The AI transformation of Google Search continues.
The company announced that starting today, mobile users will be able to ask follow-up questions to AIOverviews, Google’s AI-generated search summaries. By doing so, the user will be switching back and forth between AI modes. AI mode is a more conversational way to search that already appears in a separate tab on the search page.
After Google’s AI briefs awkwardly left the gate in 2024 (pizza glue, anyone?), they gradually became a staple of the search experience.
However, until now, users could only traverse Google’s AI models by going directly to AI mode or using Google’s Gemini chatbot. On mobile, users will be able to ask more questions by tapping the “Ask me anything” text box.
By integrating this feature into AI Overview, Google is further blurring the lines between AI services and pushing search to become more conversational.
“Through testing, we found that people prefer experiences that flow naturally into a conversation, and that asking follow-up questions while maintaining the context of the AI summary makes searches more useful,” said Robbie Stein, Google’s vice president of search products.
New trick to reduce clicks?
Google started testing new features on mobile late last year. At the time, some publishers were outraged by this and expressed concern that it would further reduce the number of clicks to their websites.
Ed Newton Rex, CEO of the nonprofit Fairly Trained AI, criticized Stein’s X post announcing the test in December, writing, “…and you don’t have to visit the websites where Google collected the information.”
Google’s AI search transformation has left some publishers frustrated and confused by changes that give users answers directly, often without having to click through to a website.
Google claimed that its AI-related changes to search are generating more queries and sending “higher quality clicks” than ever before.
The difference between these two is important. Google’s head of search, Elizabeth Reid, has previously said that high click quality means users are more likely to get where they want to go and less likely to leave quickly. He also said the changes affected the user journey, resulting in decreased traffic on some sites.
Google’s latest update doesn’t allay those fears, but it does signal that Google is moving into a world where the differences between AI Mode, AI Overview, and the Gemini chatbot are less obvious.
Benjamin Kaufman, Google’s product manager for AI modes, hinted at something like this last year in response to a comment by X that criticized Google’s various search modes.
“Well, I hope that soon these distinctions will fade and you can ask Google anything and get what you need!” he wrote.
This update could encourage more people to participate in the AI mode that Google has been pushing users into. The company also announced Tuesday that its latest AI model, Gemini 3, will be the default model for AI Overviews worldwide.
Google has a huge distribution advantage over its competitors, as billions of queries are submitted to Google Search every day. Combined with the success of its latest model, Gemini 3, this contributed to the company’s impressive turnaround last year, with Google surpassing $4 trillion in market capitalization earlier this month.
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