As you know, Google rolled out Gemini 3.8 Flash for subscribers to AI Mode and some have started to play with it. And the early feedback is that AI Mode running Gemini 3.8 Flash is not link or citation friendly. Meaning, AI Mode with Google's latest AI model is less likely to cite sources and link to sources than previous models.
Gagan Ghotra posted numerous examples of searches he conducted in AI Mode for top-of-the-funnel queries, and none of them showed any links or citations.
Here are some of the screenshots he posted on X:
More examples from Glenn Gabe:
Whoa, Gagan is right. See below between default model and 3.8 Flash. What is going on here? First is 3.8 Flash and second is default model. @rmstein @rajanpatel https://t.co/EH958CMDOn pic.twitter.com/VIY201Mbva
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 3, 2026
I am not sure why this would be and I hope this is something that Google can fix soon.
Forum discussion at X.
Update: Google's Robby Stein responded on X saying, "Hey -- thanks for flagging. This isn't working as intended, and we’ll roll out a fix soon."
Hey -- thanks for flagging. This isn't working as intended, and we’ll roll out a fix soon.
— Robby Stein (@rmstein) September 4, 2026
Update 3: The following morning the issue is resolved:
OK, looks like Gemini 3.8 Flash is now providing links. When it first rolled out, there was a bug and there were barely any links being provided. @gaganghotra_ was the first to report that and I saw that as well (and shared some screenshots). Here is what the AI Mode response… https://t.co/gaa8QFFvYJ pic.twitter.com/tOzCylXV8Z
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 4, 2026
