Google boosts news and link visibility in AI Mode
Google is updating its AI-powered search results to display links to websites more prominently in response to concerns about declining traffic for publishers. The changes include more frequent contextual links and an expanded global rollout of a link carousel for AI-generated summaries.
Why it matters
This shift highlights the ongoing tension between AI-driven search experiences and the economic sustainability of the digital news ecosystem.
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Add to Preferred Sources Credit: CC0 Public Domain Google announced Thursday it will start displaying links to websites and articles more prominently and higher up in search results powered by artificial intelligence (AI), as brands and news publishers warn of a sharp decline in their traffic.
The Alphabet subsidiary began integrating more AI features in its search results over two years ago.
In May 2024, it launched AI Overviews , where Google generates summarized answers to search queries, rather than only showing links as it historically did.
Then in March 2025, Google added AI Mode, which opens in a separate window and provides a more comprehensive answer and more links than AI Overviews.
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