Google adds more links to AI search results amid publisher traffic concerns

Google is expanding the number of links displayed in its AI Mode search results, with plans to embed more website links directly within AI-generated responses. The move comes as publishers report significant traffic drops from AI summaries, while Google maintains that overall search traffic remains unchanged despite growing concerns about users bypassing traditional web browsing.

What you should know: Google’s AI Mode will feature enhanced link placement designed to encourage more user clicks to source websites.
• Robby Stein, VP of product for Google Search, announced via X that the company is experimenting with methods to display more links in AI Mode queries.
• Link carousels are now available on desktop and will roll out to mobile devices soon, though no specific timeline was provided.
• Google is training its AI models to better understand when and where users are most likely to want additional information beyond the AI summary.

The big picture: This development highlights the ongoing tension between AI-powered search experiences and traditional web traffic patterns.
• A July Pew Research Center report found that people “very rarely” clicked on links cited in AI summaries.
• Publishers are attributing steep traffic drops to the rise of AI summaries, fearing they disincentivize users from visiting their websites.
• Google’s response suggests the company is trying to balance user experience with publisher concerns about reduced web traffic.

Key details: Google is implementing several technical improvements to make links more prominent and useful.
• The company is preparing model updates to improve hyperlink placement within AI Mode text responses.
• Google’s long-term goal is to embed more links within AI responses based on user behavior patterns.
• The Web Guide experiment in Google Labs is being expanded to “intelligently surface and organize the most useful web links with AI” for complex queries.

What remains unclear: Google has not provided transparency around its link selection criteria or traffic attribution.
• The company hasn’t defined what makes a website’s information “useful” enough to be displayed within AI Mode summaries.
• Google does not share with publishers how much traffic comes specifically from AI Mode summary link clicks.
• Liz Reid, VP and head of Google Search, dismissed third-party studies showing traffic declines as “flawed, isolated, or based on an incorrect timeframe.”