Google is testing a leaner local pack inside AI Overviews that leaves out action buttons, reviews, and photos, Search Engine Roundtable reported Tuesday. Fewer on-screen options means fewer easy ways for a searcher to reach a business directly from Google.
Joy Hawkins described the change on X. She wrote that on mobile, “every time I get this version, the traditional local pack is gone.” She added that it “uses the Google Business Profile but yet removes a ton of its features (reviews, address, hours etc).” Her verdict: “probably the ugliest version of the AI Overview I’ve seen in local thus far.”
Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable said he could replicate the layout. He judged it unlikely to help clicks, calls, or direction requests. Google has not commented on the test in the source report, and no measurement of its effect on actions has been published.
Local teams should record which of their queries return this layout and compare website clicks, calls, and direction requests in Business Profile insights against the prior weeks. If the test spreads, those actions become the metric most exposed.
Search Engine Roundtable, by Barry Schwartz, November 10, 2026.
