On March 24, 2026, Sachin Patel shared a screenshot on X showing a radically different AI Overviews format: instead of appearing beside the AI-generated summary, source citations were displayed as large, full-width blue cards below the entire AI Overview, forcing users to scroll past the AI answer to reach any source links. Barry Schwartz covered the test on Search Engine Roundtable.
This test — possibly a bug — reveals a structural question Google keeps probing: how much visibility should cited sources get relative to the AI answer itself?
What the screenshots show
In the current AI Overviews layout, citations appear as compact cards to the right of the AI text — visible without scrolling, accessible at a glance. In the tested format, they become full-width cards pushed entirely below the AI summary, each showing a thumbnail, site name, favicon, description, and article title. To reach them, users must scroll down past the complete AI response.
The mechanical impact is straightforward: sources are less immediately visible. A user satisfied by the AI answer has no reason to scroll. That translates to fewer clicks to your articles, even if you're cited.
Why this design change matters for SEO
Until now, being cited in AI Overviews represented a tangible advantage: above-the-fold visibility, positioned above organic results. If citations migrate below the fold, that mechanic shifts. The value of an AI Overview citation degrades when it requires extra user effort to reach.
For SEO practitioners who've been optimizing for citations in AI Mode, this test raises a real question: is the investment still justified if citation visibility shrinks? The answer depends on actual deployment — and real click-through data on the new format.
This test fits a broader pattern: Google constantly experiments with the relationship between its generated content and third-party sources. Understanding the underlying grounding mechanics — how Google selects and extracts content from your pages — remains critical regardless of which display format gets deployed.
What to monitor right now
- Your Search Console CTR data — if you're already cited in AI Overviews, track average CTR on relevant queries over the coming weeks
- This test appears isolated to desktop — Barry Schwartz himself doubts it reaches production: "There is no way that this test gets rolled out." But similar tests have preceded actual deployments before
- Citation value remains real even with fewer clicks — being cited builds brand authority with LLMs and positions you for future AI search features
The signal: This test confirms Google is still searching for the balance between satisfying users with AI and sending traffic back to publishers. Every AI Overviews redesign is a data point on where that balance is heading.
Cicero's take
This format is probably not final — it's too visually awkward to ship at scale. But it reveals intent: Google is testing formats that reduce friction between the AI and the user, even at the cost of source visibility. For publishers, the message is clear: optimizing to be cited is necessary, not sufficient. You also need to optimize for click appeal — your title, favicon quality, and meta description as they'd appear in a citation card format.
Sources
- → Sachin Patel on X — original screenshot of the new citation format
- → Search Engine Roundtable — Barry Schwartz analysis of the test
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