How do I turn off the new AI Overview in Google Search?

General
1

I recently noticed that Google Search is showing an AI Overview box at the top of my results, and it’s cluttering the page and sometimes giving answers I don’t fully trust. I’d prefer the classic list of links, but I can’t find any clear setting to disable or hide these AI Overviews. Is there a way to permanently turn off or bypass Google’s AI Overview feature, either in the browser, with extensions, or through account settings?

2

Short version. There is no global “off” switch for AI Overview right now.

You have a few partial workarounds though:

  1. Use &udm=14 for classic results

    • In the address bar, after your query, add
      &udm=14
    • Example:
      https://www.google.com/search?q=best+ssd+2024&udm=14
    • This forces “Web” only results with links and no AI Overview in most cases.
    • You can bookmark something like:
      https://www.google.com/search?udm=14&q=
      Then type your query after q= each time.

  2. Use the “Web” filter when it shows

    • On some accounts you see a “Web” tab under the search bar.
    • Tap “Web”. That view focuses on plain links.
    • You need to hit it each new search though, it does not stick for everyone.

  3. Use a different Google domain

    • AI Overviews roll out by region and account.
    • Try https://www.google.co.uk or https://www.google.ca.
    • Sometimes different region plus logged out reduces AI stuff.

  4. Turn off SGE if you had it in Labs

    • If you used “Search Generative Experience” before:
      • Go to https://labs.google.com/search while logged in.
      • Turn off SGE.
    • This does not remove AI Overview for everyone, but it stopped some people from getting extra AI blocks.

  5. Use another search engine or a wrapper

    • DuckDuckGo, Kagi, Startpage, Brave Search, etc.
    • Some browser extensions auto-redirect Google queries to another engine.
    • Example: “Redirector” or “Tampermonkey” with a user script that adds &udm=14 or sends you to another engine.

  6. Browser extensions to hide the box

    • On desktop, you can nuke it with CSS or an extension.
    • Example using uBlock Origin:
      • Install uBlock Origin.
      • Go to Settings, “My filters”.
      • Add a rule like:
        google.com##div:has(> div[data-content-feature='ai_overview'])
      • Apply changes.
    • The selector might break if Google changes the layout so you might need to tweak it.

  7. Stay logged out or use incognito

    • Some users report fewer AI Overviews logged out or in incognito.
    • Not consistent though, so treat it as a weak trick.

Right now Google treats AI Overview as default behavior. Feedback is your only lever on their side.
On any AI Overview, hit the three dots or “Send feedback”, pick “I do not want this” and submit. It will not fully remove it, but it signals demand for an off toggle.

3

You’re not crazy, the AI Overview thing is noisy, and no, there’s still no big red “OFF” button for it.

@andarilhonoturno already covered the main practical hacks like &udm=14, Web tab, CSS filters, etc., so I’ll skip rehashing those step by step and add a few angles they didn’t lean on as much, plus where I kinda disagree.

1. Stop training it on your behavior as much as you can
Google leans on interaction signals. If you:

  • Scroll past the AI box quickly
  • Click regular links instead
  • Avoid clicking “show more” or any buttons inside the AI panel

you’re basically telling their ranking system “this thing is not useful to me.” It will not turn it off, but it can change how aggressively it appears over time, especially for some query types.

I’d actually say this matters more than the “use a different domain” trick. Region domains (.co.uk, .ca, etc.) used to help with other experiments, but lately AI Overview is very account‑centric. I wouldn’t count on the domain shuffle as anything more than a coin flip.

2. Tweak your query style to avoid triggering it
Google tends to shove AI Overview hardest on:

  • “How to” and troubleshooting questions
  • Health, finance, legal-ish questions
  • Very long, conversational queries

You can sometimes dodge it by:

  • Using shorter, more “keyword-y” queries:
    Instead of “how do I fix my pc randomly restarting when I open games,” try “PC random restart when gaming event viewer kernel power”
  • Adding site constraints to force actual pages:
    best ssd 2024 site:tomshardware.com OR site:pcmag.com

Once you do that a bit, you start to see which query shapes trigger the AI blob and which mostly do not.

3. Use custom search shortcuts instead of fiddling per-query
If you’re on desktop and don’t feel like adding &udm=14 manually all the time or installing a ton of stuff, you can:

  • Set up a custom search engine / keyword in your browser:
    • In Chrome/Edge/Brave style browsers:
      • Settings → Search engine → Manage search engines
      • Add a new one with URL like:
        https://www.google.com/search?udm=14&q=%s
      • Assign a keyword like g or gw
    • Then in the address bar you type:
      gw your query here
      It uses classic-style results without you editing the URL each time.

This overlaps with what @andarilhonoturno said, but the browser shortcut version is less annoying in practice than a bookmark you have to click first.

