Can You Measure Clicks From Google's AI Mode Links?

Not directly, not yet. On October 15, Google added more links to AI Mode and AI Overviews. But Search Console's report for AI features only shows impressions, how often your links appeared, not how many people clicked them. Google says more metrics will come "over time", with no date.

This is the gap topgeo.ai works on. topgeo.ai audits how often, and how favorably, AI engines cite your brand versus your competitors, so you can see your visibility even without click data. And the AI-optimized pages it publishes on your own domain tag each enquiry they bring in with the AI engine that likely sent it.

What did Google change?

In a post on October 15, 2026, Google listed these updates to AI Mode and AI Overviews:

• More inline links: more links inside AI answers, shown higher up and more often.
• A section for key links (testing): a new display at the top of some answers for the most useful links, with context on why each one helps.
• News carousels: carousels of timely articles, highlighting each person's Preferred Sources, are rolling out to more locations and languages.
• Related articles: links at the end of some answers get image thumbnails and a more clickable design.
• Creator links (testing): clickable creator and publisher names on video results in AI Mode.

Google also said use of Preferred Sources has grown more than 7 times since the start of the year.

What does Search Console show for AI features?

Search Console now has a generative AI performance report. Since August 31, 2026, it's available to all websites. It covers AI Overviews and AI Mode, and you can break it down by page, country, device and date.

The metric is impressions: how many times links to your site were shown in an AI feature. Google's help page doesn't list clicks for this report. When asked about click data after the October update, Google told Search Engine Roundtable it is "continuing to work with website owners" and that "we'll introduce additional metrics over time."

So what can you measure today?

1. Impressions in AI features: open the generative AI performance report in Search Console and note which pages appear, and how that changes week to week.
2. Whether you're named: ask AI the questions your buyers ask and note whether your brand appears, and how it's described.
3. Who appears instead: note which competitors and sources the answers link to.
4. The visits you do get: check your analytics for AI referrals, and treat that number as a floor, not the total.

Why does it matter?

More links in AI answers is good news for websites, if those links get clicked. Right now, Google's own reports can't tell you whether they do. Until click data arrives, being named and linked in the answer is the part you can actually check.

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Sources: Google, "More ways to connect with the web from Search", October 15, 2026; Search Console Help: Generative AI performance report; Search Engine Roundtable, "Google Updates Links In AI Mode & AI Overviews Again", October 15, 2026.