SURREY, B.C. - Google is changing how its AI search answers point people back to the open web, in an update that could decide how much traffic local news sites and small businesses in Surrey get from the world’s biggest search engine.
In a post dated October 15, Hema Budaraju, Google’s vice president of product management, announced five updates to AI Mode and AI Overviews, the AI-generated answers that now sit at the top of many Google searches. The goal, she wrote, is to make exploring the web “simpler, more visual, and more engaging.”
The first change is about the links inside the answers themselves. Inline links, the links embedded in words or phrases in an AI response, help readers dive deeper the moment they are reading about a topic. Google says it has made “continued and substantial increases” to the presence of inline links in its AI experiences, and it is now rolling out updates that show those links higher up in responses more frequently, so key sources are clickable right when readers need them.
Second, Google will test a new display for questions where there are only one or two official places on the web to complete a task or find exact information. Those links will appear in a dedicated section at the top of a response, with context about why each link is useful. For a Surrey resident trying to reach a city service, a school district page or a government form, that kind of box could put the official page first instead of burying it under an AI summary.
The third change is aimed at news. Google is starting to roll out its prominent carousels of timely articles to additional locations and languages globally, and those carousels highlight a reader’s Preferred Sources. Google says the number of people using its Preferred Sources feature, which lets readers pick the outlets they want to hear from, has grown by more than seven times since the start of the year. For local outlets, that is a direct invitation to readers: people who choose a source see more of it.
Fourth, the links shown at the end of some AI responses are becoming more prominent, with image thumbnails and a more clickable design, meant to spark readers to dig deeper once they have the lay of the land.
Fifth, Google has started testing clickable creator and publisher names on video results in AI Mode. The names link directly to the creator’s Search profile, giving readers a quick way to check who made a video and what else they publish.
For Surrey businesses, the practical message is simple. More of the value in Google Search now flows to pages that the AI can link to clearly, and to sources that readers actively choose. A shop on Scott Road or a clinic in Fleetwood cannot control Google’s AI answers, but having one clear official page for prices, hours and services gives the new official-links box something to point to.
Google did not give a date for when the tests become permanent features, and it published no click figures with the announcement. What is rolling out now, the company says, is the higher placement of inline links and the wider release of the news carousels.
Source: Google
Advertisements