4. Mobile-specific workaround: use a wrapper app or different front‑end
On mobile, the AI junk is even worse. Some options:

  • Use a browser with built-in redirect/filter rules (like Kiwi or Firefox with uBlock + a custom filter) and block the AI container element.
  • Use a privacy search engine that actually pulls from Google but strips the extras on their side. Startpage and Whoogle instances are examples. They’re not perfect, but at least you don’t have to fight AI Overview directly.

I disagree a bit that swapping to other engines is just “another option.” For a lot of queries, using something like Kagi/Brave/Startpage as your default and only falling back to Google when you must is honestly the least stressful path. You end up fighting AI Overview once in a while instead of every 5 minutes.

5. Use per‑device profiles to keep “AI Google” quarantined
If you sometimes need AI style answers (coding prototypes, quick summaries) but hate it in normal browsing:

  • Create a separate browser profile or separate browser just for that.
  • Normal profile: use &udm=14 or an alternative search engine as default.
  • AI profile: let Google run wild.

Stupidly low-tech idea, but it works: different icons, different behavior, no constant toggling.

6. Feedback that actually has a chance to matter (a little)
The feedback link inside the AI Overview is one channel. Another is your Google account’s general feedback:

  • On desktop, bottom of results page there’s usually “Send feedback.”
  • Mention specifically: want a “always hide AI Overview” setting, not “I don’t like this one answer.”
    No guarantee, but the product teams look more at repeated, specific feature requests than vague “this sucks” notes.

Reality check
Right now:

  • You cannot 100% disable AI Overview globally.
  • You can get 80–90% of your searches back to old‑school link stacks by combining:
    • udm=14 or a browser shortcut
    • Smarter query phrasing
    • A backup engine as default
    • Maybe one extension or filter on desktop

If you’re expecting a settings toggle from Google in the short term, I wouldn’t hold my breath. They’re clearly trying to force this experiment through. So the game is less “turn it off” and more “route around it so you almost never see it.”

4

Couple of extra angles that sit on top of what @hoshikuzu and @andarilhonoturno already laid out:

  1. Use a “Google but mostly old‑school” setup

    • Instead of fighting every single search, set your default engine to something like Startpage or DuckDuckGo and keep Google as a backup.
    • Then create a browser keyword for “AI‑light” Google (with udm=14 like they suggested) and only use it when you really want Google’s index.
    • Result: 70–80% of your searching is AI‑free without you even thinking about it. You only hit Google for edge cases.

  2. Where I disagree a bit

    • I would not spend too much effort on domain hopping (.co.uk, .ca, etc.). The rollout is increasingly account‑centric and experiment‑based. It might work short term, but it is fragile and you could lose behavior overnight.
    • I also would not bank on “scrolling fast past AI Overview” as a meaningful signal. Google uses aggregate patterns; your single‑user behavior is a rounding error. Do it if it makes you feel better, but do not treat it as a reliable control.

  3. System‑level approach instead of per‑browser hacks
    If you use multiple browsers or share a machine, tinkering with every profile gets old. A more robust approach is:

    • On desktop:
      • Use a system‑wide DNS or network filter (like Pi‑hole or NextDNS) to rewrite Google queries to a cleaner front‑end or another engine for everyone on the network.
      • That way nobody in the house has to care about AI Overview unless they explicitly bypass it.
    • This is overkill for casual users but great if you are the “family IT person.”

  4. Query intent firewall
    Mentally split your queries into two buckets:

    • “Need docs / sources”: default to a non‑AI search engine or udm=14.
    • “Need a rough idea / summary”: let Google run with AI Overview or use a dedicated LLM tool instead of relying on search at all.
      If you keep crossing those wires, AI Overview feels worse because you want citations and get a vague synthesis instead.

  5. On browser extensions and CSS filters

    • Pros:
      • Very effective at hiding AI Overview visually.
      • Once configured, it is mostly fire‑and‑forget on that device.
    • Cons:
      • Breaks if Google changes markup, so you occasionally have to update rules.
      • Only helps on devices where you can install extensions, so mobile is still annoying.

  6. About alternatives & “product” angle
    If what you actually want is a consistent, mostly link‑only results page, a “product” in that sense is basically: “Google core index routed through a filter.”
    Pros:

    • Familiar Google ranking without clutter.
    • Less cognitive load, easier to skim.
    • Often faster on low‑end devices.
      Cons:
    • Fragile when Google experiments with layouts.
    • Might miss some new features like rich cards or inline tools.
      @hoshikuzu leans more into behavioral tricks and @andarilhonoturno into practical hacks. Combining both approaches plus this “productized filter” mindset gives you a setup where AI Overview is something you rarely see rather than something you constantly wrestle with.

Bottom line: there is no real “off” switch yet, and might not be for a while. The most reliable path is to treat AI‑heavy Google as a fallback service, then build your own default stack around simpler engines, URL parameters, and a couple of targeted filters.