Chrome extension “Bye Bye Google AI” removes AI overviews, touts 50K+ users

A tech industry veteran has created a free Chrome extension called “Bye Bye Google AI” that removes Google’s AI Overviews from search results with a single click. The tool addresses growing concerns about AI summaries that may contain inaccurate information while diverting traffic from original content creators.

Why this matters: Research shows that 10.4% of Google’s AI Overview responses are derived from AI-generated content, with 52% of citations coming from sources outside Google’s top 100 search results—pages the algorithm considers less authoritative.

How it works: The Chrome extension modifies search result pages by hiding AI Overviews through CSS manipulation.
• Users can install the extension from the Google Chrome Web Store and customize which elements to hide.
• The AI Overview appears briefly before being hidden automatically.
• Additional options include removing “People also ask” sections and other Google features.

Who created it: Avram Piltch, a senior tech editor at Tom’s Hardware, developed the extension to “put the search back in Google search.”
• The tool now has over 50,000 users since its launch.
• Piltch built it based on the principle that “Google’s AI overviews operate on the faulty assumption that people are passive consumers of information.”

The bigger concern: AI Overviews are “siphoning off traffic” from websites whose content they use without providing traffic back to those sources.
• Originality.ai, an AI detection company, found significant quality issues with AI Overview citations.
• The summaries often pull from non-authoritative sources that wouldn’t typically rank in top search results.

What you should know: The extension comes from a trusted source within the tech journalism community, addressing recent security concerns about browser extensions.
• Security experts recommend only using extensions from known, reputable developers.
• The tool provides a simple solution for users frustrated with unwanted AI integration in search results.