Google’s AI Search Debuts in Britain: Here’s What You Need To Know

Your go-to Google search results page is getting a seriously techy glow-up. This week, Google launched “AI Mode” in the UK – a new search feature powered by its Gemini AI platform. Instead of your usual list of blue links, AI Mode delivers answers in a chattier, more conversational tone. Think: less scroll, more spoon-fed summary.

But before you panic – or get too excited – this isn’t a total takeover. The old-school version of Google isn’t going anywhere. AI Mode is optional (for now), appearing as a tab or box in search. Still, it’s the latest sign that AI is creeping further into our digital lives – and not everyone’s thrilled.

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Image courtesy of Google Research

Why? Because when AI gives you everything in one tidy box, you’re less likely to click through to other websites – the lifeblood of businesses like online retailers and news outlets. The Daily Mail claims its traffic from Google has halved since AI Overviews started summarising results, meaning fewer eyes on ads and fewer clicks on carefully crafted headlines.

Hema Budaraju, product lead at Google Search, insists this new format isn’t about stealing traffic. “I would say that I think people are going to use these technologies to unlock newer information-seeking journeys,” she said in an interview with Zoe Kleinman from The BBC. “These kind of questions didn’t happen before, and now you made it really possible for people to express anything a lot more naturally.”

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The idea is that people now search in more natural, chatty ways. “About two years ago, if you spilled coffee on your carpet, you would have [searched for] ‘clean carpet stain’,” Budaraju explained. “Now, my query is likely to be, ‘I spilled coffee on my Berber carpet, I’m looking for a cleaner that is pet friendly’.”

Image @nakishawynn_ via Pinterest

It’s a nice idea – but critics aren’t convinced. Rosa Curling, director of digital rights group Foxglove, argues the feature is hurting journalism. “What the AI summary now does is makes sure that the readers’ eyes stay on the Google web page,” she told The BBC. “And the advertising revenue of those news outlets is being massively impacted.”

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And it’s not just revenue. There’s also concern about accuracy – AI summaries are often wrong – and the environmental toll of powering all this AI. Google says it’s committed to sustainable tech. “We are constantly, as Google and as Search, evolving sustainable ways to serve technology,” Budaraju added.

So is this the future of search? Probably. Just don’t be surprised if your favourite websites – or your local strawberry farm – get a little harder to find.