Google Explores Combined AI Overviews, AI Mode

Google is testing out a Search feature that mixes its “AI Overviews” with the conversational AI Mode, so you can hop from quick answer to chat without leaving the results page. The test, which is launching globally on mobile, is designed to eliminate friction between quick lookups and further follow-up exploration.

What Google is testing: combined AI Overviews and AI Mode

AI Overviews are often displayed at the top of search results, providing a brief summary of information from across the web. In the new experiment, that summary is a jumping-off point: people are able to ask follow-up questions immediately from this same screen in AI Mode because it’s these one-off queries that become threaded conversations.

Or, at least, chat lived on a separate AI Mode tab. That bifurcation forced people to guess whether they were carrying out a basic search or mapping out a multi-step session. Google is trying to see if combining those paths better aligns with how people actually research topics—oftentimes by beginning with a quick glance and then drilling down as new questions arise.

Why this matters to users of Google Search

Merged flow diminishes mode switches and preserves context. Inquire after a primer on heat pump maintenance, and then without retyping your question, ask about seasonal schedules or local rebates. Begin with a two-day Tokyo itinerary and tailor from there around budget, neighborhood vibes, and transit — all within one continually growing thread.

This also nudges Search toward tasks, rather than just answers. Complex tasks — like composing an email, comparing the features of a product, or deconstructing a research paper — lend themselves to conversational back-and-forth. By placing chat where most people already start their information-hunting — not outside the browser, on an island of misfit tools and toys; or inside a functionally dumb assistant residing in the corner — Google is rendering generative AI the new default, not a detour.

Competitive context amid rising consumer AI rivalry

The pitch arrives in the midst of rising competition around consumer AI. There’s industry word that OpenAI is honing its chat offering, and Google continues to find new ways to integrate Gemini models far more deeply into core services. By the company’s own numbers, which it shared in recent months, AI Overviews reaches approximately 2 billion monthly users and Gemini usage has surpassed 650 million monthly users — a scale that few AI players can rival.

An easy integration of summaries and conversation may speed up the process by bringing people to where they already are. With Google dominating over 90% of global mobile search share, according to StatCounter, even small UX adjustments send ripples through the web’s information economy.

Implications for publishers and advertisers in Search

Publishers are watching closely. AI Overviews already condense replies that were once click-worthy; a tighter loop to keep users chatting in Search could nudge attention further away from origin sites. Google has said AI Overviews cite sources and link out, though the tension between summary making and traffic driving remains a flashpoint across news, shopping, and how-to content.

On the advertising side, the industry will be watching how sponsored results play into conversational threads. If AI Mode ends up being the default setting that smart marketers use for complex inquiries, marketers will be seeking better direction when it comes to attribution, placement, and measurement. Expect experiments in ad formats tailored for task-oriented sessions — something along the lines of product comparison help, or step-by-step commercial intent assistance.

Quality and safety considerations for AI summaries and chat

Generated answers need to be correct, sourced, and safe. The earliest AI Overviews received criticism for the occasional erroneous output, which points to the need for robust grounding and guardrails that should be built in during development. Summary + chat raises the stakes: a detail that’s wrong in the summary could be repeated in conversation and elsewhere unless the models and UX clearly indicate where information comes from, encourage correction, and provide navigation to glide users to authoritative pages.

It’s also, as Google has emphasized, good if users don’t have to think about where or how to ask questions — at least not until later: “You shouldn’t have to ‘decide in which format a piece of information is available and what kind of expression is required,’” the company says. To make good on it demands cues toward transparency, unified sourcing, and the ability to reset or branch a chat when drifting from context — especially in sensitive topics like health and finance where incorrect advice presents risk.

How this experiment could shape everyday search behavior

Implication? Longer sessions, fewer reformulated queries, and more iterative tasks.

The advantage of the system, for regular people, is saved time and improved results. For the web ecosystem, it’s a question of how value flows: which sources get surfaced in conversation, how many times users actually click through, and whether or not creators see measurable returns from being cited in AI-led experiences.

If the test points to strong engagement, desktop integration and richer multimodal prompts, like images or screenshots or voice, make sense as next steps.

That would nudge Search closer to an everything assistant that begins with a big-picture conception of the task at hand and sticks around until the work is done.

What to watch next as Google trial rolls out globally

Key signals we’ll be looking for include:

• Opt-in rates out of AI Overviews into chat
• Follow-up statistics
• Click-through to sources
• User satisfaction

Developers and publishers should stay tuned to how structured data, product feeds, and authorship markup are used for inclusion in AI responses.

If Google’s experiments bear out, Search could be less like a list of links and more like a conversation that starts with a trusted summary and resolves itself into an action being taken. For users, that’s convenience; for the industry, it’s a reimagination of discovery, distribution, and the economics of attention.