Google has announced changes to the AI-written answers in its search results that put more links to websites inside those answers, and higher up. It is also testing a new section that points people straight to the official site when only one or two sites can handle what they need. For businesses that have worried AI answers would stop people visiting their websites, this is a development worth understanding.
What did Google announce?
On 15 October 2026, Google published an update on its official blog about AI Mode and AI Overviews. AI Overviews are the short AI-written summaries that sometimes appear at the top of ordinary Google results. AI Mode is a separate, chat-style way of searching where Google's AI writes a longer answer and you can ask follow-up questions.
Google listed five changes:
- More inline links. An inline link is a link placed on a word or phrase inside the answer itself, rather than in a list underneath. Google says it has substantially increased these and is showing them higher in answers more often.
- An "official sites" section (testing). When only one or two official websites offer a particular task or piece of information, Google is testing a section at the top of the answer that lists those sites, with a short note on why each is useful.
- More news carousels. A carousel is a horizontal row of article cards you can scroll through. Google is rolling out its carousels of recent articles to more countries and languages, and they favour each searcher's Preferred Sources (sites a person has told Google they want to see more of).
- Clearer related article links. Some AI answers end with links to related articles. These are getting image thumbnails and a more clickable design.
- Clickable creator names (testing). On video results in AI Mode, creator and publisher names can link to their Google Search profile, a page that gathers information about their wider work.
Why does this matter for business websites?
Since AI answers arrived, a common concern has been the "zero-click" search: someone gets their answer from Google and never visits a website. Google's announcement is a direct response to that tension. More links, placed earlier, give searchers more chances to click through to the sites the answer was built from.
Google has not said how much extra traffic, if any, websites should expect. The announcement gives no figures on clicks and doesn't explain how Google chooses which sites get an inline link. It's also worth noting that two of the five changes are tests, so they may not appear for every search or in every country, including Australia, straight away.
What is the "official sites" section, and who could it help?
This is the change most likely to matter to a typical small or medium business. Google's examples aren't specific, but the idea is clear: when someone is trying to do something that only one organisation can actually do for them, Google wants to send them to that organisation's site rather than summarise around it.
For a business, that could include searches such as booking with you, checking your opening hours, finding your returns policy or paying an invoice. Google says this builds on existing features that already show a site's own links prominently when people search for that site by name.
You can't apply to be included. What you can do is make it easy for Google to recognise which pages on your site are the official place to complete each task.
How does Google decide which sites to link to?
Google hasn't published new rules for these features. Its long-standing guidance is that AI features in Search draw on the same index and quality signals as regular results. In plain terms, a page needs to be crawlable (Google's bots can reach it), indexable (allowed to appear in results) and clearly useful for the question being asked.
That's the same foundation good search engine optimisation (SEO) has always relied on. It also overlaps heavily with answer engine optimisation (AEO), which simply means shaping your content so AI tools can find, understand and quote it accurately.
What this means for your business
This announcement doesn't call for anything dramatic, but it does reward a few sensible basics:
- Give each key task its own clear page. Bookings, quotes, contact details, pricing and policies should each live on a page with a descriptive title and heading, not buried halfway down your homepage.
- State the facts plainly. Write your business name, location, hours and services in ordinary text, so both people and AI can read them without guessing.
- Answer real customer questions. Short, direct answers to the questions people actually ask make your pages easier to link to from an AI response.
- Check that Google can see your pages. In Google Search Console, a free Google tool that shows how your site performs in search, confirm your important pages are indexed.
- Keep an eye on referrals. Watch your analytics over the coming months for any change in visits from Google, and treat early movement with caution while the tests settle.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need to change anything on my website right now?
- Not urgently. If your important pages are clear, accurate and indexed, you're already in a good position. This is a good prompt to review them, though.
- Will this bring more visitors to my site?
- It may, but Google hasn't shared any traffic figures. More links create more chances for a click; they don't guarantee one.
- Can I ask Google to list my site in the official sites section?
- No. It's a test that Google controls. The best you can do is make your official pages easy to identify and understand.
- Are these changes available in Australia?
- Google described the news carousel expansion as rolling out to more locations and languages, but it didn't list countries, and the official sites section and creator links are still tests. Availability may vary.
- What is a Preferred Source?
- It's a Google setting that lets a person choose news sites they'd like to see more often. Google says use of it has grown more than sevenfold since the start of 2026.
Ready to make your pages easier to find?
If you'd like a second opinion on whether your key pages are ready for AI search, we're happy to take a look. Book a free strategy session or email us at hello@k2ascent.com.au.
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