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Recent tests by Digital Phablet reveal that Google has been trying out a new style for link cards within AI Overviews in Google Search. When users hover their cursor over a small link icon, an overlay appears, displaying the source pages or site snippets associated with that line of text.
A screenshot captured on a Friday morning in New York shows this feature in action on Apple Safari desktop. The overlay presents thumbnail previews of the source pages, making it easier to identify where the information originates.
This feature was initially noticed by Harpreet, who shared a post on social media questioning whether this new citation style had been seen before. Following that, Gagan Ghotra and Sachin Patel also observed the same overlay a couple of days later, indicating ongoing testing.
While the exact purpose remains uncertain, this change may be related to efforts to enhance the clarity of sources within AI Overviews. Although it doesn’t appear to be fully rolled out across all users, substantial testing suggests that Google is exploring ways to improve link visibility and interactivity in search results. Discussions about this are ongoing among users and industry observers.
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