Introduction

Google’s AI Overviews often push you to buy the wrong products by recycling sales pitches and shady sources. Learn how this hurts real sites and what you can do.

What’s the problem it solves?

It shows how AI Overviews favor marketing materials and ads over honest reviews, driving traffic away from trusted publishers and into sponsored links.

Quick Summary

Researchers tested AI Overviews on air purifiers, even made-up models, and found that most “facts” came from manufacturers, retailers, or paid articles. The AI often skipped real downsides or invented fake flaws, while glorifying products that did not exist.

This salesy slant appears because Overviews mine data from press releases, store listings, and sponsored posts. Google then serves those summaries at the top of search pages, steering users away from independent reviews. It also adds more ads and query links to keep you clicking inside Google instead of visiting other sites.

As a result, many genuine publishers lose search traffic. Data shows around 80 percent of independent and big media sites saw big drops in visits since AI Overviews and AI Mode rolled out. Meanwhile Reddit threads and retailer pages have surged by feeding the AI with low-value or spammy posts.

Key Takeaways

• AI Overviews pull “product facts” from biased or paid sources, not honest tests.
• They often omit real cons or invent fake ones, misleading buyers.
• Google layers more ads and query prompts to trap users in its ecosystem.
• Independent publishers lose clicks and can’t compete with AI-driven sales slots.
• Traffic to honest review sites has sharply fallen while spam and affiliate pages rise.

What to do

• Scroll past AI Overviews to organic links for balanced reviews.
• Ask the AI for reasons not to buy and then fact-check each claim.
• Read full articles on trusted sites rather than relying on summaries.
• Consider logging out of Google or using query parameters (udm=14) to skip AI widgets.
• Support independent publishers by clicking through or subscribing to their newsletters.

‍