Google announces that it will make links more prominent in AI searches

It turns out that AI-powered Google searches will now pop up links when you hover over a source.

New on Search: In AI Overviews and AI Mode, groups of links will automatically appear in a pop-up as you hover over them on desktop, so you can jump right into a website to learn more. And we'll show more descriptive and prominent link icons within the response across both…

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— Robby Stein (@rmstein) February 17, 2026

The new popup looks like this: When you hover your mouse over the source of information output by the AI, links will pop up, along with a description and image of the article each links to.

This feature will be introduced in both ' AI Summary ,' which displays summaries at the top of Google search results, and ' AI Mode ,' which allows you to interactively search using AI.

While Google Search's AI features are useful, some have pointed out that they are reducing website traffic and revenue because users are no longer clicking on source links.

Survey reveals that users are less likely to click on links when 'AI-generated summaries' appear in search results - GIGAZINE

As a result, some countries are working to create a system that allows people to opt out of having their information included in Google Search's AI features.

Google is considering ways to opt out of 'AI summary' and AI mode in Google Search - GIGAZINE

According to Robbie Stein, vice president of product for Google Search, the new pop-up display is unique in that it allows users to 'directly visit the website for more information.' This is expected to increase the click-through rate of links.

'In our testing, we found this new UI to be more engaging and easier to access great content on the web,' Stein said.