Google changed. You’ve probably noticed that big, colorful box sitting at the top of your search results lately, pushing the actual links you're looking for way down the page. It’s called AI Overviews. Some people find it helpful for a quick summary, but honestly, a lot of us just want our old Google back. We want the blue links. We want to see the websites we actually trust instead of a synthesized paragraph that might—or might not—be hallucinating facts about putting glue on pizza. If you're wondering how to turn off AI on Google, the answer is a little complicated because Google really wants you to keep using it. But there are ways to bypass it.
The push toward Gemini-powered search isn't just a small tweak. It’s a fundamental shift in how the internet works. For twenty years, we typed a query and got a list of sources. Now, Google is trying to be the source. This has sparked a massive debate among tech experts and everyday users alike. Liz Reid, the head of Google Search, has defended the technology, claiming it saves users time. Yet, the reality on the ground is that many power users feel like their search experience has been cluttered with "slop."
The "Web" tab is your new best friend
There is no giant "OFF" switch in the settings menu that says "Disable AI Forever." Google hasn't made it that easy. However, they did quietly introduce a feature that basically solves the problem if you know where to click. It’s the Web filter.
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When you perform a search, you’ll see the usual tabs like Images, News, and Videos. If you click "More," or sometimes it's right there on the main bar, you can select "Web." This is the magic button. Selecting "Web" strips away the AI Overviews, the Reddit snippets, the "People Also Ask" boxes, and the sponsored carousels. It leaves you with exactly what Google looked like in 2011: a clean list of text-based links.
The problem? You have to click it every single time. It’s annoying. You search, the AI box pops up, you click "Web," and then you get what you wanted. For a lot of people, those extra two clicks are a dealbreaker. But if you’re on a desktop, there’s a workaround involving your browser settings that can make this your default experience.
Making the "Web" filter permanent on Chrome
If you use Google Chrome, you can actually force the browser to always use the Web filter. You do this by adding a custom search engine. Go into your Chrome settings, find "Search engine," and then "Manage search engines and site search." You’ll want to add a new site search with a specific URL string.
The URL you need to use is: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14
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That "udm=14" bit at the end is the secret code. It tells Google’s servers to serve you the Web-only results. Once you save this and set it as your "Default" search engine, every search you type into your URL bar will skip the AI Overview entirely. No more colorful boxes. No more AI summaries. Just the internet, raw and unfiltered. It’s a total game changer for anyone who values speed and source transparency over AI convenience.
Why Google is forcing AI on us anyway
It’s about the money. Obviously. But also about competition. With OpenAI’s SearchGPT and Perplexity AI breathing down their necks, Google felt they had to move fast. This led to some pretty famous blunders. Remember when Google's AI told people to eat one small rock a day for minerals? Or the suggestion to use non-toxic glue to keep cheese on pizza? These weren't just funny memes; they were evidence that the LLM (Large Language Model) doesn't actually know things. It just predicts the next likely word in a sentence based on data it scraped from the corners of the web—including joke posts from Reddit.
The loss of the "Open Web"
When you search for how to turn off AI on Google, you're participating in a larger movement of users who are worried about the "zero-click" search. If Google summarizes a recipe for you, you don't click on the food blogger's website. If you don't click, that blogger doesn't get ad revenue. If they don't get paid, they stop writing recipes. Eventually, the AI will have nothing new to learn from. It's a bit of a "snake eating its own tail" situation.
Many SEO experts, like Lily Ray, have been vocal about how these AI summaries often pull information from sites without giving them proper traffic credit. By turning off the AI or using the Web filter, you're essentially voting with your clicks for a healthier, human-driven internet.
Disabling AI on mobile devices
Mobile is trickier. You can't easily edit search engine strings in the Chrome app on an iPhone or Android the same way you can on a PC. If you're on the go, your best bet is to use the Google app's "Laboratories" icon—the little flask—and see if you have the option to toggle off "SGE" (Search Generative Experience).
- Open the Google App.
- Tap the Labs icon in the top left.
- Look for "AI Overviews and more."
- Toggle it off if the option is available.
Wait, there’s a catch. Google has been rolling this out as a core feature, meaning for many users, the "Labs" toggle has disappeared because it’s no longer an "experiment"—it's the product. If that's the case for you, you're stuck with the "Web" tab trick mentioned earlier. Or, you could switch browsers entirely.
Alternative browsers that stay AI-free
Maybe it’s time to look at DuckDuckGo or Brave. DuckDuckGo has stayed pretty committed to a traditional search experience, although even they are dipping their toes into AI "answers." However, they make it much easier to ignore. Firefox is another great option because it allows for more robust extensions. There are already several Firefox and Chrome extensions specifically designed to "Hide Google AI" which act like an ad-blocker for Gemini.
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- uBlock Origin: You can add custom filters to this popular ad-blocker to hide the AI divs on Google's search page.
- "Bye Bye Google AI" extensions: These are popping up in the Chrome Web Store. They basically automate the "udm=14" trick for you.
What about Gemini in other Google products?
AI is everywhere now. It’s in Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. If you're seeing that "Help me write" button and it’s driving you crazy, you can usually turn that off in your Google Workspace settings. For personal accounts, if you're a Google One subscriber, you might have signed up for the AI Premium plan. Downgrading to a standard plan will strip those features out.
In Google Docs, specifically, the AI doesn't just go away entirely, but you can ignore the floating bubble. It’s a bit like Clippy from the old Microsoft Word days, but much more intrusive. Honestly, the tech industry is in a "gold rush" phase where they think we want AI in everything. We probably don't. We just want tools that work.
Real-world impact of the AI transition
I talked to a researcher recently who said they've switched to using "site:reddit.com" at the end of every search just to avoid the AI. Why? Because the AI is often wrong about niche technical topics. If you're looking for a specific error code for a 2012 Volkswagen, the AI might give you a general answer that doesn't apply to your specific engine. Human forums are still the gold standard for specific, lived experience.
Google’s AI also struggles with "freshness." While it tries to access real-time data, there’s often a lag or a misunderstanding of breaking news events. During the last few major news cycles, the AI boxes have sometimes struggled to keep up with rapidly changing facts, leading to contradictions between the AI summary and the news links right below it.
Steps to take right now
If you are tired of the clutter, start with the "Web" tab. It’s the fastest way to get clarity. If you’re tech-savvy, spend the five minutes it takes to update your default search engine settings in Chrome to include the udm=14 parameter. It will make your browsing feel significantly faster because your computer doesn't have to render that heavy AI block every time you look something up.
For mobile users, consider bookmarking google.com/web or using a browser like Firefox Focus that allows for more customization. The internet is still out there, buried under a few layers of machine-generated text. You just have to know which shovel to use to dig it out.
The most important thing to remember is that you have a choice. You aren't forced to consume information the way Google wants to feed it to you. By using filters, extensions, and different search parameters, you can reclaim a version of the web that prioritizes human sources and direct answers. Keep an eye on your settings every few months, too—Google is famous for "resetting" these things during major updates, so your custom search engine might need a tweak down the road.
Keep your searches precise. Use quotes for exact matches. Lean on the "Web" filter. These small habits will keep your search results clean while the tech giants figure out how to make AI actually useful instead of just loud. Moving forward, the best way to handle AI in search is to treat it like a suggestion, not an authority. Always scroll down to the real links. That's where the truth usually lives.