Google AI Overviews feature has recently undergone a reduction in visibility, affecting its presence in search results. Initially named the Search Generative Experience (SGE) during its beta phase, the feature was officially launched at the Google I/O 2024 event. It allows users in the US to receive an AI-curated summary of the searched information at the top of the results page. However, following incidents of inaccurate responses, Google significantly reduced the feature's rollout in June. Recent reports indicate the feature has been further scaled back.
Enterprise SEO platform BrightEdge provided data showing the reduction in visibility. SearchEngineLand reported that AI Overviews are now appearing for only seven percent of all Google search queries. This data was collected by tracking the feature's appearance throughout June.
The report highlighted a decrease in visibility from 11 percent to seven percent over the previous month. Notably, the sectors most impacted include education, entertainment, and e-commerce. Entertainment queries witnessed a sharp decline to almost zero percent from a previous 14 percent. Education and e-commerce also saw substantial drops from 26 percent to 13 percent and 26 percent to nine percent, respectively.
A prior report by BrightEdge had shown that AI Overviews' visibility fell to just 15 percent last month. Prior to mid-April, when the scale-down started, the feature appeared in up to 75 percent of queries. Most AI-generated responses have since been displayed in a truncated format, where only a collapsed view of the response is visible.
After its launch in the US, users reported a series of incorrect and strange responses from the AI. One notable incident involved a suggestion to add non-toxic glue to sauce to make cheese stick to pizza, as reported by a user on the social platform X (previously known as Twitter). Google has stated that it addressed the issue and improved its monitoring of the feature; however, the visibility of AI Overviews continues to diminish.