If you run a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription and noticed AI Mode stopped linking to your site - or to anyone's site - in early September 2026, you're not imagining it. Google confirmed a bug in the Gemini 3.8 Flash model that powers AI Mode for subscribers: citations largely stopped appearing, and there's no fix date yet.
What changed and when
Google rolled out Gemini 3.8 Flash inside AI Mode on September 1-2, 2026 - its third Flash model release in six weeks. Within 24-48 hours, search marketers running Pro and Ultra accounts noticed something odd: answers to broad, informational queries came back with no source links at all, on questions that used to reliably produce three to five citations.
Gagan Ghotra documented dozens of these zero-citation results on X. Glenn Gabe then ran a controlled comparison on September 3 - identical queries on the default AI Mode model versus 3.8 Flash. The default model cited sources; 3.8 Flash didn't.
Robby Stein confirmed it
On September 4, 2026, Robby Stein - VP of Product for Google Search - responded directly: "This isn't working as intended, and we'll roll out a fix soon." That's Google on the record calling it a bug, not a redesign. No date was given for the fix.
The subscription detail that matters for US marketers
Gemini 3.8 Flash in AI Mode is exclusive to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers - the free tier isn't touched by this bug at all. In the US market, Pro/Ultra adoption skews toward power users running longer, multi-step research queries, which happens to be exactly the query type where citations mattered most before this broke.
If your team monitors citation appearances as part of a GEO program and only some accounts are flagging the drop while others aren't, subscription tier is the first thing to check - it explains the discrepancy better than anything content-related.
What US-based teams should actually do
- Hold off on any content rewrite decisions based on a citation drop from the first week of September 2026 alone.
- If you have Pro or Ultra access, manually spot-check your highest-value queries rather than relying only on third-party GEO tools, which may not distinguish between model versions.
- Keep investing in what drives citations regardless of the underlying model: direct answers up front, specific data points, clear author expertise signals.
- Track Robby Stein's account and the Search Central blog for the fix announcement - it's likely to be the first place Google confirms resolution.
This is not the same story as the AI Overviews CTR drop
It's easy to lump this in with the broader, well-documented decline in organic CTR on queries with AI Overviews. That's a permanent structural shift in how people interact with search results. This is different: a specific, acknowledged bug in one model release that Google has already said is unintended behavior. One calls for a long-term strategy shift. This one calls for patience and monitoring, not a strategy pivot.
Tracking the fix
Set up a short recurring check rather than a one-time look: pick five to ten queries where your pages were cited before, and re-run them every few days on a Pro/Ultra account at a consistent time. Note whether citations return partially (some query types before others) or all at once - Google's past fixes to AI Mode features have sometimes rolled out unevenly across query categories.
If citations haven't returned by early October 2026, submitting a specific example through Search Console feedback or replying to Stein's thread with your exact query and screenshot tends to get more traction than a general report - Google's product teams have repeatedly prioritized bugs with reproducible, concrete cases over vague complaints.
FAQ
Is this the same as the general AI Overviews CTR drop? No. The CTR drop on AI-Overview-heavy queries is a long-term structural trend Google isn't reversing. This is a specific, confirmed bug in the Gemini 3.8 Flash model that Google has already called unintended behavior.
Does this affect the free tier of AI Mode? No. Only Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers get Gemini 3.8 Flash in AI Mode - the free tier runs a different model unaffected by this bug.
Who confirmed the bug? Robby Stein, VP of Product for Google Search, confirmed it on X on September 4, 2026, one day after Search Engine Roundtable first reported the issue.
What should I do about my GEO reporting right now? Note the bug as a known data anomaly for early September 2026 rather than treating it as a real drop in citation quality. Reassess once Google confirms a fix.
How can I verify this myself? Run the same queries on a Google AI Pro or Ultra account before and after checking - if citations are missing on broad informational queries specifically, that matches the reported pattern.
For a longer-term approach to earning AI citations, see our guide to Generative Engine Optimization and the data behind the AI Overviews CTR drop.
