Short answer: zero-click searches are situations in which Google (e.g., through an AI summary) gives you a ready-made answer and you finish checking without visiting any website. According to a Pew Research Center study, users who saw an AI summary clicked a regular link in 8% of visits, and those without a summary in 15%. You lose context, the ability to evaluate the source, and insight into what the answer doesn’t say. The solution is simple: use summaries for quick facts, and for important matters open the sources and choose the right tool, which we describe below.
What zero-click searches are
Zero-click searches are queries that are not followed by a visit to any page outside the search engine. The user gets the answer in the results themselves: in an AI summary (AI Overviews), in a featured snippet, in a knowledge panel, on a map, or in a weather or exchange-rate widget. In Poland, AI summaries in Google have been available since March 2025, and since October 8, 2025, AI Mode has also been available, a separate, extended answer generated on the basis of many searches at once.
Not all such situations are bad. When you ask about a store’s closing time or the euro exchange rate, a ready-made answer is a convenience. The problem starts when you check a medicine, a contract, an investment, or a piece of information that is currently circulating on social media in the same way.
What the data says: the scale of zero-click searches
| Metric | Value | Source and note |
|---|---|---|
| Clicking a regular link when there is an AI summary | 8% of visits | Pew Research Center, USA, March 2025 |
| Clicking a regular link when there is no AI summary | 15% of visits | Pew Research Center |
| Clicking a link inside the summary itself | 1% of visits | Pew Research Center |
| Searches with an AI summary | 18% (12,593 of 68,879) | Pew; 58% of respondents had at least one such summary |
| Ending the session after a result with an AI summary | 26% (vs. 16% without a summary) | Pew Research Center |
| Zero-click searches in the US | 68.01% (January–April 2026) | SparkToro, Similarweb data, according to Search Engine Land |
| Earlier readings | 60.45% (USA, 2024), 59.7% (EU, 2024) | SparkToro, Datos data. Different data providers, so the comparison is approximate |
Zero-click searches: what you lose when Google answers for you
- Context. The answer is usually a few dozen words long (the median summary in the Pew study was 67 words). Exceptions, caveats, and nuances from the full text are left out of it.
- Evaluating the source. You don’t see who wrote it, when, or why. You won’t tell a government office from a supplement store unless you open the page.
- Timeliness. A summary may be based on older material. Regulations, prices, and health recommendations change faster than what the system has memorized is refreshed.
- A diversity of views. One concise answer replaces an overview of several positions you would see in the list of results.
- The habit of checking. The less often you click, the harder it is to catch an error. In the Pew study, a link in the AI summary was clicked in only 1% of visits.
Which tool to choose and when: a cheat sheet
There is no single best tool. The choice depends on how much depends on the answer. The table below shows what to use in typical situations.
| Situation | Tool | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| A quick, low-stakes fact (opening hours, an exchange rate, a definition) | An AI summary or a knowledge panel | The answer is enough. With numbers, glance at the date. |
| Health, money, law, work | The “Web” filter plus the site: operator | Turn off the AI summary, go to institutional sources, e.g., site:gov.pl, and read the original. |
| A complex comparison or planning (many factors) | AI Mode | Use it for initial research, then open the links the answer relies on. |
| A rumor or viral information | Fact Check Explorer | Type in the topic or paste the image address and check whether someone independent has already done it. |
| A website’s credibility | More about this page (the three dots next to a result) | See how Wikipedia describes it and what others say about it. |
| A photo from the internet | About this image | Check when the image appeared in the search engine and how other sites describe it. |
| A document, report, model contract | The filetype: operator | E.g., filetype:pdf plus the name of the document. |
| The latest information | The after: operator | E.g., after:2026-01-01 cuts off old material. |
| Searching with no AI summaries at all | A different search engine | DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, Startpage, Mojeek (see below). |
Search tricks: Google operators and features step by step
Quotation marks: search for an exact phrase
Quotation marks force a match of the exact word or sentence. When someone quotes an “alleged statement,” type it in quotation marks and see who published it first.
site: limits the results to one website or domain
Type, e.g., site:gov.pl plus the topic, and you’ll get only material from Polish government domains. It’s the fastest way to reach the official source instead of a text that only describes it.
A minus sign excludes a word
A minus sign in front of a word removes it from the results. It comes in handy when a topic is flooded with sales posts, e.g., you add -promotion.
filetype: will find PDFs and reports
Original reports and studies are often PDFs. A phrase like labor market report filetype:pdf skips some press articles and leads to the full document.
before: and after: filter by date
The before: and after: operators limit results to material updated in a given period. This lets you filter out old versions of regulations and outdated advice.
The three dots next to a result: “more about this page”
Google describes this feature as a way to check how Wikipedia describes a given website and what others say about it. Before you trust an unfamiliar site, spend 10 seconds on it.
Fact Check Explorer: verifying rumors and images
This Google tool lets you search for fact checks published by independent organizations around the world. You can also paste an image address to see whether it has already appeared in a fact check.
