Google AI Overviews have begun sending some clicked links into AI Mode rather than to the destination page, according to a 2026 report from ALM Corp. For publishers, the shift matters because it could intercept the click that has historically been the payoff for ranking inside an AI-generated answer.

The report, titled "Some Links in Google AI Overviews Open AI Mode Instead (2026)," describes a behavioral change in how Google handles link interactions within AI Overviews. Instead of navigating users to the cited website, selected links route them into Google's AI Mode — the conversational, chat-style search experience Google has been expanding alongside traditional results.

What exactly is changing?

AI Overviews normally cite source pages with links. When a user clicks a citation, the expected behavior has been a direct visit to the publisher's URL. The reported change breaks that expectation for at least some links: the click opens AI Mode instead, keeping the user inside Google's environment.

The word "some" in the report is doing real work here. This does not appear to be a universal replacement of AI Overview citations with AI Mode handoffs. The report does not specify what percentage of links are affected, which queries trigger the behavior, or whether certain verticals or site types see it more often than others.

Confirmed behavior versus speculation

Two things should be separated clearly.

Confirmed by the report: some links within AI Overviews now open AI Mode rather than the cited destination, observed in 2026.

Not established: the scale of the behavior, whether it is a test or a full rollout, Google's stated rationale, and any traffic data quantifying the impact on publishers. Google has not, per the available report, issued a statement confirming or explaining the change. Any claim about Google's motives or long-term plans would be speculation at this stage.

Why publishers should care

If the behavior scales, it compounds an existing tension in AI-era search. AI Overviews already answer many queries without a click; publishers who still earn citations at least received the visits from users who clicked through. Redirecting a portion of those clicks into AI Mode would remove that residual traffic.

The impact would land unevenly. Sites whose queries skew toward informational, conversational intent — the kind AI Mode handles natively — are more exposed than sites tied to transactional or navigational intent. But the report does not break down the effect by vertical, so any vertical-specific claim remains inference rather than measurement.

What to monitor next

Watch for three signals in the coming months: whether Google confirms the behavior publicly, whether tools such as Semrush, Similarweb or Sensor-style click trackers detect a measurable drop in AI Overview referral traffic, and whether the affected link set expands from a subset to a majority of citations. Until Google comments or third-party traffic data quantifies the change, treat this as an early, partial signal rather than a completed policy shift.