Google is updating its AI Overviews and AI Mode, the parts of its search engine that generate AI answers. The new changes will highlight sources in different ways, and, interestingly, give more prominence to personal accounts from social media, expert blogs, and forums like Reddit.
A new section can now appear in AI responses. Google will show “a preview of ideas from public online discussions, social media, and other firsthand sources.” In a sample image provided by the company, this section was called “Expert Advice” and included quotes from forums, WordPress blogs, and Reddit. These quotes appeared above links to their original sources. Google also plans to add more details to these links, showing “a creator’s name, handle, or community name,” so you can quickly decide what you want to click on and read.
Google will also start suggesting in-depth articles at the end of AI answers for people who want to explore a topic more deeply. It will also link directly to more sources within its generated answers, instead of just putting them all at the end. If you subscribe to any publications and link those subscriptions to your Google account, the AI responses will even highlight sources from those subscriptions.
Given how fast AI is improving, Google has steadily made changes to AI Overviews and AI Mode since launching them in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Using information from Reddit and other social platforms isn’t entirely new for the company either—at least one early AI Overview mistake was caused by Reddit information. However, it’s perhaps telling that Google now plans to cite the platform more clearly. Some people actually find Reddit to be a more helpful source of information than Google itself. Even before this update, Google’s regular search results have often prominently featured Reddit links.
The impact on the shrinking number of traditional publications that Google pulls from is another matter. As of 2025, Google claimed its AI search tools were leading to more searches and more “high-quality clicks” on the websites it cites. But no matter how much the company fine-tunes its AI responses, one result of AI Overviews and AI Mode is that sometimes you won’t need to click away to another website at all because Google has already answered your question.
