# Google adds sources section, more links to AI Overviews and AI Mode

Published: 2026-10-15T16:03:06.916Z · Source: Google Keyword Blog (https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/updates-ai-mode-overviews-explore-web/)
Source date: 2026-10-15
Entities: ai-overviews, ai-mode, google

Google is rolling out several changes to AI Mode and AI Overviews meant to surface more links out to other sites, per its own announcement:

- more inline links within responses, positioned higher for easier access
- a new section, still testing, that surfaces a topic's official website at the top of some answers
- Preferred Sources news carousels, expanding to more locations and languages
- thumbnail images on end-of-response links to related articles
- clickable creator and publisher names on video results, linking to Search profiles — this one just started testing this week

Google also says use of Preferred Sources, the publisher-set feature it launched in May, is up more than 7x since the start of the year; the wire tracked it at 345,000 picks in May and 600,000 by August. Google gives no scope for any of the still-testing items — no language count, no rollout locations, no date they become general.

Why it matters: Most of these changes are still in testing rather than full rollout, and Google states no scope — no language count, no locations, no end date — for any of them, so the real measure is whether they survive to general availability.

## What this answers

**What changed in how Google AI Overviews and AI Mode link out to websites?**

Google added more inline links positioned higher in responses, is testing a new section that surfaces a topic's official website, expanded its Preferred Sources news carousels, added thumbnails to end-of-response article links, and began testing clickable creator names on video results — all per Google's own announcement.

**Is Google's Preferred Sources feature gaining use?**

Google says use of Preferred Sources is up more than 7x since the start of 2026. The wire previously tracked it at 345,000 picks in May and 600,000 by August.


Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-10-15-google-adds-sources-section-more-links-to-ai-overviews-and-ai-mode/
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