How does AI affect Google search?

I'm not really into this stuff, but i've noticed that google keeps showing me these ai summaries right in the search results now, and i don't really like it when i'm looking for specific information. search is clearly changing in 2026, but i rely more on trusted sources and people's actual experience than on automatic answers. maybe someone from it here can give a more detailed answer)

I've noticed that too. Google built its neural network right into the search results - it's called AI Overview (used to be called SGE). Honestly, for animal husbandry and livestock it sometimes helps when you need a quick reference, and sometimes it's annoying, just like for you. Especially when you're looking for something specific - the AI summary can be too superficial or even contain errors that the neural network presented nicely.

The problem is that Google on one hand wants to keep users on their page (so they don't click away to other links), and on the other hand is competing with ChatGPT and other AI services. So they're actively experimenting. By the way, you can disable AI Overview in search settings or just scroll down where you get regular links - there's often more detailed and accurate information there.

But tell me, in what areas does this bother you the most? I'm asking because for technical questions AI summaries sometimes work better than for niche topics where you need actual articles or practical experience. Maybe it's about how you're phrasing your search?

I see this all the time too when I'm looking up info about pediatrics or prepping for some tricky case. Google literally just spits out this AI Overview first - generates a quick summary from different sources. Sometimes it's helpful for getting the gist of something fast, but often it's just a mess. I was looking up signs of croup in kids recently, and the AI came back with something all mixed up with SARS symptoms, completely wrong. For medicine this could actually be dangerous.

The problem is these summaries often pull info from pretty unreliable sources or jumble together contradictory data. Google's trying to be helpful, but the algorithm doesn't always get the context or how trustworthy a source is. Someone already made a good point above that for specific info this gets in the way. Personally, I just scroll past the AI Overview now and search the regular results, or go straight to medical databases if it's something serious.

Though I gotta say, for really basic questions like "how do you boil an egg" or the distance between cities it does save time. But when you need accurate information, especially if it's about health or something specialized, this whole AI thing is more of a hassle than a help.