Gemini LLM Responses API Now Returns Direct URLs

The Gemini LLM Responses API from the AI Optimization API suite now provides direct destination URLs for links returned in Gemini responses. The new direct_url field is available in both Live and Task GET endpoint responses.

What’s new

Gemini returns source links using the vertexaisearch domain, which redirects to the actual destination URL. To make these links easier to work with, we added a new direct_url field to elements of the annotations array.

How it works

The url field continues to return the original URL displayed by Gemini, while direct_url contains the final destination URL.

For example:

{
  "annotations": [
    {
      "title": "grandviewresearch.com",
      "url": "https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQFGFBpWd9vCZdJPQcb8I-VR4gzqM86zOtr1Lnqxj-49n83scQUMGFM1PjHEDueualMXbXidaRKcYoaXlAXBBINoXA2sBmLgTnhcQR4UwpXrbPRrMDBrTqNKxm84J0eOkxY1zpEQdJ97p-Dj1bdjIYQLO915HClxAeqgEtIwgfRtDqKPtkbC2Hy-HNM=",
      "direct_url": "https://www.grandviewresearch.com/horizon/outlook/amusement-parks-market/france",
      "start_index": 171,
      "end_index": 299,
      "text": "**Market Size and Growth:**n*   The French amusement parks market generated an estimated revenue of USD 3,601.9 million in 2025."
    }
  ]
}

Why it matters

With the new direct_url field, you can:

• access the actual source URL without additionally processing the redirects yourself;
• simplify link extraction and source analysis workflows;
• store and analyze destination URLs directly based on the API response.

Check out the updated Gemini LLM Responses API documentation to start using the new direct_url field.