Following an investigation by the Guardian that found Google AI Overviews offering misleading information in response to certain health-related queries, the company appears to have removed the AI Overviews for some of those queries. The Guardian initially reported that when users asked what is the normal range for liver blood tests, they would be presented with numbers that did not account for factors such as nationality, sex, ethnicity, or age, potentially leading them to think their results were healthy when they were not.
The Guardian says AI Overviews have been removed from the results for what is the normal range for liver blood tests and what is the normal range for liver function tests, though variations on those queries, such as lft reference range or lft test reference range, could still lead to AI-generated summaries. A Google spokesperson told the Guardian that the company does not comment on individual removals within Search, but that it works to make broad improvements, adding that an internal team of clinicians reviewed the queries highlighted by the Guardian and found in many instances, the information was not inaccurate and was also supported by high quality websites. Vanessa Hebditch, the director of communications and policy at the British Liver Trust, told the Guardian that the removal is excellent news, but added that the bigger concern is that it is not tackling the bigger issue of AI Overviews for health.
The removal of AI Overviews for specific medical queries demonstrates ongoing challenges in balancing AI-powered search innovation with the need for accurate, contextualised health information that accounts for individual patient variables. Since the introduction of AI Overviews, Google has faced several issues raised by users about its inaccuracies and misinformation, leading to problems faced by the feature since it was launched in 2024.
Sources:
1. https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/11/google-removes-ai-overviews-for-certain-medical-queries/
2. https://www.techtimes.com/articles/313957/20260112/google-removes-ai-overviews-specific-medical-questions-following-reports-inaccuracies.htm
