Google announced that it is updating its AI search results to display source links more prominently on both desktop and mobile platforms and introducing a new interface that reveals descriptions and images within pop-up menus when users hover over citations.
Robby Stein, Product VP for Google Search, wrote on X:
“In AI Overviews and AI Mode, groups of links will automatically appear in a pop-up as you hover over them on desktop, so you can jump right into a website to learn more. And we’ll show more descriptive and prominent link icons within the response across both desktop and mobile. Our testing shows this new UI is more engaging, making it easier to get to great content across the web.”
The changes were also likely made to appease scrutiny from publishers and regulators who claim that Google’s AI Mode is resulting in less traffic to their websites. In December 2025, the EU actually began investigating Google for breaching its competition rules by using content from web publishers for its AI search tools, while failing to provide “appropriate compensation” or the ability to refuse use of their content.
Historically publishers, myself included, have catered to Google’s precarious whims because the juice was worth the squeeze in regards to the traffic it could generate. However if that traffic dries up because no-one’s visiting the actual websites that publish the information, then publishers might find less incentive to allow their content to get ingested by Google. And that could eventually be a problem for Google.
However that said, making links more prominent in AI results feels like giving an inch to take a mile. Google Search used to bring you 10,000 visitors a day and now that’s dried up to 1,000? Here’s 2,000 instead (at least for the time being). Enjoy your scraps, publishers!
