What changed — and what we still don't know
The claim is specific: it is the percentage of AI Overviews that include at least one external link, not the percentage of searches that send you traffic. That distinction is where most of the excitement about this number goes wrong.
We could not find a published study behind it. The number comes from a chart on X, relayed in Search Engine Roundtable's 23 September report → — with no sample size, no measurement window and no description of the query set, and nothing on Peec AI's site filling those gaps. Barry Schwartz also disclosed there that he holds a small investment in Peec AI. Treat it as one vendor's observed trend reported by one outlet, not an established fact.
Google's only on-record position predates this. In a 6 May 2026 post by Search VP Hema Budaraju →, it said users would "see more links directly within AI responses — right next to the relevant text." Directionally, the trend is consistent with what Google said it was doing.
Why this is thinner good news than it looks
More links visible is not more clicks earned. And a day earlier, Search Engine Roundtable reported that some AI Overview links open AI Mode rather than a web page → — spotted by Gagan Ghotra, and again without Google comment. A link that keeps the user inside Google is a link that never reaches your site, so a rising "links shown" count can coexist with flat referral traffic.
For Indian marketers the read is unchanged: measure what arrives, not what appears. Pair your AI Overviews work with a real handle on citation share and an honest view of zero-click search before rebuilding anything on a 25% no one has shown the workings for.
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