{"id":432,"date":"2026-10-21T03:54:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T03:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T03:54:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T03:54:43","slug":"google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode","status":"publish","type":"insight","link":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Is Putting More Website Links in Its AI Answers, but Won&#8217;t Say How Many Clicks They Get"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On October 15, 2026, Google announced changes to how AI Overviews (the AI-written summaries at the top of some Google results) and AI Mode (its chat-style search) link out to websites. The <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/products-and-platforms\/products\/search\/updates-ai-mode-overviews-explore-web\/\">announcement<\/a> came from Hema Budaraju, Google&#8217;s vice president of product management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What changed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>More links inside the answer.<\/strong> Google says it has made &#8220;continued and substantial increases&#8221; to links placed in the answer text, and is launching updates to show them higher up more often. It didn&#8217;t say how big the increase is.<\/li><li><strong>An official-sites section, in testing.<\/strong> When there are &#8220;only one or two official places on the web to complete a specific task,&#8221; Google will test a section at the top of the answer that features those sites, with a note on why each link is useful.<\/li><li><strong>More clickable links at the end.<\/strong> The links shown at the end of some answers are getting image thumbnails and a more clickable design.<\/li><li><strong>More carousels of timely articles.<\/strong> These carousels, which also highlight sites people have picked as Preferred Sources, are starting to roll out to more locations and languages. Google says Preferred Sources use has grown more than 7x since the start of the year.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What&#8217;s confirmed and what isn&#8217;t<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Google confirmed the changes themselves. The official-sites section is only a test, with no timeline. What isn&#8217;t confirmed is whether any of this brings websites more visits: Google shared no click or traffic numbers. Google told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seroundtable.com\/google-updates-links-in-ai-mode-and-ai-overviews-again-42308.html\">Search Engine Roundtable<\/a> it will &#8220;introduce additional metrics over time.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s also a measurement catch, pointed out by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/google-inline-links-higher-ai-search-responses\/593089\/\">Search Engine Journal<\/a>. Google&#8217;s own <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/7042828\">Search Console help page<\/a> says an AI Overview takes up a single position in the results, and every link inside it gets that same position. So if your link moves higher inside an answer, your reported position won&#8217;t change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why it matters for a small business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The official-sites test is the part to watch. Google didn&#8217;t say which tasks qualify or give any examples. Our read: if the test grows to cover things like booking with or contacting a specific business, that business&#8217;s own website is the obvious official place to send people. Google hasn&#8217;t said that, though, so treat it as a possibility, not a plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode will show more links to websites, higher up in the answer, and it&#8217;s testing a section for &#8220;official&#8221; sites. It shared no click numbers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"insight_format":"Platform update","insight_takeaway":"More and better-placed links in Google's AI answers could send websites more visits, but Google hasn't shown any proof yet. Judge it by whether your own visits from Google change, not by the announcement.","insight_action":"If an AI answer shows up when you search Google for your business name plus a task like \"book\" or \"contact,\" check whether it links to your own website, and make sure your homepage clearly shows your business name, location and how to reach you.","insight_source_url":"https:\/\/blog.google\/products-and-platforms\/products\/search\/updates-ai-mode-overviews-explore-web\/","insight_read_time":"","insight_featured":"0"},"insight_industry":[33],"insight_topic":[49],"class_list":["post-432","insight","type-insight","status-publish","hentry","insight_industry-general-business","insight_topic-ai-search"],"acf":{"insight_format":"Platform update","insight_takeaway":"More and better-placed links in Google's AI answers could send websites more visits, but Google hasn't shown any proof yet. Judge it by whether your own visits from Google change, not by the announcement.","insight_action":"If an AI answer shows up when you search Google for your business name plus a task like \"book\" or \"contact,\" check whether it links to your own website, and make sure your homepage clearly shows your business name, location and how to reach you.","insight_source_url":"https:\/\/blog.google\/products-and-platforms\/products\/search\/updates-ai-mode-overviews-explore-web\/","insight_read_time":"","insight_featured":false},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.3 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Google is adding more website links to AI Overviews and AI Mode and testing an official-sites section. What changed, what&#039;s unconfirmed, and why it matters.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"user\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.3\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"diib Insights - Real, data-driven insights for SMBs about their online presence.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Google Adds More Website Links to AI Answers | diib\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Google is adding more website links to AI Overviews and AI Mode and testing an official-sites section. What changed, what&#039;s unconfirmed, and why it matters.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/52.41.199.170\/start\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-logo-1.png\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:secure_url\" content=\"https:\/\/52.41.199.170\/start\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-logo-1.png\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-21T03:54:39+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-21T03:54:43+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Google Adds More Website Links to AI Answers | diib\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Google is adding more website links to AI Overviews and AI Mode and testing an official-sites section. What changed, what&#039;s unconfirmed, and why it matters.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/52.41.199.170\/start\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-logo-1.png\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Insights\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Insights\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/industry\\\/general-business\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"General Business\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/industry\\\/general-business\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"General Business\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/industry\\\/general-business\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Google Is Putting More Website Links in Its AI Answers, but Won&#8217;t Say How Many Clicks They Get\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Insights\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Google Is Putting More Website Links in Its AI Answers, but Won&#8217;t Say How Many Clicks They Get\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/industry\\\/general-business\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"General Business\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"diib Insights\",\"description\":\"Real, data-driven insights for SMBs about their online presence.