Google tests dropping citation cards from AI Overviews, brutal for publishers
OnlineInference · x · 2026-10-29
Barry Schwartz reports Google may be testing removal of the citations card in AI Overviews. Brodie Clark spotted the source-links card missing on desktop and called the recent changes 'brutal for websites': AI Overviews previously prominently featured citation cards for 2-3 domains, and their appearance has dropped sharply—sites seeing recent impression declines may be affected.
Schwartz couldn't replicate it and notes the card sometimes loads late, so it could be a bug. Either way, it's a significant signal that AI search is further squeezing referral traffic to publishers.
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