The short answer: In the week ending October 21, 2026, Google said it is putting more website links higher inside AI Mode and AI Overviews, a ChatGPT bug made ChatGPT visitors look like “Direct” traffic from October 8 to 15, and Google started testing ads in part of AI Mode. For local businesses, AI answers can send more customers, but only if your site answers their questions and your analytics track the visits correctly.
Key takeaways
- Google announced on October 15, 2026 that AI Mode and AI Overviews now show more links to websites, placed higher in answers.
- From October 8 to 15, 2026, ChatGPT links lost their tracking tag, so many ChatGPT visits showed up as “Direct” in Google Analytics.
- Google is testing ads in AI Mode only for people who connected Gmail and Google Photos through Personal Intelligence.
- A new study found ChatGPT cites many pages that Google search does not rank, so a good Google ranking does not guarantee an AI recommendation.
- Meta’s revised Commercial Terms, effective October 30, 2026, allow Meta crawlers to visit websites of businesses that use Meta products.
Welcome to This Week in AI from US Adventure Marketing. Each week we pick the AI changes that matter most to local business owners, explain them in plain English, and give you one thing to do about each. Tap any question at the bottom to open the answer.
Is Google sending more people from AI answers to business websites?
Google says AI Mode and AI Overviews now include more links to websites and show those links higher in the answer. Google’s Hema Budaraju, VP of Product Management, announced on October 15, 2026 that Google has made “continued and substantial increases” to inline links, and is testing a section at the top of some answers for the one or two official websites that can complete a task. Google did not share click numbers. (Google)
AI Mode is a tab in Google Search that answers a question with an AI-written response instead of a list of links. AI Overviews are the AI summaries that appear at the top of regular Google results. An inline link is a link placed on a word or phrase inside that AI answer.
What to do: The “official website” test is the big one for local businesses. If someone asks AI Mode to book a table or schedule a repair, Google wants to point to the site that can actually do it. Make sure your booking, ordering or contact page is easy to find, loads fast on a phone, and says plainly what you do and where. Our AI (GEO) and search services are built around exactly this.
Why did ChatGPT traffic drop in mid-October 2026?
ChatGPT traffic appeared to drop from October 8 to 15, 2026 because of a tracking bug, not because fewer people clicked. During that week, links clicked inside ChatGPT stopped carrying the utm_source=chatgpt.com tag, so Google Analytics counted those visitors as “Direct.” Adobe analyst Cedric Huesler said OpenAI confirmed the bug to him on October 14 and began rolling out a fix on October 15. OpenAI has not commented publicly. (Relevant Audience, Search Engine Roundtable)
A UTM tag is a short label added to the end of a web address that tells your analytics where a visitor came from. The bug started around the time GPT-6 reached every ChatGPT plan on October 7. By the morning of October 15, Huesler reported tagged ChatGPT clicks were back to roughly 95 to 100 percent of normal.
What to do: In Google Analytics, add an annotation for October 8 to 15, 2026. If ChatGPT visits dipped while Direct visits rose by a similar amount, it’s the same people under a different label. The missing labels won’t come back, so keep that week in mind when you compare October with September.
Are there ads in Google AI Mode now?
Google is testing ads in AI Mode, but only for people who have connected Gmail and Google Photos through its Personal Intelligence feature. AI Mode had been ad-free since launch. Google says ads “will not be based directly” on someone’s inbox or photos, though summaries of that data may be used. Businesses can’t choose these placements, and no wider rollout has been announced as of October 21, 2026. (LoopLoop)
What to do: Nothing to buy yet. If you run Google Ads, watch your account for AI Mode placements over the coming months. In the meantime, showing up in AI answers for free is still the best long-term investment.
Does ranking on Google mean ChatGPT will recommend your business?
Ranking on Google does not guarantee that ChatGPT will cite or recommend your business. A research paper posted October 11, 2026 by researchers at the National University of Singapore and Xi’an Jiaotong University ran 80 questions 20 times each on two ChatGPT models. Google search alone found only 6.4 to 9.4 percent of the pages ChatGPT cited, and about 40 to 45 percent of cited pages appeared in just one of the 20 runs. The paper has not been peer reviewed yet. (LoopLoop summary)
What to do: Check for yourself. Ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot the questions your customers ask, like “best brunch near me” or “who fixes garage doors near me,” and see whether you’re named. Every Wednesday our AI Taste Test does exactly this for a real local question.
Can Meta crawl your business website starting October 30, 2026?
