AI Engine Optimization

Google is adding more links to AI Overviews: the settings and pages that make one yours

On Oct. 15, 2026, Google said it is putting more inline links in its AI answers and showing them higher, expanding the timely-article carousels that highlight each reader's Preferred Sources, and adding image thumbnails to the related links at the end of some answers. It also announced a test of a section at the top of an answer for the "one or two official places" to complete a task. None of this needs new markup. Five things put your link in the running: your Search Console AI setting, Preferred Sources, one canonical page per task, thumbnail-ready images, and snippet eligibility. What you still can't do is see AI Overview clicks separately: Search Console's AI report shows impressions only, and every link in an AI Overview shares one position. This guide covers what changed, what's launched and what's a test, the 5-item checklist, and the measurement gap, as of Oct. 27, 2026.

Updated 2026-10-27

Questions this guide answers

What did Google change about links in AI Overviews in October 2026?
How do I get my site linked in Google AI Overviews?
What are Preferred Sources in Google AI Overviews?
Is Google's official-sites section live in AI Overviews?
Can a non-news site be a Preferred Source on Google?
Does Search Console show clicks from AI Overviews?

Direct answer

Google's Oct. 15 announcement is about links. It says it has made "continued and substantial increases to the presence of inline links" in its AI answers and is "launching updates to show inline links higher up in responses more frequently." It is expanding the carousels of timely articles in AI Overviews, which highlight the sites a reader chose as Preferred Sources, and adding image thumbnails to the related links shown at the end of some AI answers. And it will test a section at the top of an answer for the "one or two official places" to complete a task.

None of it requires new markup or files. Whether a given link can be yours comes down to five checks: the Search generative AI setting in Search Console stays on Include, readers can choose your site as a Preferred Source, each customer task has one canonical page, articles carry a usable preview image, and the pages you want linked are eligible for a snippet. Google adds that meeting its requirements "doesn't mean that Google will crawl, index, or serve" a page, so treat these as what puts you in the running.

The gap hasn't changed: Search Console still reports impressions only for AI features, and a link that moves higher in an AI Overview looks the same in the data as one at the bottom.

What changed on Oct. 15, and what's still a test

Google's post mixes launched changes with tests, and it doesn't always name the surface. The table sorts them, based on Google's own wording, as of Oct. 27, 2026. Google also says the number of people using Preferred Sources "has grown by more than 7x since the start of the year", without a baseline.

Change	Status	What Google said
More inline links, placed higher	Launched and rolling out; Google gave no numbers	"continued and substantial increases to the presence of inline links in our AI experiences"
Timely-article carousels that highlight Preferred Sources	Expanding to more locations and languages; the feature reached AI Overviews on May 27, 2026	Carousels "also highlight your Preferred Sources"; Google's example is an AI Overview
Related links with image thumbnails at the end of an answer	Launched in "some AI responses"	Links made "more engaging and prominent, with image thumbnails"; Google's example is a conversational answer, not an AI Overview
A top section for "one or two official places"	A test, with no date and no published criteria	"We'll be testing a new display in Search AI experiences"; Google hasn't said which, and its example is not an AI Overview

The 5 settings and pages that make a link yours

For the fundamentals, including what you don't need (no llms.txt, no special schema), see how to optimize for Google AI Overviews. These five checks are specific to the October changes.

1. Keep Search Console's Search generative AI control on Include

In Search Console, open Settings > Search generative AI on your domain property, and check child properties too, since a child can override its parent. Google says excluded sites "won't receive any traffic or impressions from these features." Include is the default, so for most sites this is a check, not a task. It also matters for the next item: Google says a site must be included "in Search generative AI features in Search Console" to be eligible for the preferred badge in AI answers.

2. Make sure readers can choose you as a Preferred Source

When a reader picks your site as a Preferred Source, your content "can be highlighted with a 'preferred' badge" in AI Overviews for that reader. It isn't only for news sites: Google said in May that "any website that publishes fresh content is eligible," and its documentation gives the test, which is whether your site shows up in the source preferences tool. Only domains and subdomains qualify, not a /blog folder. Google offers a two-line HTML button and a link you can put in newsletters and article footers; neither is required. This reaches readers who already know you, not new ones, and Google has started emailing site owners their selection count rather than reporting it in Search Console.

