Google will now be using AI to define the relevance of news articles in search results, which will make it easier to find website links within its AI-generated answers. The update adds links to higher-placed responses, extends news article carousels to additional regions and languages, and provides users with additional means to delve deeper into the sources.
The update, which will impact both Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews, was announced on October 15, 2026. News publishers are becoming more concerned that readers are getting answers straight from AI summaries, rather than clicking through to the websites from which the information is being reported.
Google Wants Users to Look Beyond the AI Answer
Google Search for years has pointed users at websites via lists of links. AI Overviews changed that with the introduction of AI-generated summaries on top of these typical search results, so users can have a response without opening up another page.
Google created AI Overviews and, in March 2024 and in March 2025 also added AI Mode. The search in AI Mode is more conversational, giving users in-depth answers and allowing them to explore their queries further.
But this has posed a problem for publishers. Readers may not need to click on the websites that provide answers to a question if the Artificial Intelligence answer is succinct and to the point.
Five Changes Could Make Original Sources Easier to Find
Google’s October update includes some updates to help readers connect with websites, news articles, and creators.
- AI answers contain links earlier in the answer. Google will make links in AI-generated text more conspicuous and more likely to appear at the top of its answers. When there is a relevant source, readers will be able to access it without having to scan through an entire answer.
- Official websites are given an area of their own. Google is trialing a new prominent section in some of the AI answers that identifies one or two official websites. It will also clarify the importance of each of the links, especially if they are needed to finish a job or look for certain information from an authoritative source.
- News carousels are able to connect with more users. Graphic libraries of articles, when they are fresh, with headlines and images, are growing in other areas and other languages. These can be used to help readers to find insights from other stories on a developing story.
- Articles that are related are more visible. Some AI-generated links will be at the end of the answers, and they will have images and a more prominent design that will compel users to learn more about a subject than the summary they are given.
- Profiles of the publisher and the creator are easier to access. Google has started testing names on video results in AI Mode that can be clicked to start a conversation. Google has started to test AI Mode video results with clickable names to kick off conversations. Clicking a name will link to a Search profile that will allow users to find more of that creator’s or publisher’s work.
Google also said that it has seen over seven times more usage of its Preferred Sources feature since January 2026. The feature lets users pick the sites they want to appear more often in search results, and the new, bigger news carousels will feature their preferred sites.
More Visible Links Do Not Guarantee More Website Visits
Whether these changes will encourage more users to abandon Google’s AI-generated responses and go to the original websites will be the key to determining their impact.
Easier-to-spot source material with better-positioned links and image-based article carousels. People who are looking into a complex subject might also choose to read both reports, review the evidence, or to read a longer article that is beyond the scope of an AI summary.
A bigger question lies unanswered: How can Google make AI search user-friendly for readers without making it more difficult for websites providing the information to get to readers? The most recent change is a move towards balancing that out, but it’s the results that’ll be important, not the design changes themselves.
