Google tests more prominent source links in AI search answers
Google is changing how links appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode, aiming to show useful sources higher in responses and make them easier to click. The update comes amid concerns that AI-generated answers divert traffic from publishers by replacing the traditional list of search links.
Google is testing relevant links at the top of some answers, such as information about airline refunds, and expanding link carousels for timely articles to more locations and languages. It is also adding image thumbnails to links at the end of queries and testing links to publisher and creator profiles. More than 400 publishers are taking part in Google’s News AI licensing pilot, including new partners Axios, CNN and the Financial Times.
- Google plans to place useful links higher in AI responses.
- Link carousels and visual previews are expanding.
- More than 400 publishers are in its News AI pilot.
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AI Overviews and AI Mode are Google Search features that use artificial intelligence to provide answers in response to questions. They can draw on web pages and show links to sources alongside or within those answers.
News publishers and other website owners rely on people visiting their pages, including from search results. Some have raised concerns that AI answers may give users enough information without a visit, reducing traffic to the sites that produced it.
Google says it is testing ways to make sources easier to find and open, while publishers, including Axios, CNN and the Financial Times, are taking part in a separate licensing pilot for news content. The changes matter because they could affect how readers find information and how publishers reach audiences online.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
More prominent, relevant links could help people verify AI answers and discover the publishers and creators behind them. Google’s tests may also send more readers to useful reporting, while broader licensing partnerships offer publishers another way to be compensated for content used in AI features.
The case against
Publishers may argue that making links easier to click does not address the central concern: AI answers can satisfy a query without a visit to the original article, reducing traffic and potential revenue. Licensing pilots involve only participating publishers, and the tests do not yet show whether added links will generate enough readership or compensation to offset that loss.
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Originally published by The Verge as “Google is making inline links more prominent in AI responses”.