Verisca daily brief
2026-09-23 Daily Brief
As AI search changes the role of links, content compensation, and data use, Google continues to test search, shopping, advertising interfaces, and operating rules.
Brief
As AI search changes the role of links, rewards content, and how data is used, Google continues to test its Search, Shopping, and Ads screens and operational standards.
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01The paths leading within AI answers are increasing.
It came with a test of the link from AI Overviews to AI Mode, a pilot to reward publishers who contributed significantly to AI answers, and a roundup of data sources utilized by the AI system.
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02It is becoming difficult to see brand performance through search traffic alone.
The increased response to GEO requests and discussion of the zero-click experience highlight the need to look together at how brands are discovered and mentioned in AI interfaces.
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03Google's shopping and advertising operation screen is also being adjusted.
This followed the implementation of Merchant Center's native checkout, guidance on store rating requirements, and testing of sponsored sitelink titles.
Today’s signals
AI environment changesSearch Engine Roundtable
Google tests link from AI Overviews to AI Mode
It appears that Google is testing an anchor link at the bottom of AI Overviews that will take you to AI Mode instead of a web page.
Links in search results can lead not only to site visits but also to follow-up conversations within AI, so it is necessary to look at the exposure path of the content.
Under AI Overviews, an item that looks like a regular link but connects to AI Mode was captured. This was confirmed in a video posted by Gagan Ghotra on X, and was designed to allow users to ask follow-up questions. The summary did not include whether Google would make an official announcement.
View source ↗AI environment changesSearch Engine Roundtable
Automatically apply native checkout to Merchant Center products
Google is notifying some Merchant Center users on e-commerce platforms that support UCP that native checkout for eligible products has been automatically enabled.
Shopping products can be marked as eligible for payment within Google, allowing merchants to check whether their platform supports UCP and what products it qualifies for.
Google is notifying affected Merchant Center users of the application via email. If your ecommerce platform supports the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), eligible products will automatically be eligible for native checkout. It is not possible to tell from the information provided whether individual sellers choose to apply it themselves.
View source ↗AI environment changesSearch Engine Journal
Search freelancers say the increase in GEO requests is greater than the increase in SEO requests
In the Fiverr survey, 67% of search freelancers reported an increase in GEO requests, compared to 56% who reported an increase in requests to improve Google rankings.
In addition to the response that demand for AI search response is increasing, there is still a perception that SEO is a long-term investment, so the scope of work and content strategy can be reviewed separately.
According to Fiverr's 2026 Holiday Marketing Index, 61% of respondents viewed Google SEO as the strongest long-term investment. The report recommended investing in both GEO and Google SEO. Fiverr said its GEO service grew 29% from November 2025 to April 2026, but did not disclose its methodology, including sample size and survey period.
View source ↗AI environment changesDigiday
It has been pointed out that visibility indicators alone are insufficient in a zero-click environment.
Digiday pointed out that with the spread of conversational chatbots and LLM-based interfaces, it has become difficult to explain brand activity using only existing clicks, keyword rankings, and traffic indicators.
When looking at how your brand is discovered in AI-powered searches and interactive screens, you need to look beyond website traffic metrics.
The brand marketing environment is changing as information search and brand discovery move to interactive chatbots and LLM-based interfaces. Digiday found that traditional digital visibility metrics had difficulty capturing all of this change. However, the summary did not provide specific criteria for which new indicators should be used.
View source ↗AI environment changesSearch Engine Roundtable
Circumstances of search spam abuse on public NotebookLM pages
It was reported that spammers were using the public Gemini Notebook page to expose content related to adult content, peptides, and coupon codes to Google searches.
Brands and content owners can examine how low-quality pages appearing around their search results are affecting the user experience and search experience.
Search Engine Roundtable said Google appears to have indexed more than 12,000 such pages. This phenomenon has been shared by Gagan Ghotra and Glenn Gabe, among others. The gist of the report is that the public NotebookLM page is being used to expose spam content in searches.
View source ↗AI environment changesSearch Engine Journal
Data sources for AI search, inspected separately by verification level
We proposed classifying the data sources utilized by AI chatbots, AI Overviews, and Copilot according to their level of verification, and paying priority attention to currently confirmed Tier 1 sources.
When considering where and in what format to provide content and product information, you can identify the data paths that your AI system has been identified to utilize.
The article divides AI data sources into three categories: for RAG/grounding/action, for training/licensing, for pre-training, and for estimates with strong evidence. Google Search, Bing Search, Common Crawl, and Google Merchant Center were presented as examples. In particular, it was suggested that the greatest attention be given to Tier 1 sources with confirmed current utilization.
View source ↗AI environment changesSearch Engine Roundtable
Google tests display of advertiser name title on sponsored site links
It appears that Google Search is testing the ability to display titles in the format ‘more from [advertiser name]’ above sitelinks in sponsored search results.
When your name and favicon are more clearly visible in the ad extension area, it gives you reason to check your brand representation within search results.
In the captured screen, the advertiser's title is displayed above the site link, and the advertiser's favicon and name are also exposed. Sachin Patel shared the screenshot with X and SEW. Search Engine Roundtable hasn't seen the feature directly and says it appears to be in limited testing.
View source ↗AI environment changesSEMrush Blog
Google Pilots Reward Publishers for Significant Contribution to AI Answers
Google is testing a pilot in Search Console that rewards invited publishers if their pages significantly contribute to generating Gemini apps, AI Overviews, and AI Mode answers.
As content powered by AI answers is being tested, publishers can see changes in how AI exposure is linked to revenue.
Participating publishers can agree to the terms and view monthly earnings and payments in Search Console. Pages simply linked to in the answer or pages used to check facts after writing the answer are not eligible for payment. Google did not disclose the criteria for ‘significant contribution’ and how compensation is calculated.
View source ↗AI environment changesMarTech
IAB establishes standard framework for agentic media purchasing and measurement
The IAB has created a new framework that addresses how AI agents process media proposals and structures advertising measurement contracts.
A framework has been created to review how proposal processing and measurement contracts will be handled when AI agents are used in the media buying process.
The new framework focuses on standardizing how AI agents process media suggestions. It also includes a contract structure for measuring the company's advertising. No specific targets or operational details are provided in the summary.
View source ↗UnclassifiedSearch Engine Roundtable
Added Google Store rating requirements information to Merchant Center
Google has added a new section to the ‘Google Store Rating Overview for Merchants’ in Merchant Center that explains Google Store Rating requirements.
Sellers can check the store rating-related conditions and use it as a standard for managing the number of reviews and average rating.
The new guidelines include a requirement of at least 100 reviews. The average star rating should be between 3.5 and 5 stars. This has been added to the Google Store ratings overview in Merchant Center.
View source ↗How to read this
This archive preserves the selected sources and links. WHAT CHANGED summarizes the observed development. WHY IT MATTERS explains why it deserves monitoring. Each item remains an external signal until independently verified.