A month ago, we shared that Google was testing linking words in AI Overviews back to its own search results. We thought this could send a negative message, but Google didn’t agree. Instead, they made it an official feature of AI Overviews because it helps “people explore topics and find relevant websites more easily,” according to the company.

A Google spokesperson sent me this statement yesterday afternoon:

“To help people more easily explore topics and discover relevant websites, we’ve added links to some terms within AI Overviews when our systems determine it might be useful. Similar to our long-standing “People also search for” feature, our testing shows that people find this helpful. AI Overviews continue to have prominent links out to the web, which we’re also expanding.”

So, Google says (1) this is useful for searchers, (2) it has been a long-standing feature in the “people also search for” section, and (3) testing showed people find it helpful. Google also mentioned that they are “expanding” links to the web with this release, though it’s unclear exactly how.

Lily Ray recently shared an example on X, where Google included 31 links in the AI Overview response, all leading back to its search results.

Google has also started linking to its search results within the “Things to Do” and “People Also Ask” sections.

The feature is currently available in English in the US, on both mobile and desktop.

With AI Overviews, Google noticed that people often search for certain terms separately. By offering features that reduce the need for these extra searches—like not having to rewrite a query—Google believes people have a better search experience. This is why they’re adding the links.

Google also said that its system tries to link to third-party websites within the AI Overview when it’s confident those sites will help users find what they’re looking for.

In my opinion (and I could be wrong), Google still hasn’t figured out a great way to make money from these AI Overviews. So, they’re sending users to more search result pages, which are less likely to have AI Overviews but more likely to have ads, hoping users will click on them. But again, I could be wrong.

Google needs to show that search volume is growing, while also saying they prioritize traffic to publishers.

I’m not a fan of this, as you can probably tell.

Oh, and Microsoft Bing has just started doing the same thing.