More links in AI Mode. Still no click data.

Google added more links to AI Mode and AI Overviews this week.

Sounds like good news for anyone who works on SEO. So what actually changed?

• Inline links inside the answer text, placed higher and shown more often
• A new block at the top with the official sites, when only a few exist for a task
• Article carousels for timely searches in more countries and languages
• Thumbnails for related articles

Google also says use of "preferred sources" grew 7x this year.

Now the part that is missing.

Search Console still does not show click data for these links in the AI reports. More links, but no way to see if anybody clicks them.

Barry Schwartz covered it on Search Engine Land and he is not convinced people will click either: https://searchengineland.com/google-updates-ai-mode-and-ai-overview-with-more-links-context-carousels-and-information-on-creators-496242

For me nothing changes.

Being linked is not the same as getting traffic.
Watch what you can actually measure: branded searches, direct visits, leads.

If those don't move, a link inside an AI answer is just decoration.