What Google AI Mode is, how to turn it off, and how local businesses show up

Google AI Mode is the chat-style part of Google Search. You ask a longer question, Google's AI researches it, and you get a written answer with links and room for follow-ups. For Austin business owners, it raises two questions: how do you turn it off when you want plain results, and how does your business show up when a customer asks it for local help? This guide answers both, based on Google's help pages as checked in November 2026.

What is Google AI Mode?

Google AI Mode is a separate, conversational search experience inside Google Search. Instead of a page of links, you get an AI-written answer with links, and you can keep asking follow-up questions in the same thread.

Google's AI Mode help page calls it Google's most powerful AI search experience. You can ask by text, voice, or image, and even upload files. As of November 2026, the help page lists three ways in:

• Go to google.com/ai.
• Type a question into the search bar on google.com, then select AI Mode.
• In the Google app, tap AI Mode on the home screen.

On a computer, Chrome can also show an AI Mode button in the address bar and on the New Tab page, according to Chrome's help page, though not yet for everyone or on every device.

A short history

• March 2025: Google introduced AI Mode as an opt-in experiment in Search Labs.
• May 2025: Google began rolling it out to everyone in the U.S., with no Labs sign-up needed.
• January 2026: Google connected AI Overviews to AI Mode on phones worldwide.
• May 2026: Google said AI Mode had passed one billion monthly users and began rolling out a new AI-powered search box.

How query fan-out works

Google calls the method behind AI Mode "query fan-out." Its help page says AI Mode splits your question into subtopics and searches for each one at the same time across multiple data sources. Google's May 2025 explainer adds that it brings those results together into one answer, draws on the web plus Google's own data, such as Knowledge Graph facts, and generally shows regular web results when it is not confident in an AI answer.

Picture someone asking, "Which taco place near South Congress is open late, has a patio, and has vegetarian options?" AI Mode can run several searches at once: taco places near South Congress, late hours, patios, and vegetarian menus. That is an illustration, not a test result, but it shows why specific details matter.

How Google AI Mode differs from AI Overviews

AI Overviews are short AI summaries that Google places at the top of some regular results pages. AI Mode is a full conversation you choose to open, with longer answers and follow-ups.

• When they appear: Google's AI Overviews help page says AI Overviews show up when its systems decide generative AI can be especially helpful. AI Mode, in Google's explainer, is a tab people can choose to use.
• What they show: Google's guide for site owners says the two may use different models and techniques, so their answers and links will vary.
• Which businesses they name: In a September 2026 BrightLocal study of roughly 200,000 local searches, AI Overviews and AI Mode shared only 29.3% of the businesses they named, on average.

The two now connect. On a phone, the AI Overviews help page says you tap Show more, type into the Ask anything bar, and continue in AI Mode. Google's May 2026 post says this now works on desktop too.

How to turn off AI Mode on Google

As of November 2026, Google's help pages describe no setting that turns AI Mode off, and the AI Overviews help page says AI Overviews, as a core Search feature, cannot be turned off. You can still avoid both with a few simple habits.

1. Do not open AI Mode. You reach it through google.com/ai or an AI Mode button. Skip the follow-up box under an AI Overview too, since it leads into AI Mode.
2. Use the Web filter. After you search, select the Web filter. Google says it shows only text-based links, without features such as AI Overviews.
3. Hide the Chrome button. On a computer, Chrome's help page says you can right-click the address bar and unselect Always show AI Mode. That also hides "Add tabs and more." The page gives no way to remove the New Tab page button.
4. Leave the Labs experiment. If you joined the "AI Mode" experiment in Search Labs, Google's Labs help page says to open a new tab on a computer while signed in, select Search Labs, then Manage, and switch "AI Mode" off. AI Mode has not needed Labs in the U.S. since May 2025, so this does not remove AI Mode from Search.

We leave out browser extensions and URL tricks, because Google does not document them.

How local and "near me" searches work in AI Mode

Google has not published a local ranking guide for AI Mode. Its help pages and independent testing show three things: AI Mode can do local legwork for the searcher, it names only a handful of businesses, and its picks shift from one search to the next.

