Google AI Overviews are only really live in the United States, for personal Google accounts (not Workspace accounts) and on Chrome browsers. Well, Google seems to be showing AI Overviews to some Workspace accounts in the UK.
James Powley shared a screenshot showing how his search on Google shows an AI Overview, also showing that he is using a Google Workspace account and that he is in the UK. He posted this screenshot for me on X
You can clearly see this is a Google Workspace account, since it says “Managed by bluearray.co.uk.”
Chloe Smith notified me of this and James sent me more of these screenshots, including the one above:
Some examples! pic.twitter.com/ioCxnpcUSO
— James Powley (@JamesPowley_SEO) July 17, 2024
According to the Google documentation, it says “For now, Search Labs and its experiments are not available to Google Workspace accounts, including Google Workspace for Education accounts.”
Here is another:
Yeah me too! Not opted in for Google Search labs and a workspace account pic.twitter.com/3t1L6glVyg
— Andy Frobisher (@andy_frobisher) July 17, 2024
Another:
Just got an AI overview in UK without being on the VPN. pic.twitter.com/yQ1Eab6xW8
— Pedro Dias (@pedrodias) July 17, 2024
But Pedro sees it only on his personal Google Account in the UK, not his Workspace account:
Can’t reproduce it using my business Workspace account pic.twitter.com/73NCguUMR6
— Pedro Dias (@pedrodias) July 18, 2024
So I’m getting mine with a personal account. I also can’t get it with a workspace account.
It says search labs, so perhaps not a true AI overview?
Although it doesn’t seem like I can signup for search labs. pic.twitter.com/3dO2yvwfJ3
— Dominic Woodman (@dom_woodman) July 18, 2024
So I guess Google is testing AI Overviews for Google Workspace accounts – although, I have never seen it yet. Plus, folks in the UK can see it without even signing up for it in labs.
I did reach out to Google about this yesterday but I have yet to hear back. I wonder if this is a bug or the start of Google rolling out AI Overviews more broadly…
Update: Just to be clear, Google began testing AI Overviews in the UK in April but I didn’t know they can also show for Workspace accounts.