Google URL Changes & ChatGPT Citations: What You Need to Know

Google is quietly changing how search result links appear, routing them through a tracking URL. This means the direct destination link is hidden. What's interesting is that tools scraping search results might need to adapt to identify the correct domain. Also, searchers lose the ability to preview where a link leads before clicking. Google has not yet confirmed if this is a permanent change. In other news, Search Console now shows how Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube content performs in Google Search. Creators can verify their social media accounts to see clicks, impressions, and top posts. Finally, new research reveals ChatGPT uses one of four hidden retrieval pipelines when searching the web, which can change the sources it cites. These developments affect how online content is found and tracked.