{"slug": "google-ai-mode", "name": "Google AI Mode", "category": "ai", "category_name": "AI models and assistants", "description": "AI chat-style answer mode built into Google Search, powered by Gemini models.", "recommenders": 11, "commenters": 13, "warners": 1, "score": 9.218, "rising": -2.27, "first": "2025-12-31", "latest": "2026-09-26", "why": "Liked for fast, direct answers that save clicking through search results, with some commenters switching from DuckDuckGo to use it.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 11, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 6, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Quick answers", "Replaces search"], "caveat": "Unreliable results", "short_quote": "I went the other way leaving DDG for google AI mode.", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "free", "aliases": ["Google AI Mode", "Google AI mode"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked for fast, direct answers that save clicking through search results,", "cites": [{"id": 772751872, "item_id": 48296992, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48296992", "by": "mt_", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i have switched to Google back due to the new AI mode,, its such a nice quick way to check information", "excerpt": "As someone who has been driving DDG for the past 6 years, i have switched to Google back due to the new AI mode,, its such a nice quick way to check information and validate ideas.. no friction included.", "context": "", "use_case": "checking information", "switched_from": "DuckDuckGo", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 771474800, "item_id": 48217175, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48217175", "by": "gblargg", "date": "2026-05-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For finding information their AI Mode has saved so much time in the month or two I've been using it.", "excerpt": "> Your website, your work no longer matters. The web is being fully hidden behind a Google-controlled surface. And I am not even talking about their browser monopoly. Maybe it's just me, but when I've put pages on the web, they were to share information. I didn't care how it got to people, just that I could produce something that contributed to other people. For finding information their AI Mode has saved so much tim", "context": "", "use_case": "troubleshooting Linux issues", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Declaring War on the Web"}, {"id": 772760960, "item_id": 48297560, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48297560", "by": "ctrlkctrls", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Google's AI answers and their AI Mode tab.", "excerpt": "The world seems to be fragmenting, into those that see the value in the latest from Google, and those that resist changes like this. I search for how much oil does my <ICE vehicle> take\" and get the exact answer in a single sentence, or I suppose I could click the links and wade through all the validation for choosing <ICE vehicle> and how often one should change the oil, and which brand of oil that blog is pushing e", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 772826144, "item_id": 48301634, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48301634", "by": "RigelKentaurus", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If Google didn't have AI mode, I would've stopped using it completely.", "excerpt": "Makes sense to me. When I use Google, I am interested in getting the information quickly and in the right length and format, and am not interested in navigating to particular page(s) and looking up that info myself. Perhaps this will impact Adwords revenue in the long run but Google will find a way out. If Google didn't have AI mode, I would've stopped using it completely.", "context": "", "use_case": "getting quick answers", "switched_from": "", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}]}, {"text": " with some commenters switching from DuckDuckGo to use it.", "cites": [{"id": 772755488, "item_id": 48297218, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48297218", "by": "notepad0x90", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I went the other way leaving DDG for google AI mode.", "excerpt": "I'll have to see Google's stats as well. I went the other way leaving DDG for google AI mode. I use ddg still if I just want it to find a site. if I want answers, I use Google. I would say it's more than visits that count, how many people are staying in the DDG or Google home page doing things? a lot more with Google I'd think. they've succeeded in trapping me in their product, instead of navigating away, and I'm hap", "context": "", "use_case": "getting answers", "switched_from": "DuckDuckGo", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 772751872, "item_id": 48296992, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48296992", "by": "mt_", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i have switched to Google back due to the new AI mode,, its such a nice quick way to check information", "excerpt": "As someone who has been driving DDG for the past 6 years, i have switched to Google back due to the new AI mode,, its such a nice quick way to check information and validate ideas.. no friction included.", "context": "", "use_case": "checking information", "switched_from": "DuckDuckGo", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}]}, {"text": " The