A single user report suggests Google is trying out a search box that no longer shows the AI Mode button, according to Search Engine Roundtable’s Barry Schwartz.
Len Raleigh posted on X that “Google took away AI Mode in incognito / Chrome.” He described it as “just a test” and said AI Mode remained available on his other machines and in other sessions. Schwartz could not reproduce the change himself, so the evidence amounts to one screenshot from one browser session.
Google has not commented. Schwartz noted that the company routinely runs experiments on small slices of searchers to compare behavior against the wider population. Google added the button to the search box in May 2025.
The practical stake is traffic routing. If the button is the main way users move from classic results into AI Mode, a cohort without it would send fewer queries into generative answers. Teams tracking AI Mode referrals should note the date and browser of any unexplained dip before reading it as a demand shift.
Search Engine Roundtable, Barry Schwartz, reporting on a post by Len Raleigh on X, news dated November 3, 2026.
