Google’s AI Overviews Are Making Up Facts-And Users Are Noticing

Hey, it’s Chad here, and if you’ve Googled anything lately, you might have noticed something a little… off. That shiny new “AI Overview” feature that’s supposed to make your searches smarter? Yeah, it’s been caught inventing facts, misinterpreting phrases, and generally leaving users scratching their heads-or laughing out loud. Let’s break down what’s going on, why it matters, and what it means for the future of search.

What Are Google’s AI Overviews?

Google’s AI Overview is the latest attempt by the search giant to save you time by summarizing answers right at the top of your results. Rolled out in May 2024, the feature uses generative AI to pull information from across the web and Google’s own Knowledge Graph, aiming to give you a quick, digestible summary of whatever you’re searching for1.

But as many users are discovering, these AI-generated responses aren’t always accurate. In fact, sometimes they’re just plain bizarre.

Fake Facts and Phantom Meanings

Let’s get into some of the more hilarious-and concerning-examples. Social media has been flooded with screenshots of AI Overviews confidently explaining the meaning of made-up phrases. For instance, search for “milk the thunder meaning,” and Google’s AI will tell you it’s a metaphor about exploiting a situation for your own gain. Sounds plausible, right? Except when you click the source link, it leads to an article that mentions “steal someone’s thunder” and “crying over spilt milk”-but nothing about “milking thunder”1.

Or take the phrase “you can’t lick a badger twice.” According to Google’s AI, this is an idiom meaning you can’t trick someone twice. Except… no one has ever used this phrase, and the explanation is pure fiction1.

When AI Hallucinations Go Mainstream

This isn’t just a quirky bug. It’s part of a larger problem called “AI hallucination,” where generative AI models produce information that sounds plausible but is actually false or misleading1. These models are trained on massive datasets and learn to predict what comes next in a sequence of words, but they don’t actually understand context or truth the way humans do.

Google’s own spokesperson, Meghann Farnsworth, admits that nonsensical prompts are likely to cause these kinds of AI Overviews, even as the system tries to offer context whenever possible1.

Super Bowl Snafu: When Cheese Goes Rogue

It’s not just weird idioms getting the AI treatment. During the Super Bowl, Google ran a series of ads highlighting small businesses across the US. In Wisconsin’s ad, their Gemini chatbot helped a cheesemonger write a product description, claiming that Gouda accounts for 50-60% of the world’s cheese consumption. Travel blogger Nate Hake fact-checked this on X (formerly Twitter), pointing out that the real cheese kings are cheddar and mozzarella. Google’s Gemini provided no source for the stat, and it was, in Hake’s words, “unequivocally false”1.

A Google executive responded by saying, “not a hallucination, Gemini is grounded in the Web-and users can always check the results and references. In this case, multiple sites across the web include the 50-60% stat.” But quietly, Google re-edited the ads. So much for standing by your AI1.

Why Is This Happening?

AI models like Google’s Gemini (and OpenAI’s GPT-4, for that matter) are trained on huge swaths of internet data. They don’t “know” facts; they generate text that statistically fits the prompt. If enough people on the internet say something, or if the model sees similar patterns, it might treat that as truth-even if it’s total nonsense.

This is especially true for:

• Rare or made-up phrases (“milk the thunder”)
• Niche facts with little consensus online (cheese stats)
• Prompts designed to trip up the AI

Can You Trust AI Search Results?

Here’s the million-dollar question: Should you trust what Google’s AI Overview tells you? According to Edelman’s 2025 Trust Barometer, only 32% of Americans trust AI, compared to 72% of people in China1. That’s a massive gap, and these kinds of glitches aren’t helping.

Some see AI as a force for progress, while others worry about unintended consequences-like a future where search engines confidently serve up fiction as fact1.

What’s Google Doing About It?

Google says their system tries to offer context and references for AI Overviews, but admits that nonsensical or unusual prompts can still lead to made-up answers1. Quiet edits and behind-the-scenes tweaks are happening, but transparency is still lacking.

If you’re relying on AI Overviews for anything important-medical advice, financial decisions, or even just the meaning of a weird phrase-double-check the sources. And if something sounds suspicious, it probably is.

What’s Next for Search?

The rise of AI in search is inevitable, but these growing pains show we’re not quite at the finish line. As more users catch these “hallucinations,” expect more scrutiny, more memes, and hopefully, smarter safeguards from Google and its competitors.

For now, the best advice? Enjoy the weirdness, but don’t take everything your AI assistant says at face value. And if you see something truly wild, share it-because the internet could always use a good laugh at AI’s expense.