What Google AI Overviews and Gmail AI Summaries Are
Google AI Overviews and Gmail AI summaries are automated explanations that appear above regular results or emails, using Gemini to condense information into short, conversational answers that many people find intrusive, distracting, or unreliable. In Search, AI Overviews sit at the top of the results page and summarize web pages without needing a click. In Gmail, AI summaries scan email threads and show a short digest so you can scan less and act faster. These features were first tied to paid Gemini access, but Google’s own documentation now states that “AI Overviews conversation summaries” are available to paid, Workspace, and free Gmail accounts worldwide across Android, iOS, and the web. For users worried about accuracy, privacy, or chattiness, the good news is you can reduce how often you see them and, in Gmail’s case, turn them off.
How to Turn Off Gmail AI Summaries in Your Account
To turn off Gmail AI summaries, you need to disable Google Workspace smart features that rely on Gemini. In Gmail, open Settings, stay on the General tab, then find the Google Workspace smart features section and click Manage Workspace smart features settings. On the page that opens, switch off the smart (Gemini-powered) features. This will stop AI summaries from appearing on individual email threads for your account across Android, iOS, and the web. Be aware of the trade-off: this toggle also removes Gemini access to other Workspace tools such as Drive and Tasks. According to Android Authority, disabling these smart features means “you will no longer be able to set reminders by talking to Gemini,” so you lose some convenience in exchange for more privacy and less automated content. If you later change your mind, you can return to the same setting and enable them again.
Workarounds to Disable Google AI Overviews in Search Results
Google Search does not offer a built-in setting to disable Google AI Overviews completely, but you can hide search AI results with reliable workarounds. The quickest trick is to add a minus operator at the end of your query, such as “-AI” or even random characters like “-efewg”, which often prevents the AI panel from loading. For a clickable option, use the Web filter under the search bar; this focuses on classic web links and removes the AI Overview from that page. PCMag notes that while the Web view strips out AI summaries, it also removes many rich elements, so it is closer to a plain list of links. Because you cannot lock Web view as your permanent default from Google’s own settings, you need to apply one of these methods on each search where you want AI results gone.
Make Web-Only Search the Default with URL Tweaks and Proxies
If you want AI-free results by default, you can force the Web filter through the search URL. When you click the Web tab, Google appends “&udm=14” to the address, a parameter that shows only web links. You can manually add &udm=14 to any results URL, or use a proxy site like udm14.com, which forwards your query to Google with this parameter included so AI Overviews do not appear. PCMag warns that proxy sites can read your queries, so weigh your privacy comfort before using them. A safer alternative is to create your own custom Google Web search engine in Chrome or Firefox with the URL pattern {google:baseURL}search?q=%s&udm=14 and set it as default. Then every search from your browser’s address bar loads classic web results without AI, while you can still switch to the All, Videos, or News filters when needed.
Alternative: Use Brave’s Filters to Block AI Suggestions
If you are willing to change browsers, Brave offers an extra way to control AI content. By default, Brave Search has its own AI answer box, which you can disable by opening the search page settings and turning off Answer with AI. If you still prefer Google as your search engine but want to disable Google AI Overviews, Brave can help there too. In the browser, go to Settings, then Shields, then Content filtering, and enable the AI suggestions blocker list. With that filter active, searching on Google through Brave hides AI suggestion panels and brings you closer to a traditional results page. This is not the same as an official option to disable Google AI Overviews at the source, but for many users it provides reliable, browser-level Google AI feature control without editing URLs or adding query modifiers every time.
