Adam Hafez
Key takeaways
- Google is testing an AI Mode button in the search bar on the search results page, not just on the home page.
- Dwayne Cubbins first flagged the test on X earlier in the week, and Barry Schwartz confirmed it while testing.
- The button does not always appear, and it does not show for every search suggestion even on queries that can trigger it.
- Regular search still works while the button is displayed, though users may need to press Enter to continue with a normal search.
- Multiple test variations may exist, so what one searcher sees may differ from another.
Google is testing an AI Mode button in the search bar on the search results page. Until now the entry point sat on the home page; this test puts it where a searcher types a follow-up query. Search Engine Roundtable reported it on September 18, 2026, and it is a test, not a launch.
What is Google testing in the search bar?
An AI Mode button added to the search bar, on results pages and not only on the home page. Dwayne Cubbins flagged it on X earlier in the week, asking whether Google is trying to force people into AI Mode when they make a follow-up search from the results page. Barry Schwartz then confirmed the button while testing.
Does the button replace regular search?
No, based on what was reported. Regular search still works while the button is displayed, though users may need to press Enter to continue with a normal search. The test is not consistent: the button does not always appear, and it does not show for all search suggestions, even for queries where it can be triggered. Multiple variations of the test may be running at once.
Why we care
The follow-up search is where a searcher already has results in front of them. A button that routes that next query toward AI Mode is a change to how the AI search surface is offered, which is worth watching. It is one test with an unknown scope. The source gives no rollout plan, no share of users and no Google statement, so we do not claim any, and nothing here changes how pages are crawled, indexed or ranked.
The evidence
- Type
- industry
- Impact
- low
- Affects
- AI Mode, search interface
Sources
- 1.Google Search Bar Results Page Testing AI Mode Button - Search Engine Roundtable, September 18, 2026Primary
About the author
Founder
Founder, UpgradIQ, Inc.
Adam Hafez works on technical SEO and search measurement: how pages get crawled, indexed, ranked and now quoted by answer engines. He founded UpgradIQ, which reads Google Search Console and GA4 to tie ranking movement back to the changes that caused it. He publishes what the data supports and states the limits of it.
- Technical SEO
- Search Console and GA4 measurement
- Answer engine optimization
- Structured data
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