At Alphabet’s Q2 2025 earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed that Google AI Overviews, the generative search feature delivering AI summaries directly in search results, has now surpassed 2 billion monthly users, up from 1.5 billion users just two months earlier. The feature is now available in over 200 countries and territories and supports more than 40 languages
What Is Google AI Overviews?
Google AI Overviews is a key part of its Search Generative Experience (SGE). It uses Google’s Gemini AI models to summarize search results in a concise, easy-to-read snippet at the top of the page—helping users find answers faster without clicking through multiple sites
Why the Sudden Surge?
- Global Rollout: Initially launched in the U.S. in May 2024, then expanded to 100+ countries in October. By mid‑2025, the feature became available in 200+ countries in multiple languages—including Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, Arabic, Malay, Portuguese, and Spanish
- User Preference: Satisfied users report greater search efficiency, and AI Overviews now drives a ~10% increase in search queries for eligible topics
- Monetization: Ads are integrated cleanly into Overviews. Revenue per user is comparable to traditional search result monetization, contributing to broader ad impact
Impact Across Alphabet’s Business
- Search Remains Core: AI Overviews contributed to a 12–14% year-over-year growth in Google Search revenue, which accounted for over $54 billion of Q2 2025 revenue
- AI Mode Adoption: Google’s AI Mode—a more interactive chat interface—is also seeing traction. It reached 100 million monthly users in the U.S. and India shortly after launch
- Wider AI Ecosystem: Gemini’s chatbot app now has 450 million monthly users, and Google processes nearly 980 trillion tokens per month across its AI platforms
- Long-Term AI Investment: With shifting competition in AI search, Alphabet raised its 2025 capital expenditure plan to $85 billion, aiming to scale infrastructure and AI capabilities
Publisher Concerns and SEO Implications
Although AI Overviews enhance user experience, critics warn of declining click‑through rates (CTR), especially for informational searches. One study showed Overviews captured as little as 4% of clicks, potentially harming content visibility for smaller publishers
News organizations and educators have even raised legal challenges. For example, Chegg filed a lawsuit against Alphabet alleging that AI Overviews promote “low‑quality, unverified AI summaries” and reduce traffic to original content sources Wikipedia.
SEO Best Practices in the AI Era
Businesses and content creators should adapt SEO strategies to:
- Optimize content for informational queries featured by AI Overviews
- Ensure clear author attribution and depth to encourage click-through
- Leverage structured data and rich snippets to appear in supporting links
Conclusion
Google AI Overviews reaching 2 billion monthly users marks a transformative shift in how people interact with search. The feature redefines search efficiency, improves monetization, and amplifies Google’s AI leadership. Yet it also raises pressing questions of content visibility, user behavior, and fair monetization for publishers.
