On October 30, 2026, Search Engine Land reported a study finding that Google AI Overviews are pushing News Boxes out of search results. For any business that depends on news visibility, whether a news publisher, a blog, or a local business that gets traffic from trending stories, this is a significant change in how Google’s search results page is structured.
The study found that AI Overviews are increasingly appearing where News Boxes used to be. News Boxes were the carousel of news articles that Google showed for queries related to current events. They drove traffic to news publishers. Now, for many of those same queries, an AI Overview appears instead, summarizing the news rather than linking to it.
This is part of a pattern we have been tracking all week. On October 29, Brodie Clark spotted citation cards disappearing from AI Overviews. On October 30, The Verge reported users seeing fewer AI Overviews. Cyrus Shepard published a case study showing 0.9% CTR for AI Overviews. Each finding adds a piece to the puzzle of how AI is reshaping search results, and the News Box displacement is one of the most significant pieces yet.
What the Study Found
Search Engine Land’s study, reported by Joy Johnston, found that Google AI Overviews are displacing News Boxes for queries where both could appear. When both were present, the AI Overview typically appeared at the top of the page, pushing the News Box further down or removing it entirely. The result is that users read an AI summary of the news instead of clicking through to news articles.
For news publishers, this is a direct loss of traffic. A News Box click sent a user to the publisher’s website. An AI Overview click, when it exists, might send the user to a source cited inside the overview, but the study from yesterday showed citation cards are being tested for removal. Even when citation cards are present, the AI Overview gives the user the answer without requiring a click.
For local businesses, the connection is less direct but still real. If your business gets traffic from being quoted in news articles, or from trending stories related to your industry, the reduction of News Boxes means fewer people click through to those articles, which means fewer people see your business mentioned in them.
The Broader Pattern: AI Is Restructuring the SERP
The News Box displacement is one example of a broader pattern. AI Overviews are taking up more space at the top of Google’s search results page, which pushes everything else down. Organic results, Local Pack, shopping results, and now News Boxes are all getting less screen space because AI Overviews are consuming more of it.
For a local business in Chandigarh, this means the search results page your customers see is changing. The top of the page is increasingly an AI answer rather than a list of links. Your business needs to be in that AI answer, not just in the organic results below it, because the AI answer is what the user reads first.
This is why we have been emphasizing AEO and GEO services alongside traditional SEO. AEO and GEO get your business into the AI Overview. Traditional SEO gets you into the organic results. You need both because both appear on the same page, and the AI Overview is above the organic results.
What News-Dependent Businesses Should Do
If your business depends on news visibility, whether through press coverage, news articles, or trending stories, three things matter right now.
First, track which queries related to your business used to show News Boxes and now show AI Overviews. Search for those queries yourself and see what appears. If an AI Overview replaced a News Box, the news articles that used to be in the Box are now competing for citation inside the AI answer. Being cited in the AI Overview is the new being in the News Box.
Second, pitch your content to the sources that AI Overviews cite. We have been saying this all week, and it applies to news content too. The AI Overview reads a handful of sources and summarizes them. If your article is one of those sources, you get cited. If it is not, you are invisible. The same outreach that used to get you into a News Box now needs to get you into an AI Overview citation.
Third, do not abandon your SEO. Even with AI Overviews taking up more space, organic results still appear below them, and the 0.9% CTR study shows AI Overview clicks are not zero. A business that appears in both the AI Overview and the organic results gets two shots at the same searcher. A business that appears in only one gets one shot.
What This Means for Local Businesses Specifically
For a local service business in Chandigarh, the News Box displacement might seem irrelevant. You are not a news publisher. But the pattern matters because it confirms that AI Overviews are expanding into more query types, not just informational ones.
If AI Overviews can displace News Boxes, they can also displace other SERP features. The Local Pack, shopping results, image packs, and video carousels could all be next. Each displacement changes where your business needs to appear to be visible. If you are only optimizing for the Local Pack and AI Overviews start displacing it, your visibility drops without you knowing why.
The solution is the same as it has been all week. Diversify your presence across every channel Google’s search results page offers. Be in the Local Pack through Google Business Profile optimization. Be in the organic results through SEO. Be in the AI Overview through AEO and GEO. Be in the shopping results if you sell products. Be in the video carousel if you have video content. The more places you appear, the more likely a user clicks at least one of them. That is the Halo Effect Cyrus Shepard described, and it applies to local businesses as much as to news publishers.
The Bottom Line
Google’s search results page is being restructured around AI Overviews. News Boxes are the latest feature being displaced. Organic results, Local Pack, and other features will continue to be affected. The businesses that treat AI Overviews as one more place to appear, alongside their existing channels, will maintain their visibility. The businesses that ignore AI Overviews will see their search presence shrink without understanding why.
If you want help understanding how AI Overviews affect your business and how to stay visible across all of Google’s search results, get in touch or book a meeting. We work with businesses across Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, and the rest of India.