most common caveat is accuracy,", "cites": [{"id": 797689936, "item_id": 49855621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49855621", "by": "rolosa", "date": "2026-09-26", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The google AI thing on their website gives me terrible results when I use it at work.", "excerpt": "The google AI thing on their website gives me terrible results when I use it at work. Basically it's so unreliable I don't trust it. FWIW I don't log into a google account on my work devices (because we don't have Google enterprise services, and I'm not going to log into my personal Gmail account on my work computer) so that could be making a difference.", "context": "", "use_case": "search at work", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tell HN: OpenAI $500 ProMax plan listed in API"}, {"id": 783911360, "item_id": 48994460, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48994460", "by": "dcrazy", "date": "2026-07-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I\u2019ve found it pretty useful for research as long as I use my brain and check its citations.", "excerpt": "Nobody said anything about \u201cgoing for slop.\u201d You can watch today\u2019s models actively trying to check themselves. Just use Google\u2019s AI mode, for example. It\u2019s far from perfect\u2014it doesn\u2019t fact-check every single claim, nor does it correctly understand 100% of the sources it does cite. But I\u2019ve found it pretty useful for research as long as I use my brain and check its citations.", "context": "", "use_case": "research", "switched_from": "", "story": "That post never existed. Stop listening to that thing"}]}, {"text": " as answers can be unreliable and its citations need checking.", "cites": [{"id": 797689936, "item_id": 49855621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49855621", "by": "rolosa", "date": "2026-09-26", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The google AI thing on their website gives me terrible results when I use it at work.", "excerpt": "The google AI thing on their website gives me terrible results when I use it at work. Basically it's so unreliable I don't trust it. FWIW I don't log into a google account on my work devices (because we don't have Google enterprise services, and I'm not going to log into my personal Gmail account on my work computer) so that could be making a difference.", "context": "", "use_case": "search at work", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tell HN: OpenAI $500 ProMax plan listed in API"}, {"id": 783911360, "item_id": 48994460, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48994460", "by": "dcrazy", "date": "2026-07-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I\u2019ve found it pretty useful for research as long as I use my brain and check its citations.", "excerpt": "Nobody said anything about \u201cgoing for slop.\u201d You can watch today\u2019s models actively trying to check themselves. Just use Google\u2019s AI mode, for example. It\u2019s far from perfect\u2014it doesn\u2019t fact-check every single claim, nor does it correctly understand 100% of the sources it does cite. But I\u2019ve found it pretty useful for research as long as I use my brain and check its citations.", "context": "", "use_case": "research", "switched_from": "", "story": "That post never existed. Stop listening to that thing"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Quick answers", "summary": "Gives the needed information directly without wading through linked pages.", "quotes": [{"id": 772760960, "item_id": 48297560, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48297560", "by": "ctrlkctrls", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Google's AI answers and their AI Mode tab.", "excerpt": "The world seems to be fragmenting, into those that see the value in the latest from Google, and those that resist changes like this. I search for how much oil does my <ICE vehicle> take\" and get the exact answer in a single sentence, or I suppose I could click the links and wade through all the validation for choosing <ICE vehicle> and how often one should change the oil, and which brand of oil that blog is pushing e", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 772751872, "item_id": 48296992, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48296992", "by": "mt_", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i have switched to Google back due to the new AI mode,, its such a nice quick way to check information", "excerpt": "As someone who has been driving DDG for the past 6 years, i have switched to Google back due to the new AI mode,, its such a nice quick way to check information and validate ideas.. no friction included.", "context": "", "use_case": "checking information", "switched_from": "DuckDuckGo", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 772826144, "item_id": 48301634, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48301634", "by": "RigelKentaurus", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If Google didn't have AI mode, I would've stopped using it completely.", "excerpt": "Makes sense to me. When I use Google, I am interested in getting the information quickly and in the right length and format, and am not interested in navigating to particular page(s) and looking up that info myself. Perhaps this will impact Adwords revenue in the long run but Google will find a way