The new AI feature, ‘Search Generative Experience’, will be trialled by a small selection of UK search traffic. Credit: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Google has started trialling AI-written search answers in the UK following a US test in 2023. 

The new feature, named by the company as the ‘Search Generative Experience’, will be trialled by a “small slice” of randomly selected UK search traffic, according to the tech giant.

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The small selection of users will see an “overview” of the top search results written by AI.

Tech companies like Google and Meta have scrambled to stay relevant in the GenAI space since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Google released its Bard chatbot, now named Gemini, in March 2023. 

Rival Microsoft, which has invested $100m in OpenAI, already incorporates AI into its Bing search engine. 

Google’s chatbot infamously made a factual mistake during a public demonstration a month prior.

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In an interview with the BBC, Hema Budaraju, who works on Google’s GenAI developments in search, said AI-powered search results were “actually showing more links to a wider range of sources”.

Budaraju told the broadcaster that the US trial had shown that more users were clicking on an increased range of sources when presented with an AI answer. 

The news comes after the Financial Times (FT) reported that Google is considering charging for new premium GenAI features, which would mark the first time the search engine giant has put any of its core products behind a paywall. 

Google is considering charging for features such as its Gemini AI assistant in Gmail and GenAI-powered search, according to the FT.

Big Tech companies including Google have been evaluating how to most effectively implement GenAI into their business models.

Engineers are reportedly working on developing the technology but are undecided on whether or when to launch it.

Google’s main search engine will remain free and ads will continue to be shown alongside search results even for paying customers, according to the FT. 

“We are continuing to rapidly improve the product to serve new user needs,” a Google spokesperson said.