>> Maybe then it's possible to add a new text property on symlink file names?
>> Then query-replace could check for two text properties:
>> 'dired-filename' and 'dired-symlink-filename'.
>
> Yes, I think we could do that.
>
> Note that `dired-insert-set-properties' already sets the invisible text
> property to 'dired-hide-details-link'.

Ok, here is the fix to support search and query-replace of e.g. "fo* → baz":