AI summaries in online search influence users' attitudes

TL;DR

This study investigates how AI-generated summaries in online search results influence user attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions, highlighting the importance of placement, framing, and user trust in shaping public opinion.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence on the impact of AI summaries on user attitudes and identifies factors that modulate this influence, such as placement and issue familiarity.

Findings

AI summaries align user attitudes with summary stance

Top placement of summaries causes stronger attitude shifts

Perceived usefulness varies with health harm emphasis

Abstract

This study examined how AI-generated summaries, which have become visually prominent in online search results, affect how users think about different issues. In a preregistered randomized controlled experiment, participants (N = 2,004) viewed mock search result pages varying in the presence (vs. absence), placement (top vs. middle), and stance (benefit-framed vs. harm-framed) of AI-generated summaries across four publicly debated topics. Compared to a no-summary control group, participants exposed to AI-generated summaries reported issue attitudes, behavioral intentions, and policy support that aligned more closely with the AI summary stance. The summaries placed at the top of the page produced stronger shifts in users' issue attitudes (but not behavioral intentions or policy support) than those placed at the middle of the page. We also observed moderating effects from issue familiarity and general trust toward AI. In addition, users perceived the AI summaries more useful when it emphasized health harms versus benefits. These findings suggest that AI-generated search summaries can significantly shape public perceptions, raising important implications for the design and regulation of AI-integrated information ecosystems.