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/author\\\/start-insights-connector\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/author\\\/start-insights-connector\\\/\",\"name\":\"user\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\\\/#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1a0b800f19e5c9ae679a174481d590219e2084b3a5fdf8f0c04ce0e10516054c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"user\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\\\/\",\"name\":\"Google Adds More Website Links to AI Answers | diib\",\"description\":\"Google is adding more website links to AI Overviews and AI Mode and testing an official-sites section. What changed, what's unconfirmed, and why it matters.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/insights\\\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/author\\\/start-insights-connector\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/author\\\/start-insights-connector\\\/#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-21T03:54:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-21T03:54:43+00:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/\",\"name\":\"diib Insights\",\"description\":\"Real, data-driven insights for SMBs about their online presence.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/diib.com\\\/start\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Google Adds More Website Links to AI Answers | diib","description":"Google is adding more website links to AI Overviews and AI Mode and testing an official-sites section. What changed, what's unconfirmed, and why it matters.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/#listItem","name":"Insights"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Insights","item":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/industry\/general-business\/#listItem","name":"General Business"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/industry\/general-business\/#listItem","position":3,"name":"General Business","item":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/industry\/general-business\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/#listItem","name":"Google Is Putting More Website Links in Its AI Answers, but Won&#8217;t Say How Many Clicks They Get"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/#listItem","name":"Insights"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/#listItem","position":4,"name":"Google Is Putting More Website Links in Its AI Answers, but Won&#8217;t Say How Many Clicks They Get","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/industry\/general-business\/#listItem","name":"General Business"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/#organization","name":"diib Insights","description":"Real, data-driven insights for SMBs about their online presence.","url":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/author\/start-insights-connector\/#author","url":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/author\/start-insights-connector\/","name":"user","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1a0b800f19e5c9ae679a174481d590219e2084b3a5fdf8f0c04ce0e10516054c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"user"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/","name":"Google Adds More Website Links to AI Answers | diib","description":"Google is adding more website links to AI Overviews and AI Mode and testing an official-sites section. What changed, what's unconfirmed, and why it matters.","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/author\/start-insights-connector\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/author\/start-insights-connector\/#author"},"datePublished":"2026-10-21T03:54:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-21T03:54:43+00:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/#website","url":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/","name":"diib Insights","description":"Real, data-driven insights for SMBs about their online presence.","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/#organization"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"diib Insights - Real, data-driven insights for SMBs about their online presence.","og:type":"article","og:title":"Google Adds More Website Links to AI Answers | diib","og:description":"Google is adding more website links to AI Overviews and AI Mode and testing an official-sites section. What changed, what's unconfirmed, and why it matters.","og:url":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/","og:image":"https:\/\/52.41.199.170\/start\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-logo-1.png","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/52.41.199.170\/start\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-logo-1.png","article:published_time":"2026-10-21T03:54:39+00:00","article:modified_time":"2026-10-21T03:54:43+00:00","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:title":"Google Adds More Website Links to AI Answers | diib","twitter:description":"Google is adding more website links to AI Overviews and AI Mode and testing an official-sites section. What changed, what's unconfirmed, and why it matters.","twitter:image":"https:\/\/52.41.199.170\/start\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-logo-1.png"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"432","title":"Google Adds More Website Links to AI Answers | diib","description":"Google is adding more website links to AI Overviews and AI Mode and testing an official-sites section. What changed, what's unconfirmed, and why it matters.","keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":0,"frequency":"default","local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2026-10-21 03:54:43","updated":"2026-10-21 17:51:00","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null,"focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/\" title=\"Insights\">Insights<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/industry\/general-business\/\" title=\"General Business\">General Business<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tGoogle Is Putting More Website Links in Its AI Answers, but Won\u2019t Say How Many Clicks They Get\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/"},{"label":"Insights","link":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/"},{"label":"General Business","link":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/industry\/general-business\/"},{"label":"Google Is Putting More Website Links in Its AI Answers, but Won&#8217;t Say How Many Clicks They Get","link":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/insights\/google-more-website-links-ai-overviews-ai-mode\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/insight"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":434,"href":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight\/432\/revisions\/434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"insight_industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight_industry?post=432"},{"taxonomy":"insight_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diib.com\/start\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insight_topic?post=432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}