moderate change What the guidance says has shifted
Google changed the description of click destinations in the aggregator unit: user clicks now 'lead to the web page provided by the aggregator' instead of 'lead directly to that aggregator's website'.
Lincoln Digital's AI Overview
The update removes the word 'directly' and broadens the destination from 'the aggregator's website' to 'the web page provided by the aggregator'. This suggests Google may be clarifying that clicks can land on any page supplied by the aggregator, not necessarily their homepage, and possibly not always a direct handoff. Site owners and SEOs might note this as a slight loosening of how the unit's outbound links are described.
Generated by AI from the change below: a guide to what it could mean, not a certainty.
Word for word
red was taken outgreen was put in
In “How the aggregator unit works”
In this unit, eligible aggregators populate their unit with results relevant to the user's query. The top-ranked provider's results are expanded by default. For example, if a user searched for "hotels in paris", they may see a list of top-ranked hotels with photos, prices, or star ratings from an eligible provider. User clicks within the unit lead [removed: directly ]to [removed: that aggregator's website][added: the web page provided by the aggregator].
On Google's page
The "before" is the same page with the earlier wording put back.
Changed between our checks at and (UK time)Google's “last updated” date moved from 18 Sep 2026 to 19 Oct 2026Posted on X Link to this change