Google Rolls Out AI Mode for Search in the UK: Enhanced Capabilities and Potential Challenges

Google Search's AI Mode is rolling out in the UK

Earlier this year, Google rolled out AI Mode to Search users in the US. Now, the notoriously inaccurate "tool" is coming to the UK. While Google's AI overviews have been available in the UK since last summer, AI Mode provides more conversational responses and fewer links to other pages. Google touts AI Mode as a more intuitive method for asking multi-part questions or follow-ups. It uses Google's Gemini 2.5 model to detail how-tos, compare products or plan a trip. Instead of searching for something under the "All" tab, users activate it by clicking "AI Mode" and issuing a prompt with text, voice or a photo. AI Mode uses something called a "query fan-out" technique, meaning it does "multiple related searches concurrently across subtopics and multiple data sources and then brings those results together." However, there's two issues: The possibility of hallucinations -- which Google admits to -- and a reduction in click through rates. Both have occurred with AI Overviews on Google Search. A new Pew Research Center report found that users who receive an AI summary after their search click on a traditional result almost 50 percent less (8 percent of the time, compared to 15 percent). On top of that, only one percent of users clicked on the link provided within the AI summary. This pattern can cause problems both for website traffic and for ensuring that AI-generation information is accurate.

Google Search rolling out AI Mode to the UK

Following the US and India (earlier this month), Google Search is now launching AI Mode in the UK. Compared to AI Overviews at the top of a Search results page, AI Mode offers a more Gemini app/chatbot-like experience. Prompts (with images supported) can have multiple parts, with Google finding that questions are often "two or three times the length of traditional search queries." It's ideal for "exploratory questions and for more complicated tasks like comparing products, planning a trip or understanding complex how-tos." Afterwards, you can ask follow-up questions: ...you can now ask questions like: "Things to do in Edinburgh this weekend with friends. We're big foodies who like music but also chill vibes and exploring off the beaten track." Or: "How do migrating birds know where to go?" AI Mode is powered by a custom version of Gemini 2.5 and uses a query fan-out technique to break down a question into subtopics and make multiple searches simultaneously. The answer is then brought together, with highlighted links. On the web, you can visit google.com/aimode directly to enter a query. Alternatively, there's a new "AI Mode" filter in the top-left of the results page to quickly switch from the usual Search experience. In the Android and iOS app, AI Mode appears at the top of the main tab. You can also add an AI Mode shortcut to the Search widget on your homescreen. Google AI Mode is rolling out starting today in the UK.

Google Search: Introducing AI Mode in the UK

Picture this: asking Google Search whatever is on your mind -- as messy or complicated as it may be -- and instantly receiving an AI-powered response that really understands your question, gives you the information you're looking for and helps you dig deeper into the topic. You can now experience this firsthand with AI Mode, our most powerful AI search experience, with more advanced reasoning and multimodality, and the ability to go deeper through follow-up questions and helpful links to the web. Starting to roll out in the UK today, you'll see it appear as a tab on your Search results page, and in the Google app for Android and iOS. AI Mode is a new, intuitive way to address your most complex, multi-part questions and follow-ups, and satisfy your curiosity in a richer way. Using a custom version of our latest Gemini 2.5 model, it lets you ask nuanced questions that would have previously required multiple searches. AI Mode is particularly helpful for exploratory questions and for more complicated tasks like comparing products, planning a trip or understanding complex how-tos. In fact, we've found that early users of AI Mode are asking questions that are two or three times the length of traditional search queries. For example, you can now ask questions like: "Things to do in Edinburgh this weekend with friends. We're big foodies who like music but also chill vibes and exploring off the beaten track." Or: "How do migrating birds know where to go?"