Google updates AI search links to appear higher

The updates come from a blog post by Hema Budaraju, VP of Product Management, who noted that the number of users employing Preferred Sources has grown more than seven times since the start of the year, though no exact count was given. Google says it is “making continued and substantial increases to the presence of inline links” but does not quantify the change.

These changes are part of Google’s broader effort to improve the relevance and transparency of AI‑generated search answers, and they may affect how marketers see their sites in AI‑search results.