Google updates AI Mode: sources now open next to the chat

Google is updating the AI Mode feature in the Chrome browser: starting in April 2026, clicking a source link in the chat opens the site next to the AI Mode window instead of in a new browser tab, as it did before. You can now ask follow-up questions about the open page right away, without switching between tabs.

How AI Mode worked before

AI Mode is a chatbot-like Google search feature that runs in a tab to the left of the main search page. The service launched in 2025, and Google has regularly added new capabilities since then, extending it beyond answering plain text questions. Before the April update, clicking any source link in AI Mode behaved like an ordinary browser link: the site opened in a new tab, while the conversation with the assistant stayed in another window, and you had to switch tabs manually to get back to it.

• The update arrived in April 2026 and changes how source links behave in AI Mode
• Previously, clicking a source opened a new browser tab
• Now the source site opens next to the AI Mode chat, in the same window
• AI Mode launched in 2025 as a chatbot-style feature of Google Search
• Over the past year, AI Mode gained image generation from descriptions, trip visualization and agentic restaurant booking

What else AI Mode can do

Over the past year, Google has added several AI Mode features that go beyond ordinary text search. According to The Verge, the assistant has learned to generate images of outfits and home furnishings from a user's text description, to visualize upcoming trip plans right in the chat, and to book restaurant tables in agentic mode, meaning it carries out some actions on its own, without sending the user to a third-party site.

"AI Mode is a chatbot-like search feature that lives in a tab to the left of the main Google search page,"

The Verge notes.

Why Google is changing how links work

The "site next to the chat" format addresses a specific problem with AI-answer search: following a source used to break the conversation with the assistant. The site opened in a separate tab, and you had to return to AI Mode to continue talking. Now both windows stay on screen at the same time, and you can ask questions about the open page immediately, without switching tabs.

What this means

Google is trying to keep users inside search for as long as possible: instead of sending them to external sites in a separate tab, AI Mode now shows those sites right next to the chat and preserves the conversation's context. It is a logical continuation of the company's strategy of turning search from a list of links into an interface where users get an answer and take action without leaving Google.

Frequently asked questions

What changed when you click a source in AI Mode?

Previously, clicking a source link opened the site in a new browser tab. Now the site opens next to the AI Mode chat window, in the same window, and you can ask about its content right away.

When was AI Mode launched?

AI Mode launched in 2025 as a chatbot-like search feature that runs in a tab to the left of the main Google search page.

Which features were added to AI Mode over the past year?

Google added image generation for clothing and interiors from descriptions, visualization of travel itineraries and agentic restaurant table booking to AI Mode.