Google is testing a version of AI Overviews that shows the count of referenced sites beneath the generated answer instead of above it. Brodie Clark, who tracks SERP changes, posted a video of the variant on X and in his SERP Alert feed.
In an earlier version of the experiment, the count sat above the citations. In this one, hovering over the count reveals the full list of citations. Clark did not say how widely the variant appears, and Search Engine Roundtable did not say either. Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable noted he could not see the top-of-answer layout himself.
The stake for publishers is visibility. A source list tucked below a long generated answer is easier to miss, and Schwartz wrote that it could cut clicks further. That claim is his reading, not measured data, and Google has not commented on the test.
Teams that track AI Overview citations should record where the source count sits in their rank-tracking screenshots, so any click drop can be tied to the layout and not to a ranking change.
Search Engine Roundtable, Barry Schwartz, November 11, 2026.
