SEO news · AI search
On 15 October Google said its AI answers in Search will show more links, placed higher. It’s also testing a section at the top of answers for the official sites people need to get a task done.
The news in 30 seconds
Google says it has made “continued and substantial increases” to links inside its AI answers, and will show them higher up more often. It’s testing a dedicated section at the top of AI answers for the exact page people need, such as an official site. Google didn’t share click data or say which countries get the test.
What happened
In a post on Google’s blog, Hema Budaraju, a Google vice president, set out three changes:
- More links: “continued and substantial increases to the presence of inline links in our AI experiences”
- Higher links: Google will “show inline links higher up in responses more frequently”
- An official-sites test: a new display that surfaces the right pages “in a dedicated section at the top of a response”
Google also said use of its Preferred Sources feature, which lets people pick news sites they want to see more of, has grown more than 7x since January.
What it means for Irish businesses
This is good news if your site is the original source. When someone wants to book, get a quote or check a price, Google wants to send them to the business that can actually help.
It’s bad news for sites that copy, summarise or pad. AI answers already cover that content, so there’s little reason to click through.
What to do now
- Give every key task its own clear page: book, get a quote, prices, contact
- Put facts on your site that only you have: prices, areas, turnaround times
- Make sure Google can tell who you are: same name, logo and details everywhere
- Track visits from AI answers separately in Google Analytics
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