How to Disable AI on Google Search (And What That Actually Means)

Google has been weaving AI-generated content into its search results at an accelerating pace. Whether it's AI Overviews (formerly Search Generative Experience), Gemini-powered summaries, or smart suggestions in other Google products, many users want more control over how much AI shapes what they see. The challenge is that "disabling AI on Google" isn't a single switch — it depends on which AI feature you mean, which Google product you're using, and how you're accessing it.

What "AI on Google" Actually Refers To

Before you can turn something off, it helps to know what you're dealing with. Google's AI presence currently shows up in several distinct places:

• AI Overviews — The summarized answer boxes that appear at the top of search results pages, generated by Google's AI from multiple web sources.
• Gemini integration — Google's large language model, now embedded across Search, Gmail, Docs, and other Workspace apps.
• Search suggestions and autocomplete — Predictive text powered in part by machine learning models.
• Google Assistant AI features — Increasingly AI-enhanced responses on Android and smart devices.

Each of these has different controls, different accessibility, and different levels of user agency. Some can be fully disabled; others can only be reduced or worked around.

How to Turn Off AI Overviews in Google Search 🔍

AI Overviews are the most visible change for everyday searchers. Here's what you can currently do:

On desktop:

1. Run a search on Google.
2. If an AI Overview appears, look for the three-dot menu or feedback icon near the summary.
3. Select "Show less" or provide feedback — this can reduce how often AI Overviews appear for your account.
4. Alternatively, use Search Tools to filter results, which sometimes suppresses the AI panel.

A more reliable method — use a custom search URL parameter: Adding &udm=14 to the end of a Google search URL forces Google to return a traditional "web" results view without AI Overviews. For example:

https://www.google.com/search?q=your+search+term&udm=14 

You can set this as a custom search engine in your browser to make it your default behavior without manually editing URLs every time.

On mobile: The same &udm=14 trick works in mobile browsers. Some users create a browser shortcut or bookmark that includes this parameter by default.

Disabling Gemini in Google Workspace and Apps

If your concern is Gemini appearing inside Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, or Drive, the controls live in your Google account settings:

1. Go to myaccount.google.com
2. Navigate to Data & Privacy
3. Look for "Gemini Apps Activity" and toggle it off — this stops Gemini from using your data and can disable its active features in connected apps.

For Google Workspace accounts (business or education), administrators control whether Gemini features are available at all. Individual users may not have the ability to disable it independently — that decision sits with whoever manages the domain.

Using a Different Search Engine as a Workaround

If you want to avoid AI-generated search results entirely, switching your default search engine is the most thorough option. Browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari all allow you to change the default search engine in their settings:

• Chrome: Settings → Search engine → Change default
• Firefox: Settings → Search → Default Search Engine
• Safari: Settings → Safari → Search Engine

Search engines like DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, and Startpage offer AI-free results modes or traditional link-based results by default — though several of these have also begun adding optional AI features of their own.

What You Can't Fully Disable

It's worth being honest about the limits here. Some AI on Google is baked into the infrastructure rather than a toggleable feature:

• Autocomplete and query interpretation use machine learning at a core level. There's no user-facing toggle for this.
• Ranking algorithms — how Google decides which pages appear and in what order — are AI-driven and not user-controllable.
• Smart features in Google Photos, Maps, and Assistant are deeply integrated and can only be partially limited through individual app settings.

Disabling surface-level AI features like AI Overviews is achievable. Removing AI from Google's underlying systems is not.

The Variables That Change Your Options 🛠️

How much control you have depends on several factors:

The specific combination of account type, device, and which Google products you use daily will shape which methods are actually available to you — and how much friction is involved in applying them consistently.