Google Moves Inline Links Higher in AI Mode and AI Overviews
More links, placed higher, but still no click data to tell you if they send visits to your site.
Google is putting more inline links into AI Mode and AI Overviews, and showing them higher in the answer. On October 15 it also said it will test an official websites section.
If your traffic comes from Google, you’ll want to know where your link now sits in AI Mode and AI Overviews, and whether anyone clicks it.
What Google changed
Google’s post on the AI Mode and AI Overviews changes, by product VP Hema Budaraju, lists five changes at different stages:
- More inline links (links on words inside the answer), shown higher up
- A test of a section at the top that points to the official sites for a task
- News carousels rolling out to more locations and languages
- Thumbnails and a bigger design for related links at the end of some answers
- A test of clickable creator and publisher names on video results in AI Mode
How many more links, and how much higher? Google didn’t give a number for any of it.
The official sites test
This one’s for brands. Google will test a display that puts the official destination first when there are only one or two official places to complete a task, with a note on each link.
But Google’s post leaves a lot out. PPC Land’s breakdown of the update flags the gaps too. Missing so far:
- how Google decides which site counts as official
- a start date
- the size of the test and the markets it runs in
Rank for “brand login” searches? Those official links could take your clicks.
Preferred Sources keeps growing
Google says Preferred Sources use has grown more than seven times since the start of the year. It gave no baseline.
Still, the carousels highlight the sources your readers picked, so every reader who adds you as a preferred source gives your stories one more way into those carousels. You can work on that.
Why it matters
You’ll hear this sold as Google sending more traffic to your site. Maybe it does.
But you still can’t see clicks from AI Mode and AI Overviews on their own in Search Console.
The Generative AI performance report Google introduced in June counts only impressions. That impression data is also included in the overall performance report.
So what can you check in Search Console today? I’d start here:
- Compare clicks and impressions on your top informational pages before and after October 15.
- Search your main queries and note whether your site shows as an inline link or only at the end.
- Ask your loyal readers to add you as a preferred source with Google’s button.
Search Engine Roundtable reports that Google won’t show click data, and Google told Barry Schwartz that “we’ll introduce additional metrics over time.”
Then there’s position. Search Engine Journal notes that all links inside an AI Overview share its one position in Search Console. So a higher link won’t show up as a better rank.
My take: it’s real, but small.
Until Google shows click numbers for AI Mode and AI Overviews in Search Console, your own analytics are the only proof that any of these links in AI Mode and AI Overviews reach your site.
Run a news site? Then the carousels matter most, because Google is taking them to more locations and languages and they lean on the sources your own readers picked as preferred.
Common Questions
What are inline links in Google AI Mode and AI Overviews?
Inline links are clickable links placed on words or phrases inside an AI answer. Google said on October 15, 2026, that it’s showing more of them and placing them higher in AI Mode and AI Overviews responses.
Can I see clicks from AI Overviews in Google Search Console?
Not separately. Search Engine Roundtable reports that Google won’t show click data for these links. Google says it will add more metrics over time.
How does Google decide which site appears in the official websites section?
Google hasn’t explained it. The section is a planned test that points to official destinations for task searches, and Google gave no criteria, markets or start date for it.
