AI Overviews in Search are coming to Canada
Since first launching AI Overviews in Search this May, we’ve been gradually expanding availability to more countries and more languages in a deliberate and responsible way, and the feedback we’ve received from our users has been highly positive. People prefer using Search with AI Overviews, and they find their search results more helpful.
AI Overviews make it easier than ever for people to find the information they need and discover relevant sites across the web. This opens up more opportunities to connect with publishers, businesses and creators.
We have been testing AI Overviews on a small percentage of Search traffic in Canada, to ensure they maintain our high bar for quality and helpfulness. We’ve gotten positive feedback from this test and we’re excited to share that, starting this week, we are beginning the full rollout of AI Overviews in Canada — helping you search the web in a whole new way, no matter what questions are on your mind.
Connecting to the best of the web
Helping people discover content from publishers, businesses and creators remains central to our approach. Since May, we’ve introduced more prominent ways to show links to relevant websites within AI Overviews, with a right-hand link display on desktop and a similar experience on mobile, accessible by tapping the site icons in the upper right. And earlier this month, we launched in-line links that appear directly within the text of AI Overviews. In our testing, both of these updates drove an increase in traffic to supporting websites compared to the previous designs, and the link display has made it easier for people to visit sites that interest them.
AI Overviews are just one of the ways we’re building AI into Search, and dramatically expanding the kinds of questions you can ask on Google - which creates even more ways for people to explore content online. For more on this, read more about our latest AI-powered Search upgrades.
Want to know more?
We know Canadians might be curious about how AI Overviews are going to improve their experience on Google Search. Here are some common questions and answers to help!
When will AI Overviews appear in my Search results?
AI Overviews are designed to show up on queries where they can add additional benefit beyond what people might already get on Search today, and where we have high confidence in the quality of the responses. Meaning, they will show up in Search results when our systems determine that generative AI can be especially helpful – for example, when you want to quickly understand information from a range of sources.
What makes you confident in bringing AI Overviews to Canada now?
AI Overviews are rooted in our core Search quality and safety systems, which we have been refining for more than 20 years to deliver reliable and high-quality information. We’ve also rigorously tested AI Overviews before launch to ensure we maintain our high bar for quality, as we do with all Search features. Check out this resource for additional details.
Did you test AI Overviews in Canada before this launch?
Since last year, we’ve been exploring how AI Overviews can improve the overall Search experience - helping people quickly find information and connect with all the web has to offer. Over the past few weeks, we have been conducting a test in Canada on a small percentage of Search traffic, to ensure AI Overviews maintain our high bar for quality and helpfulness. We’ve gotten positive feedback from this test and we’re excited to begin the full rollout today.
Are you launching today for everyone in Canada?
No, we’ll gradually roll out over the coming weeks. We’re deliberately taking a phased approach, focused on maintaining Search’s high bar for information quality.
What languages are supported with AI Overviews?
Beginning this week, if you’re in a country with AI Overviews (like Canada), you can get them in any of the currently supported languages: English, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. French is not currently supported, but we are constantly working to bring the benefits of AI Overviews to more people around the world in their preferred language - and hope to have an update soon.
