Google is updating the AI-generated parts of its search engine, AI Overview and AI Mode, to highlight sources in new ways and, interestingly, to more prominently feature forums, social media, and Reddit’s direct accounts.
Through a new “Expert Advice” section that may appear in AI responses, Google will display “previews of perspectives from public online discussions, social media, and other direct sources.” In the sample screenshots provided by the company, citations from forums, WordPress blogs, and Reddit were arranged above links to their respective sources. Google plans to add more context to these links, including showing “creator name, handle, or community name,” so you can guess at a glance what you might want to click and read.
Google will also begin recommending in-depth articles at the end of AI responses for further exploration of a given topic, and will link to more sources directly in its generated answers instead of just at the end. If you subscribe to a publication, AI Responses will also highlight the sources of your subscription linked to your Google Account.
Given the rapid progress of AI in general, the AI Overview and AI Mode have been continuously iterated by Google since their launch in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Moving away from Reddit and other online social platforms isn’t exactly a new strategy for the company — at least one early AI observation hallucination was caused by information from Reddit. However, it is perhaps telling that Google now plans to cite the platform more prominently, as Reddit is considered by some to be a more useful source of information than Google. On top of this update, the search engine is prominently displaying Reddit links in standard search results.
However, whether adding more links and recommending long-form reporting makes any meaningful difference to the declining number of publications Google serves is another story. By 2025, Google claimed that its AI search tools were delivering more searches and more “high-quality clicks” to the websites it cited. Regardless of how much the company tinkers with its AI responses, however, one result of AI Overview and AI Mode is the creation of scenarios where you don’t even have to click through to another website, because Google has answered your question for you.
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