Google seems have a Google dependence. If you click on a hyperlink in Google’s chatbot search tool, AI Fashionyou will probably be redirected to another Google search, according to a new study from SE Rankinga search engine optimization company. Currently, Google.com is the most frequently linked site in AI mode.
Many website owners and publishers have relied heavily on Google Search as their primary source of visitors and have complained about declining traffic in recent years as the tech giant has highlighted AI generative summaries in search results, via AI Insights and AI mode. Liz Reid, head of search at Google, has already disputed reports about declining traffic and described AI tools as driving “high-quality clicks” to these sites.
“Even if you say people click on these quotes all the time, well, there’s nothing to click on, because it just takes you to another Google result,” says Mordy Oberstein, SEO expert and brand manager at SE Ranking. Currently, it is estimated that 17% of total AI citations link to Google. This represents a threefold increase compared to last year. The second most cited website in AI mode? YouTubeanother Google company.
Google’s presence in AI Mode citations is even more pronounced in certain niches. In the links analyzed by SE Ranking, about half of all AI citations for entertainment and travel link to a Google search result.
For example, I asked AI Mode what to pay attention to during 2026 Oscars ceremonyand online hyperlinks to the most competitive films, such as Sinners And One battle after anotherlead to Google results. In fact, all 17 hyperlinks in this AI mode output lead to Google results that appear in a sidebar. In addition to Google links, the result included three buttons linking to third-party sources at the end of paragraphs.
“Some of the links described in the report are more like shortcuts to help people explore likely follow-up questions and therefore find additional web links,” a Google spokesperson told WIRED. “They are not intended to replace links to the Web.” The spokesperson compared these AI-enabled links to other search features, such as “People Also Ask.”
The disruptive rise of social media in the past has sparked heated discussions between Silicon Valley companies seeking to take advantage of new technologies and publishers worried about a potential drop in traffic. Partnership deals between tech companies, such as Google, and publishers were an attempt to adapt to this seismic shift.
The idea that Google prefers its own results and features isn’t new to the SEO experts WIRED spoke with about the report. “This is an ongoing trend at Google,” says Danny Goodwin, the editorial director from Search Engine Land. He noticed that Google was linking to its own search results more often in AI previews last year and isn’t surprised by the news that AI mode now includes additional self-citations.
Goodwin has already experienced the “loops” for himself. “Google may think it’s great, but I’ve gotten into these loops where I’m trying to find an answer, and the only option is to click on a Google search result which takes me to another search result,” he says. “But that still doesn’t answer my question.” The circular experience of these AI tools is incredibly frustrating, Goodwin says, for users and publishers putting content online.
“The biggest beneficiary of Google traffic these days is Google,” says Rand Fishkin, co-founder of the audience research company. SparkToroand a digital marketing expert. He sees this as part of an overall trend where less traffic from search tools and social media sites is being directed to outside sources. “That’s the big change. Basically, from a website that sends traffic to a website that keeps it and doesn’t get any clicks.”
Google’s long-term strategy remains unclear. If many online publishers are excluded from important citations in AI mode, in favor of Google’s own sites, the immediate benefit to the company is clear: more people do more searches, thus generating more searches. advertising revenue of research.
Some AI companies, like OpenAIhave turned to partnerships with publishers to pay prominent websites that appear in chatbot results, including WIRED’s parent company, Condé Nast. While Google has some offers With news publishers, it does not appear that sites are charging for appearing in AI Previews or AI Mode outputs.
Online publishers, from which Google mines data for its AI summaries, could struggle to stay in business if a large portion of citations simply refer users to Google’s sites. “How is this beneficial for the Web? » asks Oberstein. When a snake eats its own tail, what’s left remains a mystery.
