Google’s “AI Mode” in Search: What It Means for Brands – and How Search Strategy Must Evolve
June 09, 2025
In a bold response to a shifting landscape around how users discover information online, Google has unveiled "AI Mode" for Search — the most significant UI and UX update to Search in over a decade. While still in limited rollout (US only for now), it represents a broader move toward AI-first experiences and accelerates what many SEO professionals refer to as the rise of "zero-click” search.
For global brands and marketing leaders, AI Mode marks a profound shift not only in how users find information, but how success in search must be measured.
TL;DR: What Marketers Need to Know
• Google’s new AI Mode changes how content is surfaced — and measured • Brands must shift KPIs from just traffic and conversions to impressions, brand mentions, and visibility in AI-generated answers • Content no longer needs to rank #1 — but it must be trusted, well-structured, and comprehensive • Paid search will shift further away from keyword targeting to intent-based audience modelling • Keyword volume is less useful — focus on user behaviour, intent, and question patterns • Discovery is now cross-platform — what works for Google must also serve ChatGPT, Perplexity, Meta and others
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Why This Is Happening — and Why Now
Google’s introduction of "AI Mode" is not purely an innovation milestone — it’s also a defensive move against emerging discovery competitors such as ChatGPT (and GPT-powered browsing experiences), Claude.ai, and Perplexity.ai.
These platforms are redefining how users seek and consume information - not by directing them to static web pages, but by generating dynamic, conversational answers in response to highly specific queries. With consumer behaviour shifting from website navigation to “question and answer” exploration, Google is prioritising AI-driven summarisation and efficiency in its own search experience. AI Mode is a direct reflection of this trend.
From Search to Summary: The Growing Reality of Zero-Click Results
AI Mode builds on the concept of AI Overviews (formerly known as Search Generative Experience or SGE), where users are increasingly given answers within the search interface — removing the "click" from the search journey altogether.
While this may improve user experience, it also deepens the challenge for brands trying to generate traffic through traditional organic rankings or paid search ads. If the user’s query is satisfied without visiting your website – even if that answer is based on your content – then traditional metrics like click-through rate (CTR) and sessions no longer capture your true influence.
This changes search measurement at its core. Search visibility now extends beyond rankings and traffic; to brand presence, authority, and inclusion within generative AI summaries.
Rethinking SEO Performance: Beyond Clicks and Conversions
With AI Mode expected to reduce overall CTRs for many informational queries, traditional SEO KPIs - traffic, direct conversions - become incomplete measures of success. Instead, brands should begin to prioritise metrics such as:
Are we “visible” in the moments that matter, even if no click occurs?
How often is our brand cited or referenced in AI-generated answers?
Are we producing content that establishes us as a credible source for common user questions?
This is not a minor adjustment — it requires organisations to evolve how SEO performance is benchmarked internally and in reporting dashboards to senior stakeholders.
Google has confirmed that AI Mode performance data will be included in Google Search Console but will not be split out from traditional search. This aggregation limits the ability to isolate AI Mode-specific performance, making it even more critical to analyse patterns in impressions, branding, and known AI-triggering queries to infer impact.
(Sources: Google's announcement, Search Engine Land confirmation)
What Is “Fan-Out” Mode — And Why It Matters to Brands
As part of the technical infrastructure behind Google’s AI Mode, the company has introduced something called “query fan-out technique” — a crucial but largely unseen mechanism that determines how Google’s AI finds, selects, and summarises content from across the web.
In simple terms, rather than just retrieving the top-ranked results for a single keyword query, Google’s AI assesses a broader cluster of related questions, then ‘fans out’ to scan a wider set of high-quality web content – even pages typically buried beyond the first page of results – to synthesise a more context-rich summary.
What makes this important for marketers is the following:
- Authoritativeness is still vital. While fan out mode expands the net, it still favours trustworthy sources — so domains with strong E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) signals are more likely to be selected.
In practical terms, this means brands must think beyond just “ranking high.” Instead, the focus should be on:
- Structuring content to make key answers easily extractable (clear subheadings, digestible content structure)
In short, ‘fan out’ rewards coverage, clarity, and credibility - not just keyword targeting. It adds a layer of opportunity for content that might not appear at the top of a standard SERP, but is semantically rich and well-written.
From Keywords to Intent Patterns: How Search Behaviour Must Guide Strategy
AI Mode’s interaction model doesn’t just change search results – it changes search behaviour.
Users are now encouraged to ask longer, more bespoke, conversational, and even opinion-based questions. In response, AI distils answers using its own language and context – often quite different from the original query phrasing.
This makes legacy keyword research — focused on head terms and volume — less effective. Instead, marketers should shift their focus toward search behaviour, intent analysis and user journey context for both SEO and paid search strategies.
