Google AI Mode Links: What Changed and What to Do Now

Google AI Mode link changes: who should check what

Google announced on October 15, 2026 that it changed how links appear in AI Mode and AI Overviews. Site owners should re-check where their pages show up in AI answers and what that link looks like. Think of a restaurant. Before, the shop name was in small print at the bottom of the map. Now there are more big signs at the door and photo menus. Google Search is making links stand out more inside the screen that shows the answer. But the countries and start dates differ by feature, and most are not stated in the announcement.

5 changes to AI Mode links

According to the official Google blog post by Hema Budaraju, a Google vice president of product, there are five changes. In the table, countries, languages and start dates are listed only where the original post states them.

Change	Details	Status
More inline links	Keeps adding links on words and phrases in the answer, and shows key sources near the top of the answer more often	Described as live, no country or timing given
Dedicated official webpage section	Shows official site links needed for a specific task in a separate section at the top of the answer, with a note on why the link is useful	Test planned, no country or timing given
News carousel	Expands the carousel of timely articles to more regions and languages and highlights Preferred Sources	Rollout started, no country list given
Related links at the end of answers	Changes links at the end of some AI answers to a more prominent format with thumbnails	No country or timing given
Name links in video results	In AI Mode video results, tapping a creator or publisher name opens their Search profile	Test starts this week, no country given

Google describes an inline link as "a link placed on a word or phrase in an AI answer." What this post newly promises is the position and look of links. It does not give the percentage increase in links or how much clicks grew.

Does this apply to your site: impact by type

News and magazine-style sites are affected most directly. The article carousel sits above the AI answer, and outlets that users have set as preferred sources get highlighted. For video creators and publishers, name links lead to a Search profile. You can check the eligibility conditions in the Search profile announcement and the Google help page.

The dedicated section matters when users look for an official site to complete a task, such as booking, applying or looking something up. Google said it will show why each link is useful in this section. General information blogs get no new dedicated section. Their exposure may change through inline links and end-of-answer links. The announcement does not say whether this applies in Korea, so check changes in local impressions yourself with the steps below.

What to do now: check AI feature impressions and clicks

1. Open the Performance report in Search Console and export impressions and clicks by query for the last 28 days. Split the daily impression and click trend around the announcement date (October 15) and compare.
2. Pick 5 to 10 core queries and search them on Google yourself. Note whether your site link appears inline in the AI answer or at the end of it. Check the same queries again a week later and compare whether the position changed.
3. If your team makes video or other content, check the help page to see whether you are eligible for a Search profile, and prepare the profile information that the name link will point to.

A good success criterion is to record, for 2 to 4 weeks after the announcement, the position of your links in AI answers together with the impression and click changes over the same period. If you see clicks fall while AI answer exposure rises, the link format change likely has a large effect. We also covered how AI features relate to site revenue in our summary of the Google AI contribution pilot.

What to watch next

The dedicated official link section is still in testing, so its look may change. When Google publishes the country and language scope, we will add an update to this post.

Frequently asked questions

Will more AI Mode links mean more clicks?

Google only said it is showing more links. It did not publish a click increase rate. Compare impressions and clicks in Search Console yourself.

How do I set Preferred Sources?

Preferred Sources is a feature where users pick the outlets they want to see more often in Google Search. The announcement only said the news carousel highlights them.