out. If Google didn't have AI mode, I would've stopped using it completely.", "context": "", "use_case": "getting quick answers", "switched_from": "", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}]}, {"label": "Replaces search", "summary": "Several commenters now use it as their main way of searching, some leaving DuckDuckGo for it.", "quotes": [{"id": 772755488, "item_id": 48297218, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48297218", "by": "notepad0x90", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I went the other way leaving DDG for google AI mode.", "excerpt": "I'll have to see Google's stats as well. I went the other way leaving DDG for google AI mode. I use ddg still if I just want it to find a site. if I want answers, I use Google. I would say it's more than visits that count, how many people are staying in the DDG or Google home page doing things? a lot more with Google I'd think. they've succeeded in trapping me in their product, instead of navigating away, and I'm hap", "context": "", "use_case": "getting answers", "switched_from": "DuckDuckGo", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 749236336, "item_id": 46827271, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46827271", "by": "PaulHoule", "date": "2026-01-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Google's AI Mode almost exclusively when I use Google.", "excerpt": "Conventional web search: I use Google's AI Mode almost exclusively when I use Google. Refactoring tools in my IDE: In some cases where I could use the refactoring tools in my IDE I will ask the assistant to do something for me instead, of course it will also make changes that the refactoring tools won't do such as tear apart a complicated if-then-else ladder. Photo retouching: there are plenty of photo retouching job", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI has failed to replace a single software application or feature"}, {"id": 772876785, "item_id": 48304799, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48304799", "by": "p0w3n3d", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "To be honest I use Google AI mode a lot.", "excerpt": "To be honest I use Google AI mode a lot. And Duckduckgo for private search. I default to DDG and use !g if I want to resign from privacy or find some merchandise to buy", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}]}, {"label": "Saves time", "summary": "Cuts the time needed to find answers, such as fixes for Linux issues.", "quotes": [{"id": 771474800, "item_id": 48217175, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48217175", "by": "gblargg", "date": "2026-05-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For finding information their AI Mode has saved so much time in the month or two I've been using it.", "excerpt": "> Your website, your work no longer matters. The web is being fully hidden behind a Google-controlled surface. And I am not even talking about their browser monopoly. Maybe it's just me, but when I've put pages on the web, they were to share information. I didn't care how it got to people, just that I could produce something that contributed to other people. For finding information their AI Mode has saved so much tim", "context": "", "use_case": "troubleshooting Linux issues", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Declaring War on the Web"}, {"id": 772751872, "item_id": 48296992, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48296992", "by": "mt_", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i have switched to Google back due to the new AI mode,, its such a nice quick way to check information", "excerpt": "As someone who has been driving DDG for the past 6 years, i have switched to Google back due to the new AI mode,, its such a nice quick way to check information and validate ideas.. no friction included.", "context": "", "use_case": "checking information", "switched_from": "DuckDuckGo", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}]}, {"label": "Research help", "summary": "Useful for research when its citations are checked.", "quotes": [{"id": 783911360, "item_id": 48994460, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48994460", "by": "dcrazy", "date": "2026-07-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I\u2019ve found it pretty useful for research as long as I use my brain and check its citations.", "excerpt": "Nobody said anything about \u201cgoing for slop.\u201d You can watch today\u2019s models actively trying to check themselves. Just use Google\u2019s AI mode, for example. It\u2019s far from perfect\u2014it doesn\u2019t fact-check every single claim, nor does it correctly understand 100% of the sources it does cite. But I\u2019ve found it pretty useful for research as long as I use my brain and check its citations.", "context": "", "use_case": "research", "switched_from": "", "story": "That post never existed. Stop listening to that thing"}]}, {"label": "Beats Overviews", "summary": "Considered better than Google's AI Overviews.", "quotes": [{"id": 743076864, "item_id": 46442304, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46442304", "by": "famouswaffles", "date": "2025-12-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use AI mode a lot. It's better than Overviews in every conceivable way, and it's still not a chatGPT replacement.", "excerpt": "I mean we're all talking about how Google is 'catching up' and 'taking over' Open AI right ? In that case, it genuinely is meaningless. AI Overviews, even if it had the usage OP assumes, is not a threat to Open AI or chatGPT. People use chatGPT for a lot of different things, and AI overviews only handles (rather poorly in my opinion) a small, limited part of the kind of things it gets used for. I use AI mode a lot. I", "context": "", "use_case": "AI search", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenAI's cash burn will be one of the big bubble questions of 2026"}]}, {"label": "Casual lookups", "summary": "Good enough for everyday low-stakes searches.", "quotes": [{"id": 774063904, "item_id": 48378994, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48378994", "by": "onesociety2022", "date": "2026-06-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love AI summary and AI mode in Google search.", "excerpt": "I love AI summary and AI mode in Google search. I think it should be up to you (the human) to use your judgement to decide when to do further research by following the links and when to just rely on the AI summary. If I'm searching a TV show by name, I'm generally just looking for an overview, the IMDb rating and a review of that show. If AI summary gets that wrong, it's not the end of the world. I don't bother doing", "context": "", "use_case": "casual searches and research pointers", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Don't Want My Search Engine to Think for Me"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Unreliable results", "summary": "One commenter got results so poor at work that they don't trust it.", "quotes": [{"id": 797689936, "item_id": 49855621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49855621", "by": "rolosa", "date": "2026-09-26", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The google AI thing on their website gives me terrible results when I use it at work.", "excerpt": "The google AI thing on their website gives me terrible results when I use it at work. Basically it's so unreliable I don't trust it. FWIW I don't log into a google account on my work devices (because we don't have Google enterprise services, and I'm not going to log into my personal Gmail account on my work computer) so that could be making a difference.", "context": "", "use_case": "search at work", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tell HN: OpenAI $500 ProMax plan listed in API"}]}, {"label": "Check citations", "summary": "It doesn't fact-check every claim or always understand the sources it cites.", "quotes": [{"id": 783911360, "item_id": 48994460, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48994460", "by": "dcrazy", "date": "2026-07-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I\u2019ve found it pretty useful for research as long as I use my brain and check its citations.", "excerpt": "Nobody said anything about \u201cgoing for slop.\u201d You can watch today\u2019s models actively trying to check themselves. Just use Google\u2019s AI mode, for example. It\u2019s far from perfect\u2014it doesn\u2019t fact-check every single claim, nor does it correctly understand 100% of the sources it does cite. But I\u2019ve found it pretty useful for research as long as I use my brain and check its citations.", "context": "", "use_case": "research", "switched_from": "", "story": "That post never existed. Stop listening to that thing"}]}, {"label": "Not ChatGPT", "summary": "Not seen as a replacement for ChatGPT's broader uses.", "quotes": [{"id": 743076864, "item_id": 46442304, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46442304", "by": "famouswaffles", "date": "2025-12-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use AI mode a lot. It's better than Overviews in every conceivable way, and it's still not a chatGPT replacement.", "excerpt": "I mean we're all talking about how Google is 'catching up' and 'taking over' Open AI right ? In that case, it genuinely is meaningless. AI Overviews, even if it had the usage OP assumes, is not a threat to Open AI or chatGPT. People use chatGPT for a lot of different things, and AI overviews only handles (rather poorly in my opinion) a small, limited part of the kind of things it gets used for. I use AI mode a lot. I", "context": "", "use_case": "AI search", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenAI's cash burn will be one of the big bubble questions of 2026"}]}, {"label": "Privacy", "summary": "One commenter uses DuckDuckGo instead when they want private search.", "quotes": [{"id": 772876785, "item_id": 48304799, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48304799", "by": "p0w3n3d", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "To be honest I use Google AI mode a lot.", "excerpt": "To be honest I use Google AI mode a lot. And Duckduckgo for private search. I default to DDG and use !g if I want to resign from privacy or find some merchandise to buy", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}]}], "who": [{"by": "skinnychef", "context": "not a dev", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49761819", "date": "2026-09-18"}], "tags": ["for quick lookups", "for research", "for Linux troubleshooting", "DuckDuckGo alternative"], "use_cases": ["web search", "search at work", "ai queries", "research", "casual searches and research pointers", "getting quick answers"], "compared": [{"slug": "duckduckgo", "name": "DuckDuckGo", "co": 4, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "chatgpt", "name": "ChatGPT", "co": 2, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48296649", "title": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode", "mentions": 5}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49841605", "title": "Tell HN: OpenAI $500 ProMax plan listed in API", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49740105", "title": "Show HN: Share your AI Setup, Learn from others", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49527396", "title": "The ChatGPT/Codex app bundles a full copy of LibreOffice", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48982374", "title": "That post never existed. Stop listening to that thing", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48378099", "title": "I Don't Want My Search Engine to Think for Me", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 6}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1, "warn": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 797689936, "item_id": 49855621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49855621", "by": "rolosa", "date": "2026-09-26", "stance": "warn", "quote": "The google AI thing on their website gives me terrible results when I use it at work.", "excerpt": "The google AI thing on their website gives me terrible results when I use it at work. Basically it's so unreliable I don't trust it. FWIW I don't log into a google account on my work devices (because we don't have Google enterprise services, and I'm not going to log into my personal Gmail account on my work computer) so that could be making a difference.", "context": "", "use_case": "search at work", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tell HN: OpenAI $500 ProMax plan listed in API"}, {"id": 796189105, "item_id": 49761819, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49761819", "by": "skinnychef", "date": "2026-09-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "launches firefox with the prompt added to the Google AI mode", "excerpt": "Well, not a dev here, so my primitive setup is to have an alias in my .bashrc that launches firefox with the prompt added to the Google AI mode, so all I have to do is Super+T (terminal), type 'ai' followed by my query. For laughs, this also allows to bake in response styles: query=\"$*\" base=\"Respond like Dr. House, do not hold back the profanities; \" I also have an even shorter alias for '?' using fabric that answer", "context": "not a dev", "use_case": "AI queries", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Share your AI Setup, Learn from others"}, {"id": 792456578, "item_id": 49528536, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49528536", "by": "paaloeye", "date": "2026-09-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "start using Google AI Mode + Antigravity CLI / Claude Code sometimes", "excerpt": "First Claude installed 10GB VM [0] without asking, but OpenAI ships LibreOffice. What's next? Somebody ship their monorepo verbatim? Honestly, not sure it's worth having those app on your localhost at all. I ended up uninstalling all frontier labs bloated apps and start using Google AI Mode + Antigravity CLI / Claude Code sometimes. [0] https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/22543", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "ChatGPT", "story": "The ChatGPT/Codex app bundles a full copy of LibreOffice"}, {"id": 783911360, "item_id": 48994460, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48994460", "by": "dcrazy", "date": "2026-07-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I\u2019ve found it pretty useful for research as long as I use my brain and check its citations.", "excerpt": "Nobody said anything about \u201cgoing for slop.\u201d You can watch today\u2019s models actively trying to check themselves. Just use Google\u2019s AI mode, for example. It\u2019s far from perfect\u2014it doesn\u2019t fact-check every single claim, nor does it correctly understand 100% of the sources it does cite. But I\u2019ve found it pretty useful for research as long as I use my brain and check its citations.", "context": "", "use_case": "research", "switched_from": "", "story": "That post never existed. Stop listening to that thing"}, {"id": 774063904, "item_id": 48378994, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48378994", "by": "onesociety2022", "date": "2026-06-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love AI summary and AI mode in Google search.", "excerpt": "I love AI summary and AI mode in Google search. I think it should be up to you (the human) to use your judgement to decide when to do further research by following the links and when to just rely on the AI summary. If I'm searching a TV show by name, I'm generally just looking for an overview, the IMDb rating and a review of that show. If AI summary gets that wrong, it's not the end of the world. I don't bother doing", "context": "", "use_case": "casual searches and research pointers", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Don't Want My Search Engine to Think for Me"}, {"id": 772876785, "item_id": 48304799, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48304799", "by": "p0w3n3d", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "To be honest I use Google AI mode a lot.", "excerpt": "To be honest I use Google AI mode a lot. And Duckduckgo for private search. I default to DDG and use !g if I want to resign from privacy or find some merchandise to