Google AI search update to show more inline links
Google is changing its AI-powered search results to make source links more prominent, including placing key websites higher in responses and adding more visual ways to discover publisher and creator content.
Google is updating its AI-powered search results to make links to websites more prominent, as the company responds to concerns that AI-generated answers could reduce traffic to publishers.
The changes affect AI Overviews and AI Mode, which present users with generated responses rather than the traditional list of search results. Google says it has already made “continued and substantial increases to the presence of inline links” in its AI search features.
The company said the latest changes are designed to ensure “key sources are easily clickable right when you need them”.
Google will test a new section at the top of some AI responses containing prominent links to official websites. The links will include information explaining why each source may be useful.
“Sometimes, there are only one or two official places on the web to complete a specific task or get the exact info you need. We'll be testing a new display in Search AI experiences to prominently surface these links in a dedicated section at the top of a response, with context about why each link is useful. With these links and additional context, you can be more confident you’ve found what you’re looking for. This expands on what we already do today to show links front and center when you’re looking to go to a particular site.”
The company is also expanding prominent carousels featuring timely news articles to more countries and languages. These can include websites users have selected as Preferred Sources, making coverage from those publishers easier to find.
Google is additionally redesigning links appearing at the end of some AI responses, adding image thumbnails and a more prominent layout intended to encourage users to explore related material.
“Once you’ve gotten the lay of the land on a topic, you might want to dig deeper on interesting angles – and we want to make it easy to find links that spark your curiosity. So we’re making the links that we show at the end of some AI responses more engaging and prominent, with image thumbnails and a more clickable design.”
The company has also begun testing clickable creator and publisher names on video results in AI Mode. These will link to Search profiles containing information about creators and their wider work.
“This week, we started testing clickable creator and publisher names on video results that link directly to their Search profiles in AI Mode. These profiles give you a quick way to learn about creators and their broader work, giving you even more context.”
Google said it would continue refining its AI search experiences based on how users interact with them.
