In summary
- Google is changing the way AI Overviews present links to relevant resource material.
- Some new tests attempt to store AIO results and retrieve simpler versions of them.
- In the coming weeks, access to AIO will be expanded to six new countries.
To say that Google's attempt to integrate artificial intelligence into Search has had a mixed reception would be an understatement. Especially in the beginning, AI overviews (AIO) struggled with accuracy, sometimes showing users dangerously inaccurate information, and while Google has worked to limit where AIO gets his data fromwe also noticed the company Downplaying AIO in search results Overall. Despite this bumpy road, Google is far from giving up and today announced not only a number of new AIO features, but also the expansion of its availability to new countries.
The tweak you'll probably notice first is how AIO displays links. Right now, we have these big, bulky boxes that appear under relevant sections of the AIO summary. Starting today, Google will begin showing a link icon to the right of AIO passages. The company is also considering doing things the old-fashioned way with some classic inline links, which you may see as part of a limited test. Both changes are intended to encourage user engagement with these external resources.
If you have registered for Search Labs For serious AIO testing, Google has a few more additions coming your way. First, there's a new “save” button that lets you save your AIO results for later reference. And back at I/O, Google teased a “simpler” button that's essentially the AIO equivalent of Reddit's “Explain Like I'm Five” sub — that new mode is finally ready for Labs testers to try out.
In the coming weeks, Google will begin showing AIO results in Search for users in the UK, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil. The company emphasizes that it wants to take its time with this and ensure that users don’t experience the same nasty responses that damaged AIO’s reputation when it debuted in the US.
That certainly sounds like the right approach, but as our British friends who are about to get AIO would say, the proof is in the pudding. We'll just have to keep our eyes peeled for user reports to really get a sense of how well this expansion is going.