Meta’s revised Commercial Terms, which take effect October 30, 2026, include a clause letting Meta’s crawlers visit websites tied to businesses that use Meta products such as Facebook and Instagram ads. Reports disagree on whether Meta may also use that content to train AI after it revised the wording. Meta says website owners can still control access with robots.txt. (PPC Land, Relevant Audience)
A robots.txt file is a short text file on your website that tells search engines and other bots which pages they may visit.
What to do: If you advertise on Facebook or Instagram, ask your web person to look at your robots.txt file and decide on purpose whether Meta’s crawlers are allowed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Google AI Mode?
Google AI Mode is a tab in Google Search that answers questions with an AI-written response and links to websites, instead of a list of ten blue links. It is built for longer, more detailed questions, such as “Which restaurants near me have a private room for 20 people on a Friday?” AI Mode also runs extra background searches on related questions before it answers. For a local business, that means your website should answer the follow-up questions a customer might ask, such as price ranges, hours, parking and booking, so AI Mode has something specific to quote and link to.
How do I see ChatGPT traffic in Google Analytics?
In Google Analytics 4, open Reports, then Acquisition, then Traffic acquisition, and change the table to show Session source. Visitors from ChatGPT appear with the source chatgpt.com, because ChatGPT adds a utm_source=chatgpt.com tag to the links it shows. Visits from October 8 to 15, 2026 may appear as Direct instead, because of a ChatGPT tagging bug that was fixed starting October 15. Add an annotation for that week so the dip does not confuse your monthly comparisons, and check the same report for perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and copilot.microsoft.com.
Did OpenAI confirm the ChatGPT tracking bug?
OpenAI has not confirmed the ChatGPT tracking bug publicly as of October 21, 2026. Adobe analyst Cedric Huesler reported that OpenAI confirmed the bug to him privately on October 14, 2026 and began rolling out a fix early on October 15. He said tagged ChatGPT clicks returned to about 95 to 100 percent of normal levels by that morning. OpenAI’s public release notes do not mention the bug or the fix, so treat the explanation as well supported but second-hand.
Can my business advertise in Google AI Mode?
Businesses cannot buy ads in Google AI Mode directly as of October 21, 2026. Google is testing ads only for people who connected Gmail and Google Photos through its Personal Intelligence feature, and it has not announced advertiser controls or a wider rollout. If you already run Google Ads campaigns, watch your placement reports over the next few months, since new AI placements usually appear there first. Until then, the way to show up in AI Mode is organic: clear answers on your website, a complete Google Business Profile and steady reviews.
How can a local business get recommended by AI assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini?
A local business gets recommended by AI assistants when those tools can confirm the same facts about it from several trusted places. Answer common customer questions directly on your website, keep your Google Business Profile complete with current hours and photos, earn reviews regularly, and make sure your business name, address and phone number match everywhere online. Add schema markup so machines can read your details, and publish helpful pages that answer real questions in your city. AI tools quote pages that give a clear, specific answer.
What is GEO, or generative engine optimization?
GEO, short for generative engine optimization, is the work of making your business easy for AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Mode to find, understand and recommend. Traditional SEO focuses on ranking in a list of search results. GEO focuses on being the source an AI answer quotes or links to. In practice, that means writing pages that answer specific questions in the first few sentences, backing claims with sources, adding schema markup, and keeping your business details consistent across the web.
Should I block Meta from crawling my website?
Whether to block Meta from crawling your website depends on your goals. Blocking Meta’s crawlers in your robots.txt file stops them from reading your site, which may also limit what Meta’s AI tools know about your business. Allowing them can help Meta describe and recommend you accurately. Most local businesses benefit from being visible to AI tools, but the decision should be deliberate. Meta’s revised Commercial Terms take effect October 30, 2026, so review your robots.txt file before then if you use Meta products.
How often does Google change AI Mode and AI Overviews?
Google changes AI Mode and AI Overviews often, sometimes several times a month. Between May and October 2026, Google added inline links, links at the end of responses, news carousels, image thumbnails for related articles and an official-website test, and it began testing ads in October. Because the layout keeps shifting, local businesses should focus on what stays constant: clear answers, accurate business details and a fast mobile site. Following a weekly update like this one is an easy way to keep up without reading every announcement.
Is AI recommending you, or your competition?
US Adventure Marketing helps local businesses get found online, get recommended by Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot, and put AI to work with a custom AI assistant. Not sure where you stand? Take our two-minute AI IQ quiz, browse more posts on the blog, or contact us and we’ll show you what AI says about your business today.
By Kellie LaPointe, founder of US Adventure Marketing, an online agency with more than 10 years of experience helping local businesses get discovered. Last updated October 21, 2026. We update this post if a company confirms or corrects anything above.