Google has spent the last few years slowly transforming Search into something very different from the simple blue-links experience most people grew up with. First came AI Overviews. Then AI Mode. And now the search giant is experimenting with even more AI-heavy interfaces that try to answer questions before you even click a website. For some users, that sounds useful. For others, it feels exhausting. Sometimes you just want a normal search result instead of an AI-generated paragraph confidently explaining something that may or may not even be correct. The problem is, Google doesn’t really want you turning these features off. The company describes AI Overviews as a “core Google Search feature,” meaning there is currently no official setting to completely disable them. Still, a few workarounds can help reduce how often Google’s AI gets in your face.
The “-AI” Search Trick
One surprisingly effective method is adding “-AI” at the end of your search query.
So instead of searching:
“best gaming laptop 2026”
you type:
“best gaming laptop 2026 -AI”
This works because Google Search still supports older search operators that power users have relied on for years. Similar tools include “site:” for searching within specific websites or “filetype:” for finding PDFs and documents. Adding “-AI” tells Google to avoid AI-related results wherever possible. It is not perfect, and AI Overviews can still occasionally appear, but it noticeably cuts them down.
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Use Google’s Hidden Web Filter
There is another workaround that feels almost nostalgic. Google’s “Web” filter strips away much of the clutter, including AI Overviews, shopping widgets, recommendation boxes and various generated summaries. What you get instead is something much closer to old-school Google Search: mostly links. To enable it, search normally on Google, then tap “More” in the results menu and select “Web.”
That is it. Suddenly the search page starts looking less like an AI product demo and more like an actual search engine again.
Some Users Are Leaving Google Entirely
For a growing number of people, these fixes still are not enough. Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo now lets users completely disable its AI-assisted features with a simple toggle. Brave Search offers something similar too. Its “Answer with AI” feature can also be turned off from settings.
Ironically, smaller search engines are currently offering users more control over AI than Google itself. And that may be the bigger frustration here. It is not just that AI is showing up everywhere. It is that users are increasingly being told they cannot opt out of it.
