Google Moves Links Higher in AI Search as Publishers Face Traffic Pressure
Google is giving articles and source websites more prominent placement in AI Overviews and AI Mode as AI-generated answers reshape how users reach content across the web.
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Google is making links more prominent in its AI-powered search results as publishers grapple with a search experience that increasingly answers questions before users leave Google.
The company said on Thursday, October 15, that links embedded inside AI-generated responses will appear higher in results more frequently, while news article carousels will be expanded to more locations and languages.
The changes apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode, the two products at the center of Google’s shift from traditional search results toward generated answers.
“We’re also launching updates to show inline links higher up in responses more frequently,” Google said in its official announcement, adding that the change is intended to make important sources easier to reach while users read an AI response.
Google is also testing a dedicated section at the top of some AI responses that will highlight one or two official webpages when its systems determine that they are the most relevant places for completing a task or obtaining information.
The company is separately expanding the article carousels that appear within its AI search products. These cards display links to timely reporting and can include publications a user has designated as Preferred Sources.
Google introduced Preferred Sources as a way for users to tell Search which websites they want to see more often. It extended the feature to AI Overviews and AI Mode earlier this year and said users were twice as likely to click through to a website after marking it as a preferred source.
Google said on Thursday that the number of people using Preferred Sources had grown more than sevenfold since the beginning of the year.
The company is also redesigning links displayed after some AI-generated answers. Those links will receive larger visual treatment, including image thumbnails, rather than appearing only as less prominent references below the response.
Google said it was making those links “more engaging and prominent” for people who want to continue researching a topic.
The changes come as Google increasingly places generated responses at the center of Search.
AI Overviews began rolling out broadly in the US in May 2024, generating summaries above conventional search results for many queries. Google introduced AI Mode as an experimental product in March 2025, allowing users to ask longer questions, receive generated answers and continue with follow-up queries.
The scale of those products has grown quickly. Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said during the company’s second-quarter 2025 earnings call that AI Overviews had surpassed 2 billion monthly users across more than 200 countries and territories and 40 languages.
