Search engine definitions have been replaced with an AI overview.
It appears that Google is facing some hiccups after the company debuted its updated and even more AI-focused search experience at I/O 2026. Currently, searching for the words “disregard”, “prevent” or “ignore” on Google no longer displays a snippet with a definition, but instead provides an AI overview and lots of empty space. Because users have complained about this issue on social media and publications techcrunch And macromers Reported on this, even if you don’t find a definition, you may still find a collection of links to articles documenting the issue ahead of the traditional list of links.
Several members of Engadget’s staff were able to recreate the strange AI observation responses with their own personal Google searches. In incognito mode, Google responded correctly once by displaying its usual snippet with the definition, and failed a second time by responding with an AI overview. Links to online dictionaries still appear under these incorrect results, but you have to scroll beyond the AI overview or grid of articles to actually reach them.
Ian Carlos Campbell for Engadget
Engadget contacted Google for more information. The company responded by acknowledging the problem and saying a fix was coming: “We are aware that AI overviews are misinterpreting some action-related questions, and we are working on a fix, which will be implemented soon,” a spokesperson said.
In the grand scheme of things, Google not automatically displaying a definition isn’t as bad as advising people to put glue on pizza, which is one of the issues the company dealt with when it first launched AI Overview. This can also be good for web traffic from Merriam-Webster. What this issue highlights is the strange transformation Google is currently going through, as it has transformed from the ultimate referrer of other websites to an all-in-one AI assistant.
Update, May 22, 2026, 5:45 PM ET: This story was modified after publication to include a statement from a Google spokesperson on the issue.
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