AI Overviews and Google Search – testing the bottom tray

AI overviews are already available in Google Search and continue to transform how a user interacts with search results. Instead of the classic overlay, Google is now experimenting with a new design – a bottom tray that appears at the bottom of the search results page. This ai experiment in Search Labs may change the balance between organic search, ai overviews in search, and other ai features in search.

AI Overviews – how the new interface works

Until recently, when users highlighted a snippet in an ai overview, Google displayed a small overlay with options like:

• Explain this – ai-generated explanations,
• Related images – visual references,
• Copy text – copying selected content.

Now, Google is testing a new approach. In ai mode, instead of an overlay, a bottom tray opens where ai overviews use generative AI to load additional context. Users can create followup searches without leaving the rest of the search interface, simplifying interaction and potentially improving user engagement.

Why bottom tray in Google AI Overview matters

This test shows that google's AI is pushing further into generative AI in search. With the tray, the user interaction stays within one section. That means:

• longer attention in the ai overviews section,
• fewer clicks to organic search results,
• more opportunities for Google AI to integrate with Google Ads and B2B marketing content.

For content creators and marketers, this highlights how ai overviews may shift search traffic. Ai overviews are available across multiple regions, and making AI overviews more visible means they can appear at the top of Google's search experience.

AI Overviews in search – impact and meaning

Ai overviews on more Google searches are becoming standard. This is part of search generative experience (SGE), an experiment is available through Search Labs. Generative AI experiences in search show how Google AI Overviews deliver ai-generated summaries from multiple sources – often providing key information and links to dig deeper.

According to Google, overviews are designed to help with more complex questions, reduce the need for multiple searches, and find the information users need faster. They use generative AI to highlight helpful the overview, but systems determine what links to learn more are shown. This could mean visiting a greater diversity of websites, or in some cases less.

Generative AI and SEO

The introduction of generative AI features in search is one of the biggest technological shifts. For SEO experts, it raises questions:

• Will ai overviews in search reduce clicks to traditional organic search?
• How will ai overviews use snippets and ai-generated summaries from greater diversity of websites?
• What role will content creators play in ensuring appearing in AI?
• How should SEO adapt to generative AI in search and additional generative AI features?

Google's AI is powered by Gemini and other advanced capabilities, which shows the scale of ai advancements now shaping search on Google. For businesses, especially in B2B, ai-driven changes affect planning capabilities and visibility.

Feedback and user control

Google emphasizes that users can give feedback on how helpful the overview is, refine their search query, and even send your feedback about inaccuracies. There’s also an option to disable all AI overviews, though search labs will not disable testing completely.

Buttons like need more help, google search help, or let Google suggest refinements encourage user engagement and help google account holders ask whatever’s on your mind. Still, some concerns about inaccuracy remain with experimental AI features like ai overviews.

AI Overviews and the future of search

Ai technology has already reshaped how we search on Google. Ai overviews use generative AI to provide ai-generated summaries, links, and context, creating generative AI experiences in search that redefine user interaction. With ai mode, ai overviews on more Google queries and overviews on more Google searches are becoming routine.

For businesses, appearing in AI has become just as important as ranking in organic search. The shift to ai-powered search generative systems represents an advancement in how Google's search works. In this context, content creators must adapt to ensure visibility and relevance in a world where ai overviews may dominate the rest of the search.