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

Google is updating the links within AI Mode to encourage searchers to click on those links. Google also expanded its Web Guides labs test to the all tab, you still need to opt-in to the experiment.

Links in AI Mode. Robby Stein, VP of Product, Google Search, wrote, “We’re increasing the number of inline links in AI Mode, and updating the design of those links to make them more useful.” We’ve seen Google testing variations of inline links and contextual links in AI Mode and Google is now releasing some of those user experiences. Robby Stein told us in August Google would be releasing some of these features and here they are.

Google is also adding contextual introductions to embedded links in AI Mode responses. These contextual introductions are short statements that explain why a link might be helpful to visit.

Here is what it looks like:

Expanding Web Guide to all tab. Google initially rolled out the Web Guide feature in Google Search under the “web” tab for those who opt into the search experiment. Now, this is rolling out to the “all” tab within Google Search. You still need to be in the search experiment but it is now available in the “all” tab.

We actually saw Google testing Web Guide in the all tab earlier and now it is officially happening.

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.

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 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,” Google told me.

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.

Why we care. Encouraging clicks from Google’s AI experiences, like AI Mode and AI Overviews is very much welcomed. We hope these lead to more traffic to publishers and websites.

Web Guide is also an experience that many in the search marketing community appreciate. We hope Google finds a way to roll out this experience without having to opt-in via the Search Labs.