Key considerations include:
Understanding the “why” behind the search — not just the phrases used — is essential for aligning content with real user needs.- What types of queries are more likely to drive AI Mode engagement with users?
AI Mode is most useful to users for queries that require synthesis, judgment, or multi-source perspectives — areas where conventional blue link results may feel fragmented or inadequate. It’s likely to be used particularly for top-of-funnel, exploratory or comparative search queries. - How can brand content be positioned to answer these types of queries with authoritative, trustworthy insight?
This means going beyond generic answers — instead creating in-depth, reliable resources that AI can draw on with confidence and consistency. - Which lower-funnel searches will still drive website clicks?
While AI chatbots and enhanced search results may ‘steal’ a lot of traffic from informational searches, lower-funnel intent remains anchored in action. Users still need to visit a brand’s website to complete key tasks — such as purchasing a product, booking a service, or submitting a lead form. As a result, branded queries and bottom-of-funnel searches (e.g. “buy [product name]”, “contact [company]”) will continue to drive meaningful traffic to websites.
However, creates its own marketing challenge: in an environment still dominated by last-click attribution, brands may over-index on performance-focused SEO or paid search – without recognising that the lower-funnel conversion is the downstream result of prior AI-generated exposure higher in the journey. Marketing teams must take care not to undervalue upper-funnel brand visibility, even when it doesn’t appear to drive traffic or “convert” in conventional analytics. - Expect lower traffic, but higher conversion rates
AI Mode surfaces content in a more tailored and context-aware way than traditional SERPs. This means that when clicks do happen — from either an AI-generated result or adjacent paid ad — they are more likely to come from highly motivated users. In short: Fewer clicks. More qualified visitors. Higher conversion rates.
As AI-delivered answers become more precise, brands can expect lower overall traffic from search (especially at the top of the funnel), but higher commercial value per visit – particularly from users clicking through from trusted citations or high-intent ad placements
By focusing on user intent, informational depth, and content clarity, brands can improve their chances of being referenced in AI-generated results - even when specific keywords become less predictable.
SEO Content Strategy: No Reinvention, But a Recalibration
While "AI Mode" changes the search output, it doesn’t necessarily demand a radical reworking of SEO content strategy. The fundamentals of effective content remain:
- Prioritise experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T)
What's different is the evaluation model: success may be valued by inclusion in AI-generated responses - not just measured in site visits.
Optimising for AI Discovery Across Platforms: The Future of Search Strategy
While we’re mostly focused on Google and the new AI Mode, it’s critical to underscore that the search landscape is rapidly fragmenting across multiple AI-powered discovery tools (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, TikTok Search, Meta, among others). Search no longer belongs to one engine.
A modern search strategy must reflect this fragmented discovery landscape — not just Google’s historical dominance. Brands must understand and deploy optimisations to content discovery across multiple ‘answer engines’.
Strategic recommendation:
So What Should Brands Do Now?
Marketers at global brands should take the following actions over the coming quarter:
- Reassess SEO and SEM Key Performance Metrics
Move beyond traffic-based KPIs. Track impressions, brand presence, and AI-triggered visibility. - Conduct a Search Behaviour Audit
- Refocus on Entity SEO and Topical Authority
- Consider AI Search’s Impact on the Content Funnel
AI Mode may disproportionately impact top-of-funnel (ToFu) informational queries, where generative answers are more likely to satisfy the user without requiring clicks. As a result, brands may need to reassess their content distribution across the funnel. This raises key questions:
o Is your content too concentrated at the top of the funnel?
o Are you providing mid- and bottom-funnel content that encourages consideration and conversion (where users are more likely to click through)?
Consider mapping content types to funnel stages with predicted CTR impact, then looking for opportunities to “move down the funnel” with content types that resist zero-click tendencies.
Track not just your own brand's inclusion in responses but which competitors and publishers are frequently surfaced in AI answers.
With AI-generated summaries pulling from multiple sources, competitive benchmarking becomes more challenging — yet more critical. Traditional rank tracking tools will struggle to account for these dynamic, non-linear SERP constructs. Emerging tools such as Profound or Scrunch allow brands to monitor AI answer inclusion across platforms. While useful, they remain limited – AI platforms don’t share search volume data, and these tools rely on manually created and entered query sets to track visibility.
Implications for Paid Search and Organic Blend
AI Mode sits mostly in the organic layer of search - for now - but its increasing role in SERP real estate could crowd out paid listings or reduce room for traditional organic blue links. This could disrupt the ROI model for both SEO and SEM teams.
What this could mean:
A recommendation here might include scenario modelling or AI-aware media planning frameworks.
Conclusion: A Pivotal Moment for Search Strategy
Google’s AI Mode is not simply a product change — it’s a redefinition of what Google Search is becoming. For digital marketing leaders, this moment demands strategic rethinking. While core SEