Google announced a set of changes to how links appear inside AI Mode and AI Overviews on October 15, 2026. More inline links, placed higher in the response, plus carousels and a new section for official sources. The thing to know up front is that Search Console still will not show you click data for any of it, so you are going to feel this before you can measure it.
What Google Changed
The announcement came from Hema Budaraju, VP of Product Management at Google, in a blog post. Google said the goal is to make exploring the web simpler, more visual, and more engaging. Here is what is in it.
- Inline links, higher and more often. Google reported what it called continued and substantial increases to the presence of inline links in AI Mode and AI Overviews, and said they now appear higher in responses more often. Google did not publish a figure for the size of that increase.
- A section for official sources. When only one or two official sites cover a task, Google plans to test showing those links in a dedicated section at the top of the response, with a note on why each one is useful. Search Engine Land's example was an airline refund.
- Article carousels. Previously announced, now expanding to more locations and languages and a wider range of timely queries. They highlight a user's Preferred Sources.
- Related articles with thumbnails. Links at the end of some responses now carry images for a more clickable design.
- Creator profile links in AI Mode. Clicking a creator name on a video result may open their Google Search profile rather than their own website.
Live, Rolling Out, Or Still A Test
This is where I want you to slow down, because the coverage blurs it and the difference changes what you should do.
Based on Search Engine Journal's breakdown, the higher inline links and the carousel expansion are rolling out. The related-article links with thumbnails are live. The official-sources section and the AI Mode creator profile links are being tested, with the profile links described as a test this week.
So nothing here is a finished, fully deployed change you can go audit today.
Search Console Still Will Not Tell You
Google is adding more links inside AI responses and still does not report clicks on them separately. We covered the limits of Search Console's AI reporting back in September, and nothing here changes that picture.
There is a second wrinkle Search Engine Journal pointed out. Search Console assigns every link inside an AI Overview the single position of the overview itself. So moving an inline link higher does not change its reported position at all. Your position data looks identical whether your link sits in the first sentence or the last one.
Keep in mind, this is the same pattern we saw when Google started auto-expanding AI Overviews. The surface changes, the reporting does not.
The Preferred Sources Angle
Google said Preferred Sources usage has grown to more than seven times its level at the start of the year. That is Google's own number, with no user count and no stated measurement method behind it.
It still matters, because the carousels highlight a user's Preferred Sources. Per Google's documentation as Search Engine Journal reported it, your site has to be included in Search Console's generative AI features to qualify.
What I Would Actually Do
- Stop reading position data as a signal in AI surfaces. It cannot move. Watch impressions and clicks at the page level instead.
- Annotate October 15 in your analytics. If referral patterns shift over the next few weeks, you want a marker, because Search Console will not hand you the explanation.
- Check whether you are in Search Console's generative AI features. That is the gate for Preferred Sources eligibility, and it takes a minute to confirm.
- Keep building pages worth linking inside an answer. The content planning process does not change because the link moved two paragraphs up.
Worth noting that Barry Schwartz said plainly he is skeptical these changes will drive clicks and is not sure Google's claimed publisher benefits will materialize. That is his read, not Google's, and I think it is the right instinct. More links in an answer is not the same as more people leaving the answer.
If you are trying to get a handle on where you show up in AI results at all, that is a tracking problem worth solving first.
Question to Answer:
Do you know which of your pages currently get cited inside AI Overviews or AI Mode, and are you tracking that anywhere other than Search Console?
In Summary
Google is putting more inline links higher inside AI Mode and AI Overviews, expanding article carousels, and testing a section for official sources. Some of it is live, some is rolling out, and some is still a test, so do not treat this as one finished change.
The honest takeaway is that Google changed the surface and did not change the reporting. Search Console gives every link in an overview the same position, and it still will not show you clicks on them. Annotate the date, watch page-level traffic instead of position, and confirm you are eligible for Preferred Sources while you are in there.
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