The share of Google AI Overviews carrying a link to an outside site within the answer itself rose from near zero to about 26% after September 11, per data from AI search analytics firm Peec AI examined by Matt G. Southern at Search Engine Journal. Peec hasn’t disclosed its sample size, markets, or how it classifies an in-text link, so the jump could stem from its own data collection rather than from Google. A screen recording from Gagan Ghotra also shows underlined text in an AI Overview sending the user into an AI Mode conversation rather than to a website. Search Console can’t show whether any of these links send traffic, since its generative AI report tracks impressions but not clicks, and links that trigger a fresh Google query count as neither.
