%s
   

   

7. Save the changes and notice that you have a new search engine in this section. Press on the three vertical points and select the option Choose as default.

   

From that moment on, when you do a search on the Internet from the navigation bar, the results returned by Google will always have the Web filter activated. So neither knowledge blocks nor AI-generated summaries will appear.

On mobile you can do the same, as long as your favorite browser allows the creation of new search engines. For example, on Android, Chrome allows you to change the default search engine, but not create a new one.

On the contrary, as you see in the image above, in Firefox for Android Yes, it is possible to add new motors, so this trick would be completely functional.

What impact will AI summaries have on Google?

For Microsoft, making the leap to this new technology and integrating it into its search engine was a simple task. Bing’s market share is negligible compared to that of its rival. But for Google, its most valuable product, the search engine, start behaving crazy It can cause deep reputational damage. At the moment, what many are wondering is how to turn off AI-generated summaries. It seems that not everyone is so excited about this change.

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