Google’s AI search is so broken it can ‘disregard’ what you’re looking for

May 22, 2026

With certain terms, AI Overviews are drawing a blank.

With certain terms, AI Overviews are drawing a blank.

Updated
Screenshot 2026-05-22 at 8.44.28 AM
Screenshot 2026-05-22 at 8.44.28 AM
Image: Google

Google’s AI Overviews are running into an interesting problem right now. Earlier on Friday, if you searched for the term “disregard,” the AI Overview section would include a response like what you’d see from a more traditional AI chatbot instead of the typical AI summary, as spotted on X. As you can see in the image at the top of this story, I got an AI Overview response that said, “Got it. If you need anything else or have a new question later, just let me know!”

As of Friday afternoon, however, Google isn’t showing an AI Overview for the term “disregard” at all — instead, it shows a list of news stories about the issue first. Google hasn’t replied to our requests for comment.

A screenshot of Google Search results for the term “disregard.”
Image: Google

AI Overviews haven’t just been tripping up over the word “disregard.” When searching for “ignore,” Google’s AI Overview section showed the following message to a Verge colleague:

Message received! I’m here and ready to help. What would you like to focus on today? Just let me know if there’s a specific topic, task, or question you’d like to explore.

When they searched “skip,” the AI Overview section said:

It looks like your message was just a test or a typo! Feel free to ask a question, share a prompt, or let me know how I can help you with your tasks today. I’m ready whenever you are!

As of Friday afternoon, Google is still showing me AI Overviews with broken responses when I search for “ignore” and “skip.”

As funny as this all is, it’s almost certainly just some kind of bug — I expect Google will fix it soon enough. Maybe Google Search itself is tired after everything that happened at Google I/O.

Update, May 22nd: Google now isn’t showing AI Overviews for “disregard.”

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  • Jay Peters