Google is testing a version of the AI Overview local pack that removes action buttons, reviews and photos, Search Engine Roundtable reported. The outlet said it could replicate the test, and that the change makes it harder for searchers to visit a business website, call it or get directions from Google Search.
Joy Hawkins wrote on X that she had been seeing the new version for a few days. She said that on mobile, the traditional local pack is gone whenever this version appears, and that it draws on the Google Business Profile while removing features such as reviews, address and hours. She called it "probably the ugliest version of the AI Overview I've seen in local thus far" and said she hoped it would revert soon.
Search Engine Roundtable said AI Overview-based local packs have existed for a couple of years but keep changing, and that the tested version "cannot be good for clicks, calls and direction actions to businesses." The report does not say how widely Google is running the test or whether Google has commented.