Google Removes Lag For AI Overviews & AI Mode Showing Penalized Content

Since Google launched AI Overviews (and AI Mode), there was an apparent lag or delay from when a web page would be removed from the Google Search index, including after getting a manual action penalty, to when it would also be removed from the AI Overview (or AI Mode). That delay is reportedly gone.

Glenn Gabe updated us on X saying that based on his tests, he thinks the delay is gone. He wrote:

There are times that sites hit by a manual action, and deindexed, were still showing up in AI Overviews or AI Mode for a few days. There was a lag in the pipeline for some reason, which was super weird. Well, I was checking a site that just got nuked and they are NOT showing in AIOs or AI Mode at all. So I think Google implemented something there to align the various surfaces, including AI experiences like AIOs and AI Mode. Just an interesting observation.

As a reminder, we reported on this delay back in November 2024 and January 2025. So it has been a long ongoing issue.

I guess Gemini 3.5 Flash is faster? I bet it has little to do with the Gemini model, but I could be wrong.

Forum discussion at X.