Google Moves Inline Links Higher in AI Overviews and AI Mode
Google is changing how links appear inside AI Overviews and AI Mode. Inline links will now show up more often and higher in the response than before, the company said in a blog post outlining five updates. Google did not say how large the increase is.
Hema Budaraju, VP of Product Management, set out the changes. Google is testing a block at the top of some responses that lists official sites for a task where only one or two authoritative sources exist, with a note on why each link is useful. Links at the end of responses are also getting image thumbnails and a more clickable design.
Carousels for timely articles, which surface a user's Preferred Sources, are rolling out to more locations and languages. Google said use of Preferred Sources has grown to more than seven times its level at the start of the year, without giving a user count. This week it began testing creator and publisher names on AI Mode video results, linking through to Search profiles.
For brands, the practical effect is that placement inside an AI answer matters more, but Search Console still assigns every link in an AI Overview the overview's single position, so a higher inline link does not by itself change reported ranking. Sites must appear in Search generative AI features in Search Console to qualify as a Preferred Source in AI Mode and AI Overviews.
Reported by Search Engine Journal ↗
Topics: AI Overviews, AI Mode, Citations