# Google Says Some AI Overviews May Expand Automatically for Some Queries

By Simon Yoon

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/40519
Published: 2026-10-25T12:14:06.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-25T12:14:06.000Z
Section: Technology

> The company has not disclosed how often the feature appears. A sample of 68,879 unique Google searches found fewer clicks on traditional results when an AI summary appeared.

Google says some AI Overviews may expand automatically for certain queries, adding another change to Search as publishers watch how users reach their sites through Google’s results pages.

For some queries, Google’s systems may expand an AI Overview when they determine a longer answer would be useful. The expanded answer replaces the preview and its “Show more” button. Google has not disclosed how often the automatic expansion occurs or its effect on publisher traffic.

On Oct. 15, Google announced that inline links would appear higher in AI responses more often. The company also said it would test a prominent section for official websites and extend timely-article carousels to more locations and languages.

Google began rolling out AI Overviews to U.S. users on May 14, 2024, describing them as quick answers with links to websites. It introduced AI Mode as an opt-in Search Labs experiment on March 5, 2025.

A browsing sample collected April 7-17, 2025, included 68,879 unique Google searches, 12,593 of which showed an AI summary. Traditional search-result links were clicked on 8% of visits with a summary, compared with 15% of visits without one. A link within a summary was clicked on 1% of visits where a summary appeared. The sample does not establish that summaries caused the difference, and it does not measure the effect of automatic expansion.

Google Vice President and head of Search Liz Reid said Aug. 6, 2025, “Overall, total organic click volume from Google Search to websites has been relatively stable year-over-year.” That statement describes aggregate organic clicks, a different measure from the sample’s comparison of user clicks on visits with and without summaries.