How to Get Rid of Google's AI Answer and See Normal Results

Start here Tutorial5 min read·Updated October 1, 2026
The short answer

Google doesn't let you turn AI Overviews off — it calls them a core feature of Search. You can still skip them: after a search, click the Web filter (under More on a computer) to see only plain text links, or add a custom search engine in Chrome so every search opens that Web view.

You search for something simple and Google puts a long AI-written box above everything else. Many people would rather just see the list of websites, the way Google used to look. Here is what is possible, honestly stated: Google offers no setting to switch the AI box off, but you can get around it.

What Google says

Google's own help page states that AI Overviews are a core Google Search feature, like knowledge panels, and that such features cannot be turned off. It does point to one option: the Web filter, which shows only text-based links without features like AI Overviews. Everything below builds on that.

Search as usual

Type your question into Google on a computer and press Enter.

Click More, then Web

Under the search box is a row of filters (All, Images, News and so on). At the end of the row, click More, then choose Web. You now see plain blue links, with no AI box.

The catch: the filter applies only to that search. Your next search starts again with the AI box. That's fine for the odd search, but tiring if you do it all day.

Step 2: Make Chrome open the Web view every time (computer)

This is a workaround, not an official setting. It works because the Web view is simply a Google search address ending in udm=14. Android Authority and Search Engine Watch both describe this method.

Open Chrome's search engine list

Click the address bar, type chrome://settings/searchEngines and press Enter.

Add a new search engine

Next to Site search, click Add and fill in three boxes. Name: Google Web. Shortcut: @web. URL: {google:baseURL}search?q=%s&udm=14

Make it your default

Click the three dots beside your new entry and choose Make default. From now on, searches typed in the address bar open as plain web results.

To undo it, choose Google as the default again in the same list and delete your entry.

Things to know

  • No promise it lasts. Google could change or remove the Web view. If it stops working, you're back to the normal results.
  • AI Mode is separate. The Web view skips AI Overviews. Google AI Mode is a different tab you open on purpose.
  • Plain results can still mislead. Links are not automatically trustworthy. See AI search vs Google for how to judge answers either way.

Sources

Published October 1, 2026 · Updated October 1, 2026How we test →

Frequently asked questions

Can I turn off AI Overviews in Google?
Not officially. Google's help page says AI Overviews are a core Search feature, like knowledge panels, and features cannot be turned off. The workarounds in this guide skip the AI box rather than disable it.
What is the Web filter in Google?
It's a button under the search box that shows only text-based links, without features like AI Overviews. On a computer it sits under More at the end of the row of filters.
Why does the AI answer come back on my next search?
The Web filter applies only to the search you're looking at. For every search to open in the Web view, you need the custom search engine method in Step 2.
Is the custom search engine trick safe?
It only changes the web address your browser uses to open Google, and you can delete it any time in your browser settings. It isn't an official Google setting, so Google could change how it works.
What do I lose by using the Web view?
You get plain text links without features such as AI summaries. Android Authority notes that this can be inconvenient for local results, because you have to open them separately instead of typing straight into Google.
Radim S.
Founder & editor

Radim is a software developer who spends his days building with AI and his evenings explaining it to family members who don’t care how it works — only what it can do for them. The safety guides are checked claim by claim against primary sources before they go out.

How we test · Our AI disclosure · Spotted an error?

Keep reading