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Google’s AI search link update: what service businesses should check

By SEO Help
Published

Google is changing how links appear in AI search. We explain the practical implications for service websites and how we would assess what matters.

Illustration of search results, an audit checklist and connected discovery nodes.

Google announced changes to links in AI Mode and AI Overviews on 15 October 2026, including more prominent links within answers and a planned test highlighting official pages for specific tasks.

For service businesses, this is a good opportunity to review where potential customers arrive on your website. Can they understand what you offer, see whether you’re a good fit and easily get in touch?

What has Google announced?

Google is introducing changes to show links higher in AI responses more frequently. It also plans to test a dedicated section highlighting official websites where people need a particular source to complete a task.

The announcement includes expanded article carousels and more prominent links to related articles. These changes could make it easier for people to explore the websites behind an answer. We’ll need to see how that translates into traffic and enquiries for individual businesses.

What could this mean for your business?

Our advice is to start with your existing service pages and consider what your customers need from them.

For a local provider, we’d check whether those pages clearly explain the areas covered, the work offered and how to request a quotation.

For a national or B2B supplier, we’d focus on the information customers need to assess suitability, including scope, delivery arrangements, technical requirements and the buying process.

These are our practical recommendations for improving the customer journey. They aren’t new requirements introduced by Google as part of this update.

How we would approach the checks

1. Choose one commercially important page

Start with a service you want to grow. Open its page on your phone and look at it from your customer’s perspective.

  • Is it clear what you offer and who the service is for?
  • Have you explained your coverage, any limitations and the next steps?
  • Are your claims supported by genuine evidence?
  • Is it easy to make an enquiry, and does the form work?

The questions your customers already ask are a useful starting point. We’d work through those with you, identify any gaps and add the information that helps people decide.

The aim is to give customers what they need, rather than write more just to reach a word count.

2. Check whether Google can find and use the page

Google’s existing guidance says a page must be indexed and eligible to appear with a search snippet to qualify as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode.

There’s no requirement for special AI markup, although meeting these requirements doesn’t guarantee inclusion.

We’d inspect the URL in Google Search Console and check the internal links pointing to it. This helps us understand whether anything needs attention and gives us a clear starting point for any technical work.

3. Measure enquiries alongside traffic

Google includes activity from its AI search features within Search Console’s overall Web performance reporting.

Traffic is useful to monitor. We also want to understand whether those visits are bringing enquiries that are relevant to your business.

For a B2B supplier, that might mean checking whether an enquiry matches your capabilities and progresses to a quotation. Your feedback on enquiry quality helps us understand what’s working and agree where to focus next.

We’d also record when website changes are made. If traffic or enquiries change afterwards, we can investigate what may have contributed without assuming one update caused it.

What should you do now?

Choose one important service page, check whether it answers your customers’ questions and test the enquiry journey. That gives you a manageable starting point.

If your pages already explain your services clearly and bring in suitable enquiries, keep building on what’s working. This announcement alone doesn’t call for a rebuild.

We’d review your website with you, agree where improvements would be useful and prioritise the work around the services and customers you want to focus on.

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