Google Now Auto-Expands AI Overviews for Some Searches
Searchers on Google now see a complete AI answer at the top of the page for some queries, with the full AI Overview expanding on its own instead of waiting behind a "Show more" button. Google says it applies this dynamic expansion to topics where its systems decide a longer response is most useful, and it pairs the summary with an "Ask anything" box for follow-up questions. When the expansion triggers, the standard list of blue links moves much farther down the page.
What changed in Google Search?
For certain searches, Google fills the top of the results page with a fully expanded AI Overview rather than the shortened version that ends in a "Show more" button. Below the summary sits an "Ask anything" box, and only after that does the familiar list of web links appear. The result is a page that can require a lot of scrolling before a searcher reaches the ranked links.
Previously, an AI Overview showed only the opening portion of its response, and a searcher had to click "Show more" to read the rest. The automatic expansion removes that click for the queries Google selects.
Which searches trigger the expanded AI Overview?
Google has not published clear criteria for when the automatic expansion kicks in. In testing, the behavior appeared inconsistently: the same query could return a fully expanded Overview in one search and the shorter "Show more" version in another, and results varied across browsers. One query that produced the expanded Overview more often than others was "what is the best game on switch 2," though even that did not trigger it every time.
Google frames the selection as automatic and topic-based. "For some queries, AI Overviews may dynamically expand for topics where our systems determine it's most useful for people," a Google spokesperson said. The company added that its research shows searchers "find Search more helpful and engage deeper in follow-up exploration" with this dynamic experience.
Does the expansion interrupt reading?
Google built in a rule to protect a searcher's place on the page. If someone has already started scrolling to view content below the AI Overview, Google cancels the expansion so the reader does not lose their reading position. The automatic growth of the summary is meant to happen before that scrolling begins, not in the middle of it.
What it means for links below the Overview
The core tradeoff is placement. A fully expanded AI Overview plus the "Ask anything" box occupies more vertical space at the top of the results, which pushes the organic list of links farther down. For anyone whose visibility depends on those links, the change raises the value of appearing in the AI Overview itself and of giving searchers a strong reason to keep scrolling to the ranked results underneath.
FAQ
What is an auto-expanding AI Overview on Google?
It is an AI Overview that opens in its full form at the top of the results page for some queries, instead of showing only the first part of the response with a "Show more" button. Below it, Google places an "Ask anything" box and then the list of web links.
Why do I sometimes see the short version instead?
Google applies the expansion only to queries its systems judge most useful for a longer answer, and the behavior is inconsistent. The same search can return an expanded Overview once and the shorter "Show more" version another time, and results can differ across browsers.
Does the AI Overview keep expanding while I scroll?
No. Google cancels the expansion if a searcher has already begun scrolling to view content below the AI Overview, so the growing summary does not push away the section the reader is looking at.
Related coverage
This article summarizes reporting from theverge.com.