Google tests an AI Mode button in the results page search bar

Google is testing an AI Mode button in the search bar on the search results page. Until now the entry point sat on the home page; this test puts it where a searcher types a follow-up query. Search Engine Roundtable reported it on September 18, 2026, and it is a test, not a launch.

What is Google testing?#

An AI Mode button added to the search bar, on results pages and not only on the home page. Dwayne Cubbins flagged it on X on September 15, asking whether Google is trying to force people into AI Mode when they make a follow-up search from the results page. Barry Schwartz then confirmed the button while testing. The report does not say which devices or countries are in the test.

Where did the button come from?#

The home page button is itself fairly recent. In July 2025, Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google rolled out an AI Mode button in the search box on the google.com home page, and Google’s Rajan Patel confirmed it was also rolling out on the new tab page in Chrome. This test extends the same entry point one step further, into the results page itself. It fits a pattern of AI Mode entry points appearing inside classic results, such as Google’s test of AI Overview links that lead into AI Mode.

Does it replace regular search?#

No, based on what was reported. Regular search still works while the button is displayed, though users may need to press Enter to continue with a normal search. The test is not consistent: the button does not always appear, and it does not show for all search suggestions, even for queries where it can be triggered. Multiple variations of the test may be running at once.

What does it mean for a site?#

A button is an interface change, not a change to eligibility. Google’s documentation on AI features and your website says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary. A page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet to appear as a supporting link.

Two parts of that documentation are worth acting on. Traffic from AI features is included in the overall search traffic in Search Console, within the Web search type of the Performance report, so AI Mode visits do not appear as a separate total there; our note on Search Console’s AI feature reporting covers what it can show. And the usual controls, nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex, are how Google says you limit what is shown from your pages in Search.

Why we care#

The follow-up search is where a searcher already has results in front of them. A button that routes that next query toward AI Mode is a change to how the AI search surface is offered, which is worth watching. It is one test with an unknown scope. The source gives no rollout plan, no share of users and no Google statement, so we do not claim any, and nothing here changes how pages are crawled, indexed or ranked.