Adam Hafez
Key takeaways
- Glenn Gabe reported a desktop AI Overviews test where citations are stacked at the bottom of the answer and the right-side citation bar is gone.
- Search Engine Roundtable says Google tested bottom citation cards before, in September 2025 and in March 2026.
- A second test replaces the Show more button under AI Overviews with a Loading button, spotted by Sachin Patel and Khushal Bherwani.
- Barry Schwartz could not reproduce the loading button, and the source mentions no Google confirmation of either test.
Google is testing two small changes to how AI Overviews are laid out. One moves the citation cards below the answer on desktop. The other swaps the Show more button for a loading state. Barry Schwartz reported them at Search Engine Roundtable on 28 and 29 September 2026.
Where do the citation cards go?
Glenn Gabe says he is in an AI Overviews test where citations are stacked at the bottom of the answer on desktop and the right-side citation bar is gone. A show all control opens a full list of citations at the bottom. Gabe liked the setup: inline links you can hover over, plus a larger citation area underneath.
Schwartz adds a caveat. Until you click Show more, there are no citation cards, only link icons inside the response, unless Google expands them automatically. He reports that Google tested bottom citations before, in September 2025 and again in March 2026.
What happened to Show more?
In a second test, the Show more button under an AI Overview becomes a Loading button. Sachin Patel posted a screenshot, and Khushal Bherwani posted a video. Schwartz tried to reproduce it and still saw Show more. He notes that Google tested Enter AI Mode as the button text earlier this year, and that it did not stick.
On mobile, Gagan Ghotra commented that the loading version may be better than the current one, where Show more opens an overlay and the user must go back to reach the usual results.
Does this change SEO?
Nothing measurable is reported yet. Neither source gives a rollout scope, click data or a Google statement, so treat both as unconfirmed tests that may disappear.
The citation placement is still worth watching, because it decides where cited pages get seen. For an earlier change to how the answer box behaves, see when AI Overviews expand on their own.
Before drawing conclusions, check your own queries on desktop and mobile. Test layouts like these appear for some accounts and not others.
The evidence
- Type
- industry
- Impact
- low
- Affects
- AI Overviews, Citation cards, Show more button, Desktop results
Sources
- 1.Google AI Overviews Testing Citations Cards At Bottom Again - Search Engine Roundtable, September 29, 2026Primary
- 2.Google Testing Replacing Show More Button On AI Overviews With Loading - Search Engine Roundtable, September 28, 2026Primary
- 3.Glenn Gabe on X: AI Overviews test with citations at the bottom - Glenn Gabe on X, September 28, 2026Primary
- 4.Sachin Patel on X: Loading button on AI Overviews - Sachin Patel on XPrimary
Frequently asked questions
Where does Google show AI Overview citations in this test?
At the bottom of the answer on desktop. Glenn Gabe says the right-side citation bar is gone and a show all control opens the full list of citations beneath the answer.
Why is Google testing a Loading button instead of Show more?
Google has not said. Search Engine Roundtable reports the test and notes that Google earlier tested Enter AI Mode as the button text, which did not stick.
Are these changes live for everyone?
No. Both are tests, and the reporter could not reproduce the loading button. Neither report mentions a Google confirmation of either one.
About the author
Founder, UpgradIQ FZC LLC
Adam Hafez works on technical SEO and search measurement: how pages get crawled, indexed, ranked and now quoted by answer engines. He founded UpgradIQ, which reads Google Search Console and GA4 to tie ranking movement back to the changes that caused it. He publishes what the data supports and states the limits of it.
- Technical SEO
- Search Console and GA4 measurement
- Answer engine optimization
- Structured data
The briefing
Only what actually changed in search, delivered in full by RSS, Atom or JSON feed.
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