3. Give every customer task one official URL

The top-of-answer test is for queries where, in Google's words, "there are only one or two official places on the web to complete a specific task or get the exact info you need." Google hasn't published how it picks them, so the practical move is to make your answer unambiguous. For each task customers come to do (sign in, see pricing, request a refund or return, contact support, read the docs, check service status), keep one indexable page with a plain title. Point duplicates at it with redirects or rel="canonical", which Google calls strong signals, list it in your sitemap, and set your site name with WebSite structured data. That tells Google which URL you want shown; it doesn't secure the slot.

4. Give articles a usable preview image

Google hasn't documented how it picks thumbnails for related links, but its image guidance says you "can influence which image gets selected" by declaring one with og:image, primaryImageOfPage, or the article's image property. Use an image that represents the page, not your logo or an image of text, at high resolution; Google's article guidance recommends at least 50,000 pixels (width times height) in 16x9, 4x3, and 1x1 versions. Image URLs must be crawlable, and don't set max-image-preview to none on articles you want shown with an image; Google says that setting applies to all forms of search results.

5. Keep the pages you want linked eligible for a snippet

Google's baseline is that a page shown as a supporting link must be indexed and eligible for a snippet. Audit nosnippet, data-nosnippet, a restrictive max-snippet, and noindex on your priority pages. These can be left over from old templates or legal pages and quietly take a page out of the running.

What you still can't measure

Google told Search Engine Roundtable on Oct. 15 that it will "introduce additional metrics over time", the same line it used in June, without a date. Until then, the limits are concrete.

Impressions only. Search Console's generative AI performance report counts how often links to your site were shown, by page, country, date, and device. It has no clicks, click-through rate, or queries. See what each free report shows.
One position for every link. Google's help center says "an AI Overview occupies a single position in search results, and all links in the AI Overview are assigned that same position." A link that moves higher in the answer looks the same as one at the bottom.
Clicks blended into web results. Clicks on AI Overview links are counted, but in the standard Performance report alongside ordinary web results.
Preferred Sources by email. Preferred Sources selection counts arrive in an email from Search Console, not in a report you can trend.
Personalized badges. The preferred badge and carousel highlights depend on each reader's choices, so a logged-out check shows the default answer, not what a loyal reader sees.

How SolCrys helps

Search Console tells you how often your links were shown. SolCrys shows what the answer said. It runs your buyer questions on Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude, depending on plan, and records the answer and every source it links, so you can see which of your URLs AI Overviews cites for each question, which competitors and third-party pages it cites instead, and whether that holds across several runs after you fix a canonical or a snippet setting. For more on the difference, see what an AI Overviews tracker measures.

To see which sources ChatGPT cites for 10 of your buyer questions, Start Free: 10 ChatGPT prompts and 1 content audit, free, with email verification and no credit card. Google AI Overviews is on the Starter plan and above.

Sources

FAQ

What did Google change about links in AI Overviews in October 2026?

On Oct. 15, 2026, Google said it is adding more inline links to its AI answers and showing them higher, expanding the timely-article carousels in AI Overviews that highlight Preferred Sources, and adding image thumbnails to related links at the end of some answers. It also announced a test of a top-of-answer section for the one or two official places to complete a task.

Is Google's official-sites section live in AI Overviews?

Not as of Oct. 27, 2026. Google announced it as a test in its AI search experiences, with no date and no published selection criteria, and its example wasn't an AI Overview. No rollout to AI Overviews had been reported.

Can a non-news site be a Preferred Source on Google?

Yes, if its domain or subdomain appears in Google's source preferences tool. Google has said any website that publishes fresh content is eligible. Your site must also be included in Search generative AI features in Search Console for the badge to appear in AI answers.

Does Search Console show clicks from AI Overviews?

Not separately. The generative AI performance report shows impressions only. Clicks on AI Overview links are counted in the standard Performance report, blended with ordinary web results, and every link in an AI Overview is assigned the same position.

Do I need special markup to get linked in AI Overviews?

No. Google says there are no special files or schema for its AI features. A linked page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet, and the site must be included through the Search generative AI control in Search Console. Canonical tags, a site name, and a declared preview image help Google show the URL and image you prefer.

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