Google makes source links in AI answers “more prominent” [Global AI Briefing]

[Financial News] Google is making links to original websites more prominent in its AI search answers. As so-called “zero-click” searches—where users finish searching without reading the original article—become more widespread while AI summarizes online information and provides answers, the move is seen as an effort to strengthen the feature that connects users to the media outlets and websites that created the content.
Google announced on the 15th (local time), through its official blog, that it is improving how links are displayed in its AI search services, AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Hema Budaraju, Google’s vice president of product management for Search, said, “We’re improving the feature so users can more easily explore the information they need and find trustworthy sources.” Budaraju added that source links included in AI answers would be displayed more often and higher up.
Links to websites referenced in AI answers were already displayed, but users sometimes had to look further on the screen to find the sources. Going forward, Google is enhancing the links so users can check the relevant original sources right away while reading an answer.
Google is also testing a feature to help users find official websites more easily. For questions where visiting one or two official sites is important to completing a real-world task, such as getting an airline ticket refund or handling a specific administrative matter, the company plans to show relevant links separately at the top of the answer and explain what each site is best suited for.
The move is seen as reflecting experts’ observations that the structure of content distribution is changing as the AI-driven zero-click phenomenon has recently gained momentum. In particular, more media outlets are seeing their advertising revenue plummet because their articles are being used as the basis for AI answers without leading to visits to their sites from actual users.
However, people in content production and the media industry say it remains unclear whether Google’s latest improvements will actually lead to more visits to media outlets that produce original content.
[email protected] Lee Gu-sun Reporter