Google AI Overviews embed external links in 26% of answers, up from near zero in August
In-text links jumped from 0.09% in late August to 26.19% by 20 September, with English markets seeing them most.
David Konitzny reported on LinkedIn on 21 September that 26% of Google AI Overviews now carry external links inside the answer text, not only in the source cards beside it.
His data traces a sharp climb. In late August, 0.09% of AI Overviews had an in-text link. On 11 September it was 1.12%. From 12 September onwards it has sat above 23% every day, reaching 26.19% by 20 September.
Where the links are showing up
Konitzny's market breakdown shows English-language results leading. The US sits at 27.9%, Australia at 27.5%, the UK at 26.5% and Brazil at 23.1%, according to his figures. Switzerland (18.9%), Spain (15.9%), France (14.8%), Germany (14.5%) and South Korea (13.7%) all trail.
What to check before acting
In-text links sit where the user is already reading, so a click is more plausible than from a source card tucked to the side. That is a reasonable prior, but the click-through lift is not in the data Konitzny shared.
We think the sensible move is to measure it on your own pages. Pull your AI Overview impressions and referrals from Search Console across the 11 to 20 September window, and compare pages that appear as in-text citations against those that appear only in source cards. If the embedded placement is driving traffic for you, it will show up there before it shows up anywhere else.
The rollout is days old and the share is still moving. Treat the 26% as a snapshot of a feature Google is still turning up, and recheck it before building planning around the number.