It does local tasks. Google's help page on checking local availability and pricing says AI Mode can research service costs, find open appointments such as haircuts or auto repair, and check whether an item is in stock nearby. The searcher selects Check for me, and when a business has limited information online, Google can call it for them. The feature is for signed-in users over 18, in English. Google's May 2026 post adds that, for select categories such as home repair, beauty, and pet care, people can ask Google to call businesses on their behalf.

It names a short list. In BrightLocal's study, which tracked about 1,300 business locations over 60 days, AI Mode named 3.5 businesses per answer on average. Google Maps mentioned a tracked business in 66% of searches, compared with 32% for AI Mode, so a strong Maps ranking does not carry over automatically.

Its picks move around. When BrightLocal reran the same prompt, AI Mode's lists were only about 21% alike on average. Storefronts were mentioned a little more often than service-area businesses, 31.9% versus 27.4%. Location matters too: run from different parts of a town, the same prompt gave AI Mode lists that overlapped by 46.9%, so a homeowner in Cedar Park and one in Mueller may see different names.

Related readingHow to get recommended by ChatGPT and Gemini in Austin

Where AI Mode gets local business information

Google has not published a list of the sources behind AI Mode's local answers, but its guidance and independent testing point to familiar ones: your Business Profile, your website, and other sites that mention you.

Google's help page on how it compiles local listings names four inputs: public web content such as a business's own website, licensed third-party data, contributions from users and owners (including Business Profile details, photos, and reviews), and Google's own interactions with the business. Google's guide for site owners says there are no extra requirements to appear in AI Mode: normal SEO best practices apply, and businesses should keep their Business Profile and Merchant Center information up to date.

BrightLocal found that both of Google's AI features rely heavily on Google Business Profile, and that business websites made up 93% of the unique domains cited across the three AI tools it tracked. In a separate August 2026 citation study, Business Profile pages were the most cited source in AI Mode answers, with about six times as many citations as Yelp, followed by Facebook and Tripadvisor.

How to rank in AI Mode: a checklist for Austin businesses

There is no special switch for AI Mode SEO. The work is thorough local SEO, plus a few habits that matter more when an AI does the reading.

1. Finish your Google Business Profile. Verify it, then keep your category, hours (including special hours), attributes, photos, and videos complete and current, as Google's local ranking tips advise. Our Austin Google Maps ranking checklist walks through each field.
2. Earn honest reviews on Google and beyond. Ask every happy customer, reply to reviews, and claim your pages on Yelp and Facebook, since AI Mode cites those sites too. Never buy or trade reviews. Our guide to Google reviews for Austin businesses covers honest ways to ask.
3. Put prices, areas, and policies on your website. Because AI Mode breaks a question into smaller searches, specific details help. Publish price ranges or typical costs if you can, the areas you serve (for example, Pflugerville, Hutto, and Round Rock), how to book, and common policies, in plain text on pages Google can crawl. Any structured data should match what the page shows.
4. Get ready for calls from Google. When details are thin online, Google can call a business for a shopper, and its automated calls help page lists confirming price and availability as one reason. In the U.S., the page says these calls work in every state except Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, and Nebraska, so Texas businesses can get them. Brief whoever answers the phone. To manage them, open your verified Business Profile, select More, then Business Profile settings, then Advanced settings, and use the switches under Google automated calls and text messages.
5. Keep your facts identical everywhere. Your name, address or service area, phone, and hours should match on your website, Business Profile, and every directory. See our guide to local citations and NAP consistency.
6. Do not block Google by accident. Google's guide says a page must be indexed and eligible to show a snippet. Check that robots.txt, your host, or a CDN is not blocking Googlebot, and that key service pages do not use nosnippet or noindex.
7. Skip the gimmicks. Google says you do not need new machine-readable files, AI text files, or special markup to appear in AI Mode. Be wary of anyone selling one as a shortcut.
8. Check monthly and measure. Ask AI Mode the five to ten questions your customers ask, from a few spots around town, and note who gets named. Answers vary, so look for patterns over months. Search Console counts AI Mode traffic in the Performance report under the Web search type. For the ChatGPT version of this check, see how to get recommended by ChatGPT in Austin.

Want help? Our AI SEO service includes a monthly check of what AI tools say about you, and our Google Maps SEO work keeps your Business Profile in shape. Or ask for a free audit. A person reviews every audit, and you will hear back within one business day.