People are really starting to notice the sharp decline of Google search. I blogged[0] of a very similar experience a few months ago.

I don't even mind the AI Overview (too much) but the search results themselves are noticeably worse. In my example, the best search result and the one that the AI summary is clearly based on is the 6th ranked result.

Is Google doing this deliberately to make the AI Overview seem better?

In an ideal world, Google would use AI to provide better search results. Something like: "Here are the results for your search term A, which was slightly ambiguous. I suggest added term B or C depending on what you meant". It seems like that is not going to happen.

[0] https://sheep.horse/2025/4/yo_google%2C_thanks_for_the_ai_ov...