Google’s AI Search Loves Looping You Back to Google
Google’s AI search often links back to itself instead of external sources, raising concerns among publishers and experts.
San Francisco: Google’s chatbot search tool AI Mode often sends users back to Google itself, according to a new study. When you click links in AI Mode replies, you might end up in another Google search.
A company called SE Ranking studied this behavior. They found that about 17 percent of all links in AI Mode take users back to Google Search. This number has tripled since last year. YouTube, another Google company, comes second as the most cited website.
This happens more in certain topics. About half the links in Entertainment and Travel questions lead back to Google’s own search results. When I asked AI Mode about the 2026 Oscars, every movie title link went to Google results shown in a sidebar.
Google says these search-result links are more like shortcuts. They help people find new questions to ask. Google compares this to features like “People also ask” in regular search.
SEO experts say this trend isn’t surprising. Google has been showing more of its own content over the years. Some users find this frustrating when trying to get answers. One expert called it a “loop” that doesn’t solve their questions. Many worry this keeps users inside Google rather than connecting them to outside websites.