Google tests an AI Overviews local pack that drops action buttons, photos and reviews
In the test version, the AI-generated local business block loses the call, directions and website buttons, and on mobile it replaces the traditional local pack.
Google is testing a new version of the local pack inside AI Overviews, the AI-generated block of local businesses that shows up in search results. In this version, business action buttons, photos and reviews no longer appear. Without those buttons, searchers have a harder time visiting a website, calling a business or getting directions straight from Google Search.
The test was reported by Search Engine Roundtable on November 10, in a piece by Barry Schwartz, the site's executive editor. He says he was able to reproduce the test version and showed it side by side with the way the block is supposed to look.
The first flag came from Joy Hawkins, who posted on X that she had been seeing the change over the past few days. "I've been seeing a new version of the AI local pack over the last few days. On mobile, every time I get this version, the traditional local pack disappears. It uses Google Business Profile but strips out a bunch of its features (reviews, address, hours, etc.). This is probably the ugliest version of AI Overviews I've seen in local so far. I hope it gets rolled back soon," she wrote.
A format that keeps changing
AI Overviews-based local packs have been around for about two years, Schwartz notes, and they keep evolving. The version now in testing is the latest of those changes, and the most stripped down in terms of features for the business being shown.
In his view, the change makes the visibility of local results and small businesses in Google Search even worse than it already was. He argues the test version is unlikely to drive clicks, calls or direction requests for businesses.
For now, this is only a test. The report does not say whether Google plans to roll out this version permanently.
What it means for brand teams
For businesses with a local presence, Google Business Profile still feeds the block, but in this version reviews, address, hours and the shortcuts to website, phone and directions vanish from the AI answer. In practice, fewer paths lead searchers straight from search to the business, which, in Schwartz's assessment, works against clicks, calls and direction requests.
Key questions
What disappears in the new version of the local pack in AI Overviews?
The action buttons (website, call and directions), photos and reviews. Joy Hawkins also pointed out that address and hours are missing.
Does the change apply to all searches yet?
No. Google is testing this version, and the report does not say whether it will be adopted permanently.
Why is this a concern for local businesses?
Because it becomes harder to visit the website, call or get directions from search. In Barry Schwartz's assessment, this hurts the visibility of small businesses in Google Search.
Source: Search Engine Roundtable.