Google adds more links to AI Mode and tests an official sites section

On October 15, 2026, Google announced five changes to how links appear in AI Mode and AI Overviews. AI Overviews are the AI summaries at the top of some Google results. AI Mode is the separate chat-style search tab. The post, titled "More ways to connect with the web from Search," was written by Hema Budaraju, Google's VP of Product Management.¹

Some of the changes are live or rolling out. Two are only tests. One number in the post, a "more than 7x" growth figure for Preferred Sources, is already being reported in slightly different ways. Below: what Google said, what is still a test, and what to check this week.

What Google announced on October 15

Here are the five changes, with their status as Google described them.

Source for all five rows: Google's October 15 post.¹

"We've made continued and substantial increases to the presence of inline links in our AI experiences."

Hema Budaraju, Google, October 15, 2026.¹

Confirmed, testing, and reported only

CONFIRMED, by Google directly:

• Google says it is updating AI Mode and AI Overviews with "clearer inline links" and showing them higher more often.¹
• The links at the end of some AI responses are getting thumbnails and a more clickable design. Google's heading for this part is "Dive deeper with prominent links to related articles."¹
• Google is "starting to roll out" the carousels for timely articles to more locations and languages. The post does not name which ones.¹
• The number of people who use Preferred Sources has "grown by more than 7x since the start of the year."¹

TESTING, by Google's own description:

• The official websites section. Google calls it "a new display in Search AI experiences." It does not say whether this is AI Mode, AI Overviews, or both. Each link will come with context about why it is useful.¹
• Clickable creator and publisher names on video results in AI Mode. These link to Search profiles. Google's help page for creating a Search profile does not yet list AI Mode as a place profiles appear.²

REPORTED, not stated by Google in this post:

• How much inline links increased. Google gives no number, and Search Engine Journal pointed out the same gap.³
• Which countries and languages get the expanded carousels. Neither Google nor the coverage names them.
• Any timeline for the two tests becoming permanent. There isn't one.

Three things the coverage got mixed up

1. The 7x figure counts people, not sites. Google's sentence is about "the number of people who now use our Preferred Sources feature."¹ Earlier Google numbers counted something else: how many unique sites people had picked. Those were nearly 90,000 in December 2025, over 200,000 in April 2026, and more than 345,000 in May 2026.⁴⁵⁶ So the two kinds of numbers can't be lined up into one growth curve. Google also gives no starting number for the 7x, so we don't know the actual user count.

2. Preferred Sources did not launch "earlier this year." One report said Preferred Sources is expanding "after launching earlier this year," and that usage "has grown 7x since then."⁷ That isn't quite right. Preferred Sources launched on August 12, 2025, in Top Stories, for users in the US and India.⁸ It reached all supported languages in April 2026.⁵ It came to AI Overviews and AI Mode on May 27, 2026.⁶ And Google's 7x is measured from "the start of the year," not from a launch. What is expanding now, per Google's wording, is the carousels that highlight Preferred Sources.

3. The 400-publisher news pilot is a separate announcement. Google published a second post on the same day. It said "more than 400 publications worldwide are now participating" in its paid News AI pilot program.⁹ Some same-day headlines put the two stories together.¹⁰ They are different programs. The links post does not mention the news pilot or any publisher count.

Timeline: how links in Google's AI answers got here

What this means for brands and publishers: a practical check

This is Ripplix's own working checklist. It is based only on what Google has said so far. None of it guarantees a link.

1. Are you the "official place" for a task?

Google's test covers cases where "there are only one or two official places on the web to complete a specific task."¹ Google has not published how it decides which sites count. So treat this as an open question. Still, you can list your candidates. To do that:

1. Write down tasks only your site can complete. Think "log in to my account," "track my order," "book a slot with [your brand]," or "download the [your product] app." (These are our examples, not Google's.)
2. Check that each task has one clear page on your own domain, with a plain title that names the task.
3. Look for copycat pages that outrank you for those tasks, like resellers or unofficial guides. If they exist, Google may have a harder time telling which site is official.

If your business is mostly giving advice rather than completing tasks, this section probably won't apply to you much. Inline links and carousels matter more.

2. Set up Preferred Sources properly

Preferred Sources lets a reader pick sites they want to see more of. Google's publisher guide sets out the rules:¹⁴

• Search Console setting. To be eligible in AI Mode and AI Overviews, "you must make sure your site is included in Search generative AI features in Search Console."
• Domain level only. A whole domain or subdomain can be picked. A subfolder like example.com/blog can't.
• Ask readers directly. Google offers a ready-made button, or a plain link in this format: https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=example.com
• Not required. Google says none of these methods is needed for a site to appear as a preferred source. They just make it easier for readers.

Google has also said people who pick a Preferred Source are about twice as likely to click through to it.⁵ That's why the reader ask is worth doing if you publish news or fresh content.

3. Claim a Search profile if you qualify

The video name test links to Search profiles. Right now you need at least 10,000 followers on YouTube, Instagram, X or TikTok. You also need to be in Canada, India or the United States, and be 18 or older.² If you qualify, claiming one now costs little and may matter more if the AI Mode test expands.

4. Know what Search Console can and can't show you

Here is what Google's help pages say:

In other words, the October change (links shown higher) won't show up as a better position in Search Console. To see it, you need to check the answers themselves, one question at a time.

5. Track inline links by question

Illustrative composite, not a real client or study: imagine an invented meal-kit brand we will call "MealCo." It tracks three customer questions in AI Mode each week. It notes whether its site is linked, and where the link sits in the answer.

A table like this shows things Search Console can't. The first row is a task question, which is where an official section would fit. The second row is a comparison question, where MealCo needs third-party reviews to mention it. The third row shows a link that exists but sits at the bottom. Run the same questions before and after a Google change, and you can see whether your links actually moved.

Open questions

• How does Google decide what counts as an "official place"? It hasn't said.
• Will the official section and the video name links go beyond testing? There's no timeline.
• How many more clicks do higher inline links send? Google gives no click data in this post.
• Which countries and languages get the expanded carousels? Not named.

See where your brand gets linked in AI answers

Google's change moves links higher, but Search Console won't show you which questions link to you or where the link sits. Ripplix tracks that across AI Mode, AI Overviews and other AI engines, question by question.

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