What happened
Yesterday, October 15, Google announced several changes to AI Mode and AI Overviews, the summaries that appear at the very top of many searches. They all point the same way: more links to websites, and more visible ones.
- Links inside the response appear higher and more often.
- End-of-response links with thumbnails and a more clickable design.
- Article carousels expanded to more countries and languages, highlighting the sites each user has marked as Preferred Sources.
- A new section, in testing, for the official website. Google says that sometimes there are only one or two official places to complete a specific task, and it wants to show them at the top of the response, with an explanation of why each link is useful.
- Clickable creator names on video results, also in testing.
Why it matters
Because it is the first time in a long while that Google has made a move in favour of people leaving its page to visit websites.
The context explains it. According to AFP, the consultancy Chartbeat measured a 40% drop in traffic from Google to news publishers between July 2025 and July 2026. Several studies have been saying the same thing for a while: when the answer comes summarised, people click fewer links. Publishers have complained, and in France the press sector took the issue to the competition authority in August.
Google gives no figures on how much traffic websites will recover with these changes. It does give one: use of Preferred Sources has grown more than 7x since the start of the year. People want to choose whom they trust.
What it means for a small business
Of the whole announcement, what interests us most is the official websites section. Think of searches like "book an appointment at such-and-such clinic", "opening hours of such-and-such shop" or "quote from such-and-such company". There, the best answer is not a summary, it is your website. If Google starts pointing to the official site at the top of the response, you want it to have no doubt about which one is yours.
It is still in testing and Google doesn't say in which countries, so let's not sell it as something already working in Spain. But the direction is clear and fits what we have been saying for months in our GEO guide: AI search engines cite whoever gives the clearest and most reliable answer on a topic. About your own business, that source should be you.
What doesn't change: if your website doesn't clearly explain what you do, how much it costs and how to hire you, AI will keep pulling from directories, reviews and forums.
What I would do this week
No need to rebuild the website. I would check five things:
- Search for your brand in Google's AI Mode and in ChatGPT. Note which sites they cite when someone asks about you. If a directory or an old site shows up before yours, there is work to do.
- Have one clear page for each task: book an appointment, request a quote, see prices, get in touch. One page, one task, with the button visible.
- Make sure the basics match everywhere: name, address, phone, opening hours and services the same on your website, your Google Business Profile and directories.
- Mark up the information with structured data: organisation, local business and FAQs. We explain it in our FAQPage schema guide.
- Track in Search Console the impressions and clicks of your service pages over the coming weeks, to see whether these changes show up in your case.
What we think
We welcome the change, with caution. Google has announced more links, not more clicks, and until we see data in our clients' accounts we won't promise that traffic is coming back.
What we do believe is that a small business website is regaining a role it seemed to be losing: being the official place where something gets done. Companies with that website in order will notice it first. We covered it in how to get ChatGPT to recommend your company, and it applies equally to Google.
If you want us to look at it with you
We work on SEO and visibility in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity for small businesses: what AI search engines say about you, which sites they cite and what needs to change for yours to be the official source.
Book a thirty-minute call. We search for your company together in AI Mode and ChatGPT, see what comes up and tell you where we would start. No commitment.
Sources
This article is based on the following publications, consulted on October 16, 2026:
Frequently asked questions
On October 15, 2026 Google announced that AI Mode and AI Overviews will show links to websites higher and more often, with thumbnails on end-of-response links and article carousels in more countries and languages. It is also testing a section for the official website for each task.
It is a Google test to show at the top of the response the one or two official places where a specific task can be completed, with an explanation of why each link is useful. Google hasn't said in which countries it is active.
Google hasn't given figures. It has announced more and more visible links, but that doesn't guarantee more clicks. It is worth tracking in Search Console over the coming weeks.
According to AFP, the consultancy Chartbeat measured a 40% drop in traffic from Google to news publishers between July 2025 and July 2026.
They are the websites each user marks as favourites so that Google highlights them in results. According to Google, their use has grown more than 7x since the start of 2026.
Check which sites AI cites when someone searches for its brand, have a clear page for each task such as booking or requesting a quote, keep the same details on its website and Google Business Profile, and use structured data.