Google is testing using inline, hover-style links for citations in the AI Mode results. When you hover your mouse cursor over the link card, it will hover the link card sources over the answer. Google did tell us they are testing new ways to encourage clicks in AI Mode, so maybe this is one of them.
This change was spotted by Brodie Clark at SERP Alert who posted a video of this on X, here is a screenshot from his video:
Just to compare, here is what you normally see, and when you click on the link icon, it just highlights those citations on the right side:
There is also this variation, with favicons:
Here is his video:
Google is now testing out inline citations within AI Mode, similar to what we have seen within AI overviews recently.
— SERP Alert ⚡️ (@SERPalerts) November 27, 2025
Once the citations are clicked, a separate scrollable feed of links appears. Details: https://t.co/VsXn0potgM
--… pic.twitter.com/K6GvWhVg68
This should encourage more clicks, I would think...
Mobile version:
Ai mode with website icons@rustybrick @brodieseo @gaganghotra_ pic.twitter.com/VGVyWUSe1t
— Sachin Patel (@SachuPatel53124) December 22, 2025
Forum discussion at X.
