Google is updating search to refine its AI experience by adding additional context to links, like excerpts from web forums and blogs, as well as a feature that highlights links from a user\u2019s news subscriptions.<\/p>\n
While citing web forums and discussion boards can help users find answers to more niche queries, this design choice could also prove chaotic.<\/p>\n Two years ago, Google overhauled its search experience to put AI front and center \u2014 when you search for something, Google will often summon an \u201cAI Overview,\u201d which has spurred mixed reception from users. People quickly pointed out how the feature could be exploited, since it failed to recognize sarcasm or information that comes from dubious sources. (It cited The Onion<\/a> when telling someone to eat \u201cone small rock per day,\u201d and used Reddit to advise someone to put glue on their pizza to make the cheese stick better.)<\/p>\n Though Google\u2019s AI Overviews have improved significantly, they still \u2014 like anything powered by an LLM \u2014 are prone to hallucination. A recent New York Times analysis found that the AI Overviews were correct about nine times out of 10. But for a company that processes trillions of queries a year, that success rate would mean that hundreds of thousands of searches turn up inaccurate results every minute.<\/p>\n Of course, not every search has an objective yes-or-no answer, which is why Google might want to pull in voices from web forums where people discuss such questions \u2014 there\u2019s a reason why people often add \u201cReddit\u201d to the end of their Google searches. <\/p>\n \u201cFor many searches, people are increasingly seeking out advice from others,\u201d Google explains. \u201cTo help you find the most helpful insights to explore further, AI responses will now include a preview of perspectives from public online discussions, social media, and other firsthand sources. We\u2019re also adding more context to these links, like a creator\u2019s name, handle, or community name, to help you decide which discussions you might want to read or participate in.\u201d<\/p>\n But now Google is complicating the role of its AI Overviews. Is the AI Overview supposed to answer a question, or is it supposed to serve you a variety of sources that might have the information you\u2019re looking for? Isn\u2019t that basically just a normal Google search?<\/p>\n Google will, at least, add more context to where its AI Overview commentary comes from, which might help users decipher if they\u2019re getting information from a trustworthy source. It\u2019s similar to how ChatGPT or Claude will sometimes provide links that are supposed to back up its claims. <\/p>\n Still, we\u2019d recommend double-checking that the AI is not hallucinating the validity of these citations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/google-searches.webp?w=680\")
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