Many of the search strategies you use in Discover or library databases also work in Google. These techniques can help you use Google more like a research tool, especially when you're looking for government reports, policy documents, or open-access academic materials. Here are some powerful techniques to help you get better results when searching with Google:
AI is everywhere now. If you are interested in removing the AI Overview generated by a Google Search, there are a few methods to use. Please note that you cannot completely remove the embedded AI but you can hide the AI Overview.
1. Use the minus sign (exclude operator, see more below) and AI.
Example:
crop circles mystery -AI
According to Jason Cohen from PCMag, "adding something like -AI at the end of the search query, the AI Overview will be stripped from the results page. This isn't because Google added an AI kill switch in its code. Rather, the modifier is breaking Google's algorithm to surface the AI overlay." (2025).
2. Filter to Web Results
Enter your search terms, then under More, select Web.
For more technical methods of disrupting Google's AI Overview, check out Jason Cohen's article from PCMag "I Figured Out How to Turn Off Google's AI Overviews. It's Like a Whole New Internet"
Different words or phrases can describe the same concept. Combine them with OR (in capital letters) to broaden your search.
Example:
global warming OR climate change
genderqueer OR gender non-conforming OR non-binary
Quotation marks tell Google to search for the exact phrase in the order the words appear between the quotation marks, not just the individual words.
Example:
"Indigenous Peoples"
"social media addiction"
Use site: to limit your search to a particular website or domain. Please note: There is NO SPACE between the colon and domain you want to search.
Examples:
leadership site:gc.ca → Searches Government of Canada websites
climate change site:gov.bc.ca → Searches BC government sites
mental health site:org → Searches non-profit organizations
education site:.ca → Searches Canadian websites
tuition site:.edu → Searches U.S. university websites
Use a minus sign - to remove unwanted results.
Example:
blue jay -baseball → Finds info about the bird, not the baseball team.
Use allintitle: to find pages with your keywords in the title. Great for narrowing results. Once again, no space after the colon.
Example:
allintitle:climate change policy
Use filetype: to find PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, Excel files, and more.
Examples:
climate change filetype:pdf
marketing trends filetype:pptx
budget planning filetype:xls
Google Alerts is a free tool from Google that lets you monitor the web for specific topics or keywords. When new content matching your chosen keywords appears online, such as news articles, blog posts, or web pages, Google sends you an email notification. You do need to have a Google account for this to work.
Here's how it works:
Common uses:
Try this quick way to see if you got the spelling correct. Just enter the word in the search box and click search. If it's an ooops, Google will give you a correct spelling.
Want to know the time in Japan? Norway? Iceland? Enter "time" in the Google search box followed by the name of the city or country. For example: try time Incheon
Multiplication? Subtraction? Fraction division? Use Google calculator. Try entering a calculation like 227 * (345/4 + 23) or 4*3+(sqrt 20)^44=. Too much? Check out Google's calculator information sheet where you will find the rules for trig functions, algorithm base 10, circumference to the diameter of a circle, physical constants and much more.
Find currency conversions. For example: 100 EUR in dollars
Change inches to centimeters? Kilometers to miles? Quickly convert between different units of measurement. Type the units of measurement you wish to convert to and from into the search box: chains to rods
Find flight arrival and departure times. For example: AC 221
Look up a movie. Type - movies True Grit - into the search box.