Google auto-expands AI Overviews for some queries, pushing organic results further down

Google has confirmed that for some queries, AI Overviews now expand automatically to a full response. The "Show more" button disappears, and the expanded answer pushes Google's organic results further down the page than the standard Overview snippet did.

What Google says triggers it

• The expansion applies to "topics where our systems determine it's most useful for people," a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land.

• If someone has already started scrolling past the Overview, Google cancels the expansion so they keep their reading position instead of the page jumping.

• Google says its research shows the dynamic version makes people "find Search more helpful and engage deeper in follow-up exploration."

Closer to AI Mode than to the old Overview

Search Engine Land describes the resulting layout as closer to AI Mode than to the AI Overview searchers are used to. Marketer Chris Long flagged it first on X, writing that Google is "revealing the AI Mode prompt box BY DEFAULT for some queries" and calling it a sign Google is pushing AI Mode toward becoming the default search experience.

Earlier the same week, Google added link carousels for developing topics inside AI Mode, a feature it already runs inside AI Overviews.

What Google won't say

Google did not say what share of queries triggers the full expansion, or whether it plans to widen the rollout. Both are open questions, and there is no published figure to cite either way.

Why it matters for visibility

When the Overview snippet needed a click to expand, an organic result still had a chance to sit in view without scrolling. A fully expanded Overview removes that chance for the queries it hits. On those queries, the AI answer is the only thing visible on load, so being the source that answer draws on becomes the deciding factor for whether a brand gets seen at all.