About this image: where a photo really comes from
Click the three dots next to an image in the image results. You’ll see when the image was first noticed by the search engine, how other sites describe it, and what metadata the author added.
How to search without AI summaries: the “Web” filter and other methods
Google has no official switch that turns off AI summaries. There are, however, ways to get around them. Remember that these are workarounds, not settings, so they may stop working after changes to the search engine.
| Method | How to do it | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The “Web” filter | After searching, click the “Web” tab below the search box (sometimes it’s under “More”). | It shows only text links. You have to do it for every query. |
| The udm=14 parameter | Add &udm=14 to the search address or set it as your default search engine. | Google doesn’t describe this as an official method, so it may stop working. |
| A custom search engine in Chrome | Settings, Search engine, Manage search engines, add the address https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14 and set it as the default. | Safari doesn’t allow this without extensions. |
| Adding -ai | Add -ai at the end of your query. | It can be effective, but it may distort the results. |
| Browser extensions | Add-ons that hide the AI block or turn on udm=14. | They depend on the layout of Google’s page and may break. Trust only proven authors. |
| A different search engine | DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, Startpage, Mojeek, MetaGer, Kagi (paid). | Results for narrow, Polish-language queries may be weaker than in Google. DuckDuckGo has AI features that can be turned off. |
Real-life examples: when to stop at the answer and when to click
The scenarios below are illustrative examples showing how to apply the tools table in typical situations.
- “What time does the pharmacy close?” The answer from the map or panel is enough. The stakes are low, and the data usually comes from the business’s profile.
- “Can I combine two medicines?” Don’t stop at the summary. Go to institutional sources (the leaflet, a government office’s website, the pharmacy) and ask a pharmacist. A mistake can cost you your health.
- “Is this job offer real?” Check the company separately: search for its name in quotation marks plus the word reviews, then check the website with “more about this page.”
- “Is this post about a new tax true?” Use site:gov.pl and the after: operator to reach the official announcement and its date. An AI summary may mix several legal states.
- A photo of an alleged disaster on social media. Open “About this image” and Fact Check Explorer. If the image appeared earlier in a different context, you have your answer.
- “Which laptop for under PLN 3,000?” AI Mode is fine for initial narrowing down, but check prices and availability directly in stores.
- A quote from a politician or celebrity. Type it in quotation marks and check whether it comes from a credible source, not from an unsigned graphic.
- An industry report someone “cited.” Use filetype:pdf and the name of the organization. Read whether the number from the post really appears in the original.
5 habits that protect you from losing context
Assess the stakes before you trust an answer
Health, money, and law are the “I always click” zone. The weather and opening hours are the “the answer is enough” zone.
Open at least one source from the summary
Check whether the sentence from the answer is really there and whether its meaning hasn’t been changed. Remember that in the Pew study, links from the summary were clicked in 1% of visits.
Always check the date
Look for the publication and update date. For changing topics, use after:.
Compare two independent sources
If two independent institutions say the same thing, you’re safer. If only one does, keep looking.
Change the default settings for important topics
Set the “Web” filter as the default in your browser or use a second search engine for matters where you want to see only links.
FAQ: the most common questions about zero-click searches
They are queries after which the user gets the answer in the search engine itself (an AI summary, a featured snippet, a knowledge panel, a map) and doesn’t visit any website.
According to SparkToro, as cited by Search Engine Land, in the US in January–April 2026 it was 68.01% of searches. The data comes from different providers in different years, so comparisons are approximate.
A Pew Research Center study found that when there was an AI summary in the results, users clicked a regular link in 8% of visits, and without a summary in 15%. A link inside the summary was clicked in 1% of visits. The study concerns American adults.
There is no official switch. You can get around them by choosing the Web filter below the search box, adding the udm=14 parameter to the address, or setting such a search engine as the default in your browser. These are workarounds and may stop working.
Sometimes it helps get around the summary, but according to guides it may distort the results, because the search engine treats it as a word to exclude. The Web filter is more reliable.
For simple, low-stakes facts, like opening hours or a definition. For health, finances, and law, open the source, check the date, and compare it with a second independent source.
AI Mode is an extended Google answer generated on the basis of many searches at once. Since October 8, 2025, it has been available in Poland and in Polish, at google.com/ai or in the AI Mode tab in the results. Use it for initial research, and check important findings in the sources.
Use Fact Check Explorer, where you can search for fact checks or paste an image address, and the About this image feature next to a photo in the image results.
For example, DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, Startpage, Mojeek, MetaGer, or the paid Kagi. Results for narrow Polish-language queries may be weaker than in Google.
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Sources: Pew Research Center, “Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results” (July 22, 2025); Search Engine Land, a discussion of the SparkToro study on zero-click searches (2026); Google Search Help, “Refine Google searches”; Google, “4 ways to use Search to check facts, images and sources online”; Google Fact Check Explorer; Benchmark.pl, on AI Mode in Poland (October 8, 2025); Antyweb, “How to turn off AI in Google Search” (updated August 7, 2026); IONOS Digital Guide, “Google search without AI”. The examples in the “Real-life examples” section are illustrative. This article is educational.