Google is refining its strategy: AI Overviews now display links to… its own results. This seemingly innocuous new feature could well shake up the way traffic flows on the web.
Key points:
- Google integrates internal links into AI Overviews, pointing to its own search results.
- This closed navigation limits the visibility of third-party sites in the user experience.
- The stated objective: to facilitate the exploration of subjects without additional queries.
Links in AI Overviews? Not Where We Expected Them
The famous AI Overviews, the AI-generated summaries at the top of Google search results, now include a new feature: certain words in the text are clickable. But surprise: these links don’t lead to third-party sites, but rather… to other Google searches.
You read that right. Clicking on an underlined term doesn’t take you to an article or external source, but to a new Google query. In other words, you’re staying within the Google ecosystem, again and again. A sort of closed-loop navigation, where each click takes you back to square one, or almost.
Real comfort for the user?
On paper, it sounds practical. You’re reading a summary about solar energy, a word intrigues you, hey presto, one click, and you’re taken to a more targeted query. It’s fast, fluid, and frictionless. From a UX perspective, it’s hard to fault.
But the real question is the one we don’t ask enough: Who captures attention? And more importantly, who captures clicks?
This is where it hurts. Because every internal link avoids an external link. Translation: fewer visits for sites that publish quality content. Less organic traffic. Less revenue, ultimately.
Some would call it cannibalization. Others would call it algorithmic withdrawal. And frankly, it’s hard to argue with them.
A trend that is confirmed
For several months, Google has been testing this self-referencing approach. It’s not exactly new. We’re already familiar with “People Also Ask,” YouTube video carousels, and well-stocked local packs.
But this is a milestone. Because AI no longer just summarizes: it guides, directs, and suggests… without leaving the Google fold.
The official message is clear: it’s about improving the exploration of topics. Allowing Internet users to go further, faster. And avoiding repeated manual queries.
And in reality? The engine captures more and more interactions. And delays—sometimes indefinitely—the moment when the user clicks to an external site.
What are the options for the sites?
Let’s not kid ourselves: this kind of change is hard to navigate. So we have to adapt, again. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
- Focus on long queries: more precise, less subject to AI summaries
- Take care of structured data: to exist in the “secondary links” sometimes displayed
- Build brand awareness: If people search for you directly, Google won’t be able to intercept everything.
