Many search engines, such as Google or Bing, now use artificial intelligence (AI) to provide short answers or overviews at the top of the page, separately from traditional results. According to an August 2025 survey by the Pew Research Center, which included 5,153 American adults, most U.S. adults (65%) encounter these AI summaries at least occasionally. Of these, 45% see them extremely often or often. A smaller share (17%) says they see them rarely or never. Another 13% are unsure how often they encounter them, which is related to the fact that this feature is relatively new. The survey was conducted online or by phone and weighted by gender, race, political affiliation, education, and other factors to represent the U.S. adult population.
Demographic Differences in Exposure
Some groups encounter AI summaries more often. For example, adults under 30 (62%) see them often or extremely often, while only 23% of people over 65 do, a difference of 39 percentage points. Younger people are also more likely to have heard a lot about AI and interact with it daily. In addition, more than half of college graduates (57%) encounter them often, compared with 38% of those with less education. Among political groups, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (49%) are slightly more likely to encounter them than Republicans (42%). This difference is driven by liberal Democrats, 56% of whom see summaries often, compared with 43% of moderate or conservative Democrats, 41% of moderate or liberal Republicans, and 43% of conservative Republicans.
Usefulness of Information from AI Summaries
Those who have seen AI summaries have lukewarm views of their value. Only one in five (20%) considers them extremely or very useful, 52% somewhat useful, and 28% not very or not at all useful. Younger adults under 30 are more optimistic—a quarter of them (25%) describe them as very useful, compared with 12% of those over 65. There are no significant differences between Republicans and Democrats in how useful they consider them—for example, 54% of Republicans and 53% of Democrats have at least some confidence in the information they provide.
About half of Americans who have encountered AI summaries (53%) have at least some confidence in the information they provide, but only 6% have a great deal of confidence in it. Conversely, 46% have little or no confidence. People with higher incomes (63%) are more likely to have at least some confidence, compared with 53% of middle-income and 50% of lower-income people. Again, there are no major differences between political parties—54% of Republicans and 53% of Democrats express at least some confidence. These data come from a survey that examined AI’s impact on society, including news coverage.
Related Findings from Other Studies
Studies show that AI summaries reduce clicks on links in Google—users are less likely to click traditional results when an AI overview appears. Google reports serving billions of AI overviews, but user skepticism remains because adoption does not mean full acceptance. No significant partisan differences in trust or perceived usefulness between Republicans and Democrats appear in these data either. Younger people value summaries more, which is related to their more frequent exposure to them. Overall, these findings suggest that the public remains cautious about the accuracy and reliability of AI in the information environment, despite seeing it often. Surveys such as the one conducted by the Pew Research Center use nationally representative samples to reach these conclusions.
