Abstract The laser-field-modified dipole response of the first ionization threshold of helium is studied by means of attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. We resolve light-induced time-dependent structures in the photoabsorption spectrum both below and above the ionization threshold. By comparing the measured results to a quantum-dynamical model, we isolate the contributions of the unbound electron to these structures. They originate from light-induced couplings of near-threshold bound and continuum states and light-induced energy shifts of the free electron. The ponderomotive energy, at low laser intensities, is identified as a good approximation for the perturbed continuum response.