ADM+S Podcast: How is AI Overview Changing Search?
Author ADM+S
Date 16 October 2026
As AI Overviews become prominent features of online search, researchers are examining what this shift could mean for how people find, evaluate and trust information online.
In a new episode of the Automated Societies podcast, researchers Dr Kateryna Kasianenko and Sara Alawati from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) discuss Google’s AI Overviews and how they are reshaping the search experience.
Drawing on research from the Australian Search Experience 2.0 project, the discussion explores how AI-generated search results influence user behaviour, what kinds of information users trust, and the growing role search engines play in curating knowledge.
From blue links to AI-generated answers
For decades, search engines primarily acted as gateways to information, directing users to websites through a list of links. AI Overviews represent a significant shift, providing users with machine-generated summaries before they even click through to a source.
Dr Kateryna Kasianenko, Research Fellow from the ADM+S at QUT, said these developments are part of a broader transformation in how people access information online.
“Before there were AI Overviews, Google already had knowledge panels and other ways to quickly provide answers without users needing to click through to websites,” she said.
The researchers discuss how this trend, sometimes referred to as “Google Zero”, reflects a move towards keeping users within search platforms rather than directing them elsewhere on the web.
Where are users actually looking?
Sara Alawati, PhD Student from ADM+S at RMIT University shares findings from her recent eye-tracking study that found AI Overviews attract significantly more attention than traditional search links.
“The blue links are still receiving some attention, but the AI Overviews are receiving twice as much,” she said.
Sara said that early analysis suggests that the first organic search result displayed beneath an AI Overview now receives a level of attention similar to what the fourth-ranked result received in earlier search interfaces, highlighting how patterns of user attention may be changing.
Trust, verification and misinformation
While AI-generated answers can make information more accessible and convenient, the researchers argue that questions remain about trust and verification.
Alawati said participants in the eye-tracking study often found AI Overviews useful, but were less certain about whether the information could always be trusted.
Unlike traditional search results, where users can quickly evaluate individual sources, AI-generated summaries may draw from multiple websites simultaneously, making it more difficult to verify where specific claims originate.
Understanding the future of search
As AI becomes increasingly embedded within everyday digital services, understanding how people interact with these systems is becoming more important than ever.
Listen to the podcast episode: How is AI Overview Changing Search?
