[DEVELOPING] Google moves links higher in AI Mode and AI Overviews but publishes no click figures
On Oct 15, Google announced five changes to AI Mode and AI Overviews: more inline links placed higher in answers, a test section for official-site links, wider news carousels that favor Preferred Sources, thumbnails on related-article links, and clickable creator names. Search Engine Journal noted that Google gave no figure for the increase in links. Search Engine Roundtable noted that Google will not show click data and questioned whether its efforts to drive clicks from AI search are working. How links are placed inside AI answers drives publisher referral economics, so the thing to watch is whether third-party traffic data shows any change in click-through from AI surfaces.