Google has announced the expansion of its AI-generated search summaries, known as AI Overviews, to six new countries.

This move comes just months after the feature's initial launch in the United States faced criticism for producing inaccurate information.

The search giant is rolling out AI Overviews to the UK, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil, with support for local languages including Hindi and Portuguese. This expansion follows extensive testing and positive feedback from users in the US and through Google's Search Labs globally.

Hema Budaraju, senior director of product at Google, told Reuters that the quality of AI Overviews has been steadily improving since its launch. Internal data shows that users with access to the feature report higher satisfaction levels and tend to search for longer, more specific queries compared to those without access.

To address concerns about the feature's impact on web traffic, Google is introducing new ways for users to access relevant websites while using AI Overviews. A new right-hand link display will be available on desktop, while mobile users can tap site icons in the upper right corner to view links. The company is also testing the addition of links directly within the text of AI Overviews, which early results suggest is driving higher traffic to publisher sites.

Google emphasised its commitment to helping users access information from diverse sources. The company reports that since the introduction of AI Overviews, users have been visiting a wider variety of websites for help with complex questions. Additionally, when users click through from search result pages with AI Overviews, they tend to spend more time on the sites they visit.

The expansion comes as Google faces increasing competition in the AI space, particularly from rivals like Microsoft-backed OpenAI. It also follows a recent US court ruling that Google holds an illegal monopoly on search, paving the way for a potential breakup of parent company Alphabet.

As part of the rollout, Google is introducing new capabilities for AI Overviews in Search Labs. Users will be able to save specific AI Overviews for future reference and simplify the language of summaries with a single tap, making it easier to digest complex information.

Google plans to roll out these updates gradually over several weeks, maintaining its focus on information quality and safety. The company continues to refine the experience based on user feedback and hopes to bring AI Overviews to even more users worldwide in the future.

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