Google’s new AI Overviews (AIO) feature repurposes long-form content by rewriting published articles to provide direct answers, raising concerns about plagiarism and lack of originality.

Search marketers and SEO professionals highlight that AIO answers closely mirror original content without adding unique insights, potentially violating Google’s own spam and quality guidelines.

Examples include Google rewriting an entire article by SEO expert Lily Ray, blending content from multiple sources to respond to queries, which may reduce traffic to original publishers.

The controversy centers around Google’s AIO diminishing incentives to visit source sites, with critiques emphasizing AI’s inability to add expert analysis or fact-checking, undermining trust and quality standards.