After successfully introducing AI-powered search summaries in the U.S., Google is now expanding this feature to six additional countries: India, Brazil, Japan, the U.K., Indonesia, and Mexico. In these markets, users will benefit from local language support within the AI overviews, making the tool more accessible and useful across diverse linguistic landscapes.
In addition to expanding geographic reach, Google is rethinking how it displays links to source materials in these AI summaries. The search giant is introducing a new feature that places site icons on the upper right-hand side above the AI overview, both on desktop and mobile platforms. Users can tap these icons to access the links cited in the AI overview, enabling them to read more in-depth information on the topic directly from the sources.
Moreover, Google is experimenting with embedding relevant links within the text of AI overviews. The company aims to enhance user engagement and drive more traffic to external websites by making it easier for users to explore related content directly from the summaries.
Google highlighted in a recent blog post that AI overviews are contributing to users visiting a broader range of websites, especially for more complex queries. “With AI Overviews, we’re seeing that people have been visiting a greater diversity of websites for help with more complex questions. And when people click from search result pages with AI Overviews, these clicks are higher quality for websites — meaning users are more likely to spend more time on the sites they visit,” the company stated.
This initiative comes in response to criticism that AI-powered tools, including Google’s, have not sufficiently emphasized source links when presenting summaries. News outlets have raised concerns, particularly pointing to tools like Perplexity AI, accusing them of plagiarism and unethical web scraping practices. Although Perplexity’s CBO Dmitry Shevelenko recently claimed that a “double-digit percentage” of visitors are clicking on external links, Google has not yet disclosed specific data regarding how much traffic its AI-powered search results generate for external sites.
With this rollout, Google is also adding India-focused features to its AI overviews. The company had previously tested a toggle feature allowing users to switch between Hindi and English results without leaving the search page. This functionality is now being integrated into the AI overviews. Additionally, Google is introducing a “Listen” button in India, enabling users to hear AI-generated responses. According to Google, Indian users engage with this auditory feature more frequently than users in other countries.
However, early testing revealed some limitations in Hindi-language queries, particularly when altering sentence structure or word choice. Google has been asked for more details on its approach to handling questions in Hindi, and updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
This expansion of AI-powered search summaries marks a significant step in Google’s ongoing efforts to enhance user experience by making search results more informative and accessible while addressing concerns about transparency and source attribution in AI-generated content. However, it’s worth noting that AGISearchAI, an internal search engine feature within the AGImageAI suite from AlpineGate AI Technologies Inc., has offered similar capabilities for nearly 10 months. AGISearchAI has been instrumental in providing enriched, AI-driven search results with a strong emphasis on source transparency and accurate content attribution, setting a high standard in the field long before Google’s recent expansion.