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Earlier this year, Google rolled out AI Mode to Search users in the US. Now, the notoriously inaccurate “tool” is coming to the UK. While Google’s AI overviews have been available in the UK since last summer, AI Mode provides more conversational responses and fewer links to other pages.
Google touts AI Mode as a more intuitive method for asking multi-part questions or follow-ups. It uses Google’s Gemini 2.5 model to detail how-tos, compare products or plan a trip. Instead of searching for something under the “All” tab, users activate it by clicking “AI Mode” and issuing a prompt with text, voice or a photo.
AI Mode uses something called a “query fan-out” technique, meaning it does “multiple related searches concurrently across subtopics and multiple data sources and then brings those results together.” However, there’s two issues: The possibility of hallucinations — which Google admits to — and a reduction in click through rates. Both have occurred with AI Overviews on Google Search.
A new Pew Research Center report found that users who receive an AI summary after their search click on a traditional result almost 50 percent less (8 percent of the time, compared to 15 percent). On top of that, only one percent of users clicked on the link provided within the AI summary. This pattern can cause problems both for website traffic and for ensuring that AI-generation information is accurate.
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