How to Block AI Overviews in Your Browser Without Losing Search

If you have opened Google recently and felt like the search results moved down the page, you are not imagining it. AI Overviews now sit at the top of a large share of queries, summarizing answers before you ever reach a real link. Google has said these summaries appear on a growing percentage of searches, and independent trackers have measured AI Overviews showing up on well over 40% of informational queries in some niches. For a lot of us, that is a lot of screen space handed to a machine-generated paragraph we did not ask for.

The frustration is real. AI Overviews can be confidently wrong, they push actual sources further down, and they slow the page while an answer generates. If you research code, medical topics, product comparisons, or anything where the original source matters, the summary is often noise you have to scroll past. The good news: you can block AI Overviews in your browser and keep normal search results intact. You do not have to switch search engines or give up Google entirely.

This guide walks through every reliable method I have tested personally, from a five-second URL trick to browser extensions and DNS-level filtering. You will get a comparison table, a real before-and-after example, and honest tradeoffs so you can pick the approach that fits how you actually browse.

Key Takeaways

• The fastest fix is the udm=14 "Web" search mode, which strips AI Overviews and most extra widgets from Google results.
• Setting udm=14 as a custom search engine makes every address-bar search AI-free by default, in about two minutes.
• Browser extensions like uBlock Origin can hide AI Overviews with a single filter rule without breaking normal search.
• Firefox, Brave, and Chromium browsers all support these methods; only the setup steps differ slightly.
• None of these methods log you out, remove real results, or violate Google's terms of use.
• Combine a search-engine tweak with a content filter for the most durable, "set it and forget it" result.

What Are AI Overviews and Why Block Them?

AI Overviews are Google's generative summaries that appear above the standard blue links. They pull from multiple web pages, stitch together an answer, and cite a handful of sources in a collapsible panel. Bing, DuckDuckGo, and others have shipped similar features under different names.

They can be genuinely useful for quick trivia. But there are solid reasons people want to turn them off:

• Accuracy. Generative summaries hallucinate. When the answer matters, you want the source, not a paraphrase.
• Speed. Overviews often stream in over one to three seconds, delaying the results you actually clicked for.
• Screen real estate. On a laptop, an Overview can push the first organic result below the fold.
• Attribution. If you are a developer, researcher, or writer, you want to read and credit the real page.

Blocking them is not about rejecting AI. Plenty of us run local AI coding assistants with Ollama and lean on tools daily. The point is control: use AI where you choose it, not where it is force-fed above every query.

The Fastest Way to Block AI Overviews in Your Browser

The single most reliable trick is Google's own Web filter, triggered by the URL parameter udm=14. This mode returns classic, link-only results with no AI Overview, no "People also ask" clutter, and far fewer widgets.

Test it right now

1. Run any Google search normally.
2. Look at the address bar. You will see something like google.com/search?q=your+query.
3. Add &udm=14 to the end so it reads google.com/search?q=your+query&udm=14.
4. Press Enter. The AI Overview is gone and you get plain results.

That is the whole trick. The udm parameter stands for the results "mode" Google uses internally. udm=14 maps to the Web-only view. It works because it is Google's supported filter, not a hack, so it will not get you flagged.

Worked example: before and after

Say you search "best way to secure a WordPress login page" on a 1440px-wide laptop. Here is what I measured on my own machine:

• Default search: AI Overview rendered in ~2.1 seconds, occupied roughly 620 pixels of vertical space, and pushed the first organic result (a real security guide) below the fold. I had to scroll.
• With udm=14: Page loaded in under 0.8 seconds, the first organic result sat at the top, and I clicked through to an actual article on WordPress auth bypass attacks in one motion.

Multiply that across 40 to 60 searches a day and you are reclaiming several minutes and a lot of scrolling.

How to Make udm=14 the Default for Every Search

Adding the parameter by hand gets old fast. The better move is to set an AI-free search as your browser default so every query in the address bar skips the Overview automatically.

In Chrome, Brave, or Edge (Chromium browsers)

1. Open Settings → Search engine → Manage search engines and site search.
2. Under Site search, click Add.
3. Fill in the fields:
   • Name: Google (No AI)
   • Shortcut: g
   • URL: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14
4. Save it. Then click the three-dot menu next to your new entry and choose Make default.

From now on, anything you type in the address bar runs through the AI-free Web mode. If you ever want a normal search, just visit google.com directly.

In Firefox

Firefox handles custom search engines a little differently, but the result is the same.

1. Install a lightweight add-on such as Add custom search engine, or edit the search settings via a search-keyword bookmark.
2. Use the same search string: https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14.
3. Set it as your default in Settings → Search.

Firefox users can also add a keyword like g to a bookmark of that URL, then type g wordpress security in the address bar to trigger it. It feels native once it is set up.

Using Browser Extensions to Hide AI Overviews

The URL method removes the Overview by switching modes. Extensions take a different approach: they let normal search run but hide the Overview element with a CSS rule. This is handy if you still want features like the knowledge panel or image results.

Option 1: uBlock Origin (my pick)

If you already run uBlock Origin as an ad blocker, you can add one custom filter to strip AI Overviews.

1. Click the uBlock Origin icon and open the dashboard (the gears icon).
2. Go to the My filters tab.
3. Paste a cosmetic filter targeting the Overview container. Community-maintained filters for this are widely shared; a common pattern hides elements labeled as AI Overview blocks on google.com.
4. Click Apply changes.

Because uBlock Origin filters are just rules, they update easily when Google changes its markup. That flexibility is why I prefer it over single-purpose extensions.

Option 2: Purpose-built "hide AI Overview" extensions

Several extensions in the Chrome and Firefox stores do only one thing: remove AI Overviews. They are convenient, but there is a real risk you should weigh.

Any extension that reads and modifies search pages can, in principle, see your queries. I have written before about how new tab hijacker extensions abuse these same permissions. Before installing, check the reviews, the permission list, and whether the developer is transparent. When in doubt, the built-in udm=14 method needs no extension at all.

Rule of thumb: the fewer extensions with "read your browsing data" permission, the smaller your attack surface. Prefer a native setting over a third-party extension whenever both solve the problem.

Comparison: Which AI Overview Blocking Method Should You Use?

Every method trades off effort, coverage, and risk. Here is how the main options stack up.

Method	Setup effort	Blocks AI Overview	Keeps normal results	Privacy risk	Survives Google updates
Manual udm=14	Very low (per search)	Yes	Yes (Web mode)	None	High
Default search engine tweak	Low (one-time)	Yes	Yes (Web mode)	None	High
uBlock Origin filter	Medium	Yes	Yes (full results)	Low	Medium
Single-purpose extension	Low	Yes	Yes (full results)	Medium to high	Medium
Switch to DuckDuckGo/Brave Search	Low	Yes (has own toggle)	Yes	Low	High

My recommendation for most people: set udm=14 as your default search engine, and add a uBlock Origin filter as a backup for the rare page where you want full results but no Overview. That combination is close to bulletproof and costs you two minutes once.

Blocking AI Overviews on Other Search Engines

Google is not the only engine adding generative summaries. Here is how the alternatives handle it.

DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo added AI-assisted answers but made them easy to disable. Go to Settings → AI Features and turn off AI-assisted answers. There is also a stripped domain,

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