Google updates links in AI Mode and expands Web Guide test in all tab

Google is updating the links in AI Mode to make them more inviting to click. Google also expanded the Web Guides Labs test to the All tab, though you still need to opt in to try it.

Links in AI Mode. Google is “increasing the number of inline links in AI Mode, and updating the design of those links to make them more useful,” Robby Stein, VP of Product, Google Search, wrote.

• Google is also adding short contextual introductions to embedded links in AI Mode responses. These quick notes explain why a link might be worth clicking.
• We’ve seen Google test different inline and contextual links styles in AI Mode, and it’s now rolling out some of those experiences.
• Stein told us in August that these features were coming, and now they’re here.

What it looks like. Here’s a screenshot.

Expanding Web Guide to all tab. Google first added the Web Guide feature in the Web tab for those who opted into the search experiment. Now Google is rolling out Web Guide to the All tab. You still need to be in the search experiment. Google wrote,

• “We’ve heard positive feedback from users and websites about Web Guide, which helps people find links they may not have previously discovered and uses AI to organize links into helpful topic groups.”

• Google also updated Web Guide to make it twice as fast, the search company said.
• We spotted Google testing Web Guide in the All tab earlier.

What is Web Guide. Google explained that Web Guide groups web links in helpful ways. It can take pages related to specific aspects of your query and group them in sections. Web Guide also uses a query fan-out technique, like Google does with AI Mode, concurrently issuing multiple related searches to identify the most relevant results.

Google told me:

• “Web Guide uses a custom version of Gemini to better understand both a search query and content on the web, creating more powerful search capabilities that better surface web pages you may not have previously discovered.”

Why we care. Encouraging clicks from Google’s AI experiences, including AI Mode and AI Overviews, is welcome. We hope it drives more traffic to publishers and websites. Web Guide is also an experience that many in the search marketing community value. We’d like to see Google release it more broadly, without requiring a Search Labs opt-in.