Google has said its AI-powered search feature, AI Overviews, now reaches more than 2 billion monthly users across over 200 countries and territories, highlighting the rapid global adoption of artificial intelligence in search.
The company’s Vice President of Global Ads, Dan Taylor, disclosed the figures during a virtual media roundtable, where he outlined how AI is reshaping how users search, discover content and interact with brands.
According to Taylor, the milestone reflects a broader shift in user behaviour, with artificial intelligence driving more conversational and multimodal search patterns.
He said users are increasingly moving away from short keyword queries to more detailed and context-driven searches, a trend that is expanding both overall search activity and commercial opportunities for businesses.
Google processes more than 5 trillion searches annually, he added, describing the current phase as an “expansionary moment” for its search ecosystem.
The company also reported strong growth in visual search, with Google Lens handling over 25 billion searches monthly, about 20 percent of which carry commercial intent.
Taylor noted that AI Overviews— which provide AI-generated summaries alongside traditional results—are improving the quality of traffic to websites, with users spending more time engaging with content after clicking through.
Google has also begun integrating advertisements within AI-generated results, placing them above, below and within responses.
At the core of these developments is Gemini, the company’s flagship AI system, which it said has reduced irrelevant ads by about 40 percent and significantly increased the production of AI-generated advertising assets.
The company reported a threefold rise in such assets in 2025, supported by tools including Google Ads Studio.
In Nigeria, Google said AI adoption is accelerating, with 93 percent of users relying on AI to understand complex topics and 91 percent using it for work-related tasks.
About 80 percent of Nigerians are using AI to explore new business or career opportunities, while a similar proportion expressed excitement about the technology’s potential, indicating strong optimism in one of Africa’s fastest-growing digital economies.
