Google seems to be testing adding tracking parameters to the link URLs within AI Overviews and AI Mode. If this rolls out fully, this will help you decipher when you get a click from an AI Overview in Google Search or just a click from the main Google Search web results.
The parameter is appended to the end of the link or URL and is "?st_source=ai_overview parameter."
This was spotted by Tom Pool who posted this on LinkedIn and wrote, "Just started seeing the ?st_source=ai_overview parameter on links mentioned within AI Overviews - is this the start of actual proper attribution reporting?"
Here is his screenshot:
Here is the AI Mode version:
I tried to replicate this in several browsers, but I am unable to.
But Tom was able to see it in several examples, he even said they show even in the "links mentioned in the source list too."
Here are more screenshots from Tom:
Do you see this?
Forum discussion at LinkedIn.
Update: An anonymous source told me this is a black hat tactic where these folks are forcing Google to index parameterized URLs at scale to measure exact clicks from AI Overviews.
