# Google tests tracking parameter on AI Overview and AI Mode links

Published: 2026-10-02T12:48:51.536Z · Source: Search Engine Roundtable (https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ai-overview-link-tracking-parameters-42219.html)
Source date: 2026-10-02
Flags: single-source — confirmation pending
Entities: google, ai-overviews, ai-mode

Marketer Tom Pool spotted a ?stsource=aioverview parameter appended to links inside Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, posting screenshots to LinkedIn, per Search Engine Roundtable. The tag would let site owners separate clicks that come from AI Overviews and AI Mode from ordinary search-result clicks — something currently invisible in most analytics tools. Google has not confirmed the test, and Search Engine Roundtable's own attempt to reproduce it across several browsers did not surface the parameter; it comes a day after Google's John Mueller confirmed Gemini is quietly adding UTM parameters to its own outgoing links.

Why it matters: A working click tag on AI Overview links would close an attribution gap that currently leaves publishers unable to separate that traffic from ordinary search clicks.

## What this answers

**Does Google tag links in AI Overviews so you can track clicks from them?**

Google appears to be testing it: a marketer spotted a ?st_source=ai_overview parameter on links inside AI Overviews and AI Mode, which would let site owners separate those clicks from other search traffic, per Search Engine Roundtable. Google has not confirmed the test.


Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-10-02-google-tests-tracking-parameter-on-ai-overview-and-ai-mode-links/
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