Google AI Overviews is malfunctioning: what changes for the SERP

The May 22 glitch: what exactly happened

On May 22, 2026, several users reported unexpected behavior from Google AI Overviews on X. When searching for the term “disregard”, the engine returned a chatbot-style answer. The message read: “Got it. If you need anything else or have a new question later, just let me know!”. No summary, no synthesis of web sources.

The story was documented by The Verge, which published screenshots of the glitch. That afternoon, Google removed the AI Overview for that query. In its place, the engine showed a list of news articles about the malfunction itself. So the fix came quickly, but the problem was already visible worldwide.

This isn't the first episode of its kind. AI Overviews have previously produced wrong answers, misleading content and baseless summaries. However, the nature of this particular error is different: the system confused its own role, responding as a conversational assistant rather than an information aggregator.

Why this error is structurally different from earlier ones

Earlier AI Overviews errors mainly concerned content accuracy. The system summarized wrong information but kept the right format. This time, the model lost its functional identity. It answered as if it were a chatbot, not a search engine.

This suggests possible contamination between the system's layers. Google is building ever deeper conversational capabilities into its products. As a result, the boundaries between Gemini, AI Overviews and Google Search are getting blurrier. According to MIT Technology Review, this convergence is intentional but carries a risk of behavioral regression in the models.

So this is not a simple display bug. It's a sign of architectural instability in a system that handles billions of queries a day. For SMEs that depend on organic visibility, the implications are concrete.

Immediate impact on the SERP visibility of Italian SMEs

AI Overviews sit at the very top of the SERP for many informational queries. Even when they work properly, they already reduce the click-through rate to organic sites. When they malfunction, the effect is even more destabilizing.

In fact, a wrong or missing AI Overview alters traffic distribution in unpredictable ways. Users may abandon the search, click on different results than usual, or switch to other search engines. For an SME that has optimized its pages to appear among the sources cited by AI Overviews, a system disruption temporarily cancels out that work.

At SHM Studio, we see that many Italian companies still have no explicit strategy for handling the variability of AI Overviews. Yet this variability is now structural. It's not a question of if it will happen again, but when. You need to adapt your SEO strategies accordingly.

Three operational areas to cover right now

The first area is monitoring your presence in AI Overviews. Not every query triggers this element. Presence also varies by industry, language and device. It's essential to map which strategic queries generate AI Overviews and how often your site is cited as a source.

The second area is traffic diversification. Relying too heavily on organic traffic from informational queries exposes SMEs to the risks of system instability. It makes sense to balance your investment across organic SEO, Google Ads campaigns and LinkedIn campaigns.

The third area is the structural quality of your content. AI Overviews tend to cite pages with clear semantic markup, structured data and authoritative content. So investing in quality SEO copywriting and a sound information architecture remains the strongest defense against the system's unpredictability.

The key signal: Google doesn't really control its own system

The most important aspect of this episode isn't the bug itself. It's how fast it appeared and the nature of the fix. Google didn't solve the problem at its root: it simply removed the AI Overview for that specific query.

This reactive approach confirms that the oversight system for AI Overviews is still imperfect. According to research by Gartner, generative AI-based search engines will face episodes like this with growing frequency over the next 18-24 months. The stability SEO professionals took for granted is no longer guaranteed.

For Italian SMEs, this means that relying on a single digital acquisition channel is an increasingly risky strategy. By contrast, an integrated approach that combines digital marketing, SEO and a presence across multiple touchpoints offers greater resilience.

What no one is saying: AI Overviews as an uncontrollable variable

In public debate, AI Overviews are often described as a threat to organic traffic. But there's a less discussed side: they're also a variable that no operator can directly control.

Unlike an organic result, which responds to relatively stable ranking signals, an AI Overview can appear, disappear or change content without notice. Also, a site cited as a source doesn't necessarily get traffic proportional to its visibility in the Overview. So optimizing for AI Overviews is a legitimate goal, but it can't be the only one.

At SHM Studio, we advise SMEs to treat presence in AI Overviews as a bonus, not a primary KPI. Your core strategy should stay rooted in metrics you can control: organic rankings, direct traffic, conversions from digital campaigns and the quality of the user experience on your website.

Outlook: what to expect in the coming months

Google will keep expanding AI Overviews. Last year, in 2025, the feature rolled out to new markets and languages, including Italian for some categories of queries. Then, during 2026, coverage grew further. Episodes like the one on May 22 will become more frequent, not less.

SMEs that invest in AI-ready strategies and a well-structured digital presence will be better placed to absorb these swings. Finally, if you haven't yet reviewed your SEO strategy in light of AI Overviews, do it before the phenomenon becomes even more entrenched.

To dig deeper into what this means for your business, check out the SHM Studio blog or contact the team for a personalized assessment.