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About two years ago, Google AI overviews emerged through testing AI-generated summaries in Google Search. It then continues to expand the feature to new regions and languages. The company recently estimated it to be a big success over time. These AI Overviews now have over 1.5 billion monthly users across more than 100 countries.
Google AI Overviews functions by compiling results from around the web to answer specific questions. When you search for something like a sure thing, the summarized answers are displayed first. For example, when you ask, “What is AI?” AI Overviews will show AI-generated text at the top of the Google Search results page.
Notably, the Google AI overviews have led to a decline in traffic to some publishers. However, Google assesses it as other AI-powered search capabilities that could potentially drive meaningful revenue. It also sees it as a way to boost engagement on Search.
Google AI Overviews Debut to Compete with AI Search Engines
In October 2024, the company launched ads in Google AI Overviews. But it began testing AI Mode. This development enables users to ask complex questions and follow up on them within the Google Search flow. TechPolyp analyzes this as Google’s attempt to compete with chat-based search interfaces, such as ChatGPT search and Perplexity.
Google highlighted during its Q1 2025 earnings call on Thursday the growth of Google AI Overviews and other AI-based search products. The company also mentioned Circle to Search. Circle to Search is a tool that enables you to highlight an item on your smartphone’s screen and ask questions about it. To facilitate ease of use, this feature is now available on more than 250 million devices. Google noted that it had around 200 million devices as of late last year. It’s also noteworthy that Circle to Search usage increased by nearly 40% quarter over quarter.
Google AI overviews press call also confirmed that visual searches on its platforms are growing steadily. According to CEO Sundar Pichai, searches through Google Lens, Google’s multimodal AI-powered search technology, have increased by 5 billion since October. Meanwhile, the number of people shopping on Lens was up over 10% in Q1.
There is ongoing regulatory tension. Hence, these Google AI overviews come during the regulatory scrutiny of Google’s search practices. The U.S. Department of Justice has been pressuring Google to spin off Chrome after the court found that the tech giant had an illegal online search monopoly. A federal judge has also ruled that Google has a monopoly in ad tech. Although this may seem interesting, it can also open the door to a potential breakup.