buy", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 772826144, "item_id": 48301634, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48301634", "by": "RigelKentaurus", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If Google didn't have AI mode, I would've stopped using it completely.", "excerpt": "Makes sense to me. When I use Google, I am interested in getting the information quickly and in the right length and format, and am not interested in navigating to particular page(s) and looking up that info myself. Perhaps this will impact Adwords revenue in the long run but Google will find a way out. If Google didn't have AI mode, I would've stopped using it completely.", "context": "", "use_case": "getting quick answers", "switched_from": "", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 772760960, "item_id": 48297560, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48297560", "by": "ctrlkctrls", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Google's AI answers and their AI Mode tab.", "excerpt": "The world seems to be fragmenting, into those that see the value in the latest from Google, and those that resist changes like this. I search for how much oil does my <ICE vehicle> take\" and get the exact answer in a single sentence, or I suppose I could click the links and wade through all the validation for choosing <ICE vehicle> and how often one should change the oil, and which brand of oil that blog is pushing e", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 772755488, "item_id": 48297218, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48297218", "by": "notepad0x90", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I went the other way leaving DDG for google AI mode.", "excerpt": "I'll have to see Google's stats as well. I went the other way leaving DDG for google AI mode. I use ddg still if I just want it to find a site. if I want answers, I use Google. I would say it's more than visits that count, how many people are staying in the DDG or Google home page doing things? a lot more with Google I'd think. they've succeeded in trapping me in their product, instead of navigating away, and I'm hap", "context": "", "use_case": "getting answers", "switched_from": "DuckDuckGo", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 772751872, "item_id": 48296992, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48296992", "by": "mt_", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i have switched to Google back due to the new AI mode,, its such a nice quick way to check information", "excerpt": "As someone who has been driving DDG for the past 6 years, i have switched to Google back due to the new AI mode,, its such a nice quick way to check information and validate ideas.. no friction included.", "context": "", "use_case": "checking information", "switched_from": "DuckDuckGo", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 771474800, "item_id": 48217175, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48217175", "by": "gblargg", "date": "2026-05-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For finding information their AI Mode has saved so much time in the month or two I've been using it.", "excerpt": "> Your website, your work no longer matters. The web is being fully hidden behind a Google-controlled surface. And I am not even talking about their browser monopoly. Maybe it's just me, but when I've put pages on the web, they were to share information. I didn't care how it got to people, just that I could produce something that contributed to other people. For finding information their AI Mode has saved so much tim", "context": "", "use_case": "troubleshooting Linux issues", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Declaring War on the Web"}, {"id": 749236336, "item_id": 46827271, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46827271", "by": "PaulHoule", "date": "2026-01-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Google's AI Mode almost exclusively when I use Google.", "excerpt": "Conventional web search: I use Google's AI Mode almost exclusively when I use Google. Refactoring tools in my IDE: In some cases where I could use the refactoring tools in my IDE I will ask the assistant to do something for me instead, of course it will also make changes that the refactoring tools won't do such as tear apart a complicated if-then-else ladder. Photo retouching: there are plenty of photo retouching job", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI has failed to replace a single software application or feature"}, {"id": 743076864, "item_id": 46442304, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46442304", "by": "famouswaffles", "date": "2025-12-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use AI mode a lot. It's better than Overviews in every conceivable way, and it's still not a chatGPT replacement.", "excerpt": "I mean we're all talking about how Google is 'catching up' and 'taking over' Open AI right ? In that case, it genuinely is meaningless. AI Overviews, even if it had the usage OP assumes, is not a threat to Open AI or chatGPT. People use chatGPT for a lot of different things, and AI overviews only handles (rather poorly in my opinion) a small, limited part of the kind of things it gets used for. I use AI mode a lot. I", "context": "", "use_case": "AI search", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenAI's cash burn will be one of the big bubble questions of 2026"}]}