Google Redesigns Links in AI Search Answers

Google is testing changes intended to make links to outside websites more visible within AI Mode and AI Overviews. The company plans to place more inline links higher in generated answers and add image previews to a redesigned Dive Deeper section. It is also experimenting with a prominent official websites area for queries where one or two authoritative destinations may be especially helpful. Article carousels are expanding into additional regions and languages, including publications selected through Preferred Sources. Google is also testing creator profiles as destinations from certain video search results in AI Mode. The redesign responds to longstanding concerns that AI answers may reduce visits to publishers. Whether the changes actually increase referral traffic remains uncertain.

Digital Trends, Shikhar Mehrotra – Google is making links in AI answers harder to miss, but referral traffic remains a mystery – 16th October 2026