By Faizyab Ahmed
The short version: on October 15, 2026, Google announced that AI Mode and AI Overviews will show more links, higher up in their answers, and it is testing a section that points people to the "official" pages for a task. A few days later, Google's help page on controlling what appears in Search was updated to list a Search Console setting that can switch a whole site out of AI results. For a small business, the useful reading is: AI answers are becoming a place where your site can be linked, not only summarised, so being a clear, trustworthy, easy-to-quote source matters more than ever. What isn't known yet is how many extra clicks this actually creates, and Google hasn't said.
What Google Changed on October 15
In its post "More ways to connect with the web from Search", Google described five changes. Two of them are only tests, so don't expect to see everything yet.
| Change | Status | What it means for a business site |
|---|---|---|
| More inline links in AI answers, shown higher up more often | Rolling out | More chances for your page to be linked inside an answer, rather than only listed below it |
| "Official sites" section at the top of some AI answers, with a note on why each link helps | Testing | For task-type searches, Google may surface a handful of authoritative pages first |
| News carousels for timely articles | Expanding to more locations and languages | Mainly relevant to news publishers |
| Thumbnails and clearer design on related-article links at the end of answers | Rolling out | Links at the bottom of an answer become more clickable |
| Clickable creator and publisher names on video results in AI Mode, linking to Search profiles | Testing | Only affects you if you publish video |
Google also said usage of its Preferred Sources feature has grown more than sevenfold since the start of the year. That feature is aimed at news publishers, so it matters less to a service business, but it shows the direction: Google is giving people more ways to choose who they get information from.
Does That Mean More Clicks? Nobody Knows Yet
Google says its increases in inline links have been "continued and substantial", but it hasn't published any click data, and Search Console's AI reporting currently counts impressions without separating out clicks. We covered how that report works in our post on the Search Console AI visibility report.
The earlier data is still the best guide: a Pew analysis found people clicked a result 8% of the time when an AI summary appeared, versus 15% without one (see our zero-click search post). More links in AI answers may narrow that gap, or may not. Treat any claim that this will "restore your traffic" as speculation. Measure it on your own site instead.
The "Official Sites" Test: What to Do About It
Google hasn't published criteria for which pages get picked, so anyone promising a recipe is guessing. What's reasonable to do is make it easy for Google to tell which pages are the official, authoritative ones for your business:
- One clear page per core service, with a plain title, a direct description of what you do, and your pricing or process stated honestly.
- Consistent business details everywhere: the same name, website and description on your site, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn page and any directory listings.
- An About page and contact details a stranger could verify.
- A current Google Business Profile. AI answers for local and task searches lean on it. Our Business Profile guide covers what to keep fresh.
- Pages Google can crawl and index. A page that isn't indexed can't be linked. If you've published pages that Search Console lists as "Discovered – currently not indexed", request indexing for the important ones.
The New Switch: Opting Out of AI Features
Google's "Control what you share with Google Search" page now lists seven ways to keep content out of Search, updated October 21. Two are newly listed, and only these two relate to AI Overviews and AI Mode:
- Search generative AI control in Search Console. A site-wide setting per property with three options: include (the default), exclude, or inherit from a parent property. Excluded content is no longer used as input for AI responses, and the site gets no impressions or traffic from those features. Google says it doesn't affect AI training, isn't a ranking signal elsewhere in Search, and usually takes one to two days to apply.
- Robots meta tag,
data-nosnippetandX-Robots-Tag. Page-level and text-level controls. Google's earlier documentation saysnosnippetkeeps content from being a direct input to AI Overviews and AI Mode, anddata-nosnippetcan hide a specific passage.
Should a small business use them? Almost never. If your goal is to be found, excluding your site from AI features means you get no impressions or traffic from them at all. The cases where it can make sense are narrow: you sell paid or members-only content you don't want summarised, or you have a specific legal or contractual reason. For everyone else, leave the default alone and check that nobody has changed it by accident.
A Practical Checklist for This Month
- Check the Generative AI report in Search Console and note your impressions. This is your baseline.
- Search your business and top services in AI Mode yourself and write down whether your site or Business Profile is linked. Repeat in a month.
- Confirm the setting is on its default. If you or a developer ever touched the generative AI control, make sure it isn't set to exclude.
- Lead each key page with a direct answer. Pages that state clearly who they're for, what you do and what it costs are easier to quote and link.
- Request indexing for any important page Search Console hasn't crawled yet.
- Keep your Business Profile and reviews current, and make sure your name, address and website match everywhere.
- Don't change anything dramatic because of a test. The official-sites section and creator links are experiments. Tidy fundamentals beat reacting to each announcement.
The Honest Bottom Line
Google adding more links to AI answers is a good sign for sites that deserve to be cited, and it changes nothing for sites that don't have the basics in place. Nobody outside Google can yet say how much traffic it sends. The reliable move is the boring one: make your pages clear and crawlable, keep your Google profiles accurate, and measure your own numbers month by month.
If you'd like a second pair of eyes on how your site shows up in Google and in AI answers, our Digital Marketing packages start with a technical and competitive audit and include a monthly report built from your Search Console data.
Sources: Google, "More ways to connect with the web from Search" (October 15, 2026); PPC Land's summary of Google's updated "Control what you share" page. AI features are changing quickly, so check Google's own documentation for current details.