Google makes links more prominent in AI Mode and AI Overviews after publisher pushback

Google is changing how its AI search surfaces point back to the open web. Links and articles will be shown higher and more prominently in AI Mode results. The company is expanding a carousel of headline-and-image cards, and contextual links will appear earlier and more frequently inside AI Overviews globally. The changes are a direct response to publishers who say AI-generated answers have siphoned off the clicks their businesses depend on.

The mechanism is placement rather than a new revenue deal. By moving source links up the page and attaching them inline to the claims they support, Google raises the odds that readers click through rather than stopping at the AI summary. The carousel format, with headline and image cards, borrows from Top Stories, a format publishers know drives traffic.

The move reflects mounting pressure across the industry. Publishers have pursued legal and regulatory routes against AI summarization, and rivals such as ChatGPT search and Perplexity face similar complaints. Google's dominance in search makes its choices decisive for web traffic, so even modest increases in click-through could meaningfully affect publisher revenue.

Skeptics will want data. Google has not published click-through figures to show whether the redesign restores meaningful traffic, and more prominent links can still be ignored if the AI answer is complete. Publishers will measure the results in their own analytics over the coming weeks. Watch for referral-traffic studies, regulators' reactions in Europe, and whether Google pairs placement changes with licensing payments.