Google is testing text link ads inside AI Mode answers, marked Sponsored above the response

Search Engine Roundtable reports that Google has started testing a new text link ad format inside AI Mode, where the ads look like part of the AI answer and carry only a Sponsored label above them to mark them apart. The test was first spotted by Sachin Patel, who shared examples on X and on Search Engine Watch.

What the new format looks like

The sponsored results appear as text with anchor links, styled the same way as the rest of the AI Mode response. Barry Schwartz, who wrote up the sighting, notes the ads carry a "Sponsored" label positioned above the AI-generated response, rather than a distinct ad block below it. In his own queries, Schwartz saw both formats. Some results showed the new text link ads at the top; others showed traditional ad units placed below the AI response, the pattern Google has run in AI Mode until now.

Google has not published a statement about the test, and Search Engine Roundtable does not report how widely it is running or which queries trigger it. Patel's post shared one live example, and Schwartz confirmed he could reproduce a version of the format on his own account.

The click question

Schwartz spells out the concern in one line. "These AI Mode ads look way to organic, no? But I doubt they will have as high of a click-through rate than the normal format." Two things are packed into that. First, the ads look enough like the AI answer that a reader might not notice they are ads, which is the whole reason a Sponsored label sits above them. Second, users have already learned to ignore links inside AI Mode answers because the answer itself is the destination on most queries. A link that looks like the answer body inherits both patterns.

If the test rolls out, the effect on paid search creative is direct. Ad copy that reads as an assertion in the AI voice performs differently from ad copy that reads as a listing card, so the winning headline in a classic blue-link auction may lose here and the auction has to be re-run. Landing-page match becomes tighter too: a reader clicking an AI Mode text link is already mid-answer, and the page they land on has to pick up the thread of the answer they were reading.

The bigger context is that Google has been visibly working out how to monetise AI Mode. Text link ads inside the answer, and the traditional block below it, are two different bets on what a reader will click. The test suggests Google is testing both and measuring which one earns more per query without pushing users away from the surface.

Source

Google AI Mode Tests Text Link Ads, Search Engine Roundtable, 15 September 2026. Original sighting by Sachin Patel on X.