If you're sick of Google's AI Overviews, try this genius hack
You can't completely turn off Google's AI Overviews, but users have discovered a profanity-laced workaround.
If you add "fuck" or a variation of the word to your Google search, it turns off the AI-generated summary at the top of the page.
The origins of this hack are unclear, but LA Times reporter Keri Blakinger posted a TikTok about it in early March, saying she had heard about it from an episode of the Scriptnotes podcast.
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But it appears to have originated from a Jan. 27 Tumblr post by user flootzavut, who wrote, "Swear in your search request. I know it sounds ridiculous, but the most effective way I've found of it not doing the AI summary is just to add 'fucking' go [sic] my search."
I tried it, and it works like a charm. When searching "what's the most expensive car," I got the usual AI Overview response at the top of the search results that I've gotten in the habit of automatically scrolling past. Then I added "fuck" to the end of my query and received a blissfully AI-free results page. I still got the usual mix of featured snippets (written by humans and including site links) and AI-generated summaries in the People Also Ask section of the page, so the hack only turns off AI Overviews. But at least the main results page is rid of AI clutter.
A note of caution: when using this hack, be careful of how adding the f-word can augment your search entirely. Inspired by my current obsession, season three of The White Lotus, I discovered that adding "fuck" or "fucking" to a search for "the best Thailand resorts" returns verrrry different results than what I was looking for.
The reason why this hack works is likely due to Google Search's safety guardrails, which make AI Overviews a very prim summarizer. Google's AI model Gemini is probably trained not to respond when certain trigger words are included in the search. Users who commented on Blakinger's TikTok post shared that adding "-AI" to your search also works. So, you're essentially telling Gemini not to respond.
While there's no "off" setting for AI Overviews, there are other workarounds too, which Mashable and our sibling site Lifehacker have written about.
But swearing at Google Search is by far the funnest way to do it.
Topics Artificial Intelligence Google
Cecily is a tech reporter at Mashable who covers AI, Apple, and emerging tech trends. Before getting her master's degree at Columbia Journalism School, she spent several years working with startups and social impact businesses for Unreasonable Group and B Lab. Before that, she co-founded a startup consulting business for emerging entrepreneurial hubs in South America, Europe, and Asia. You can find her on X at @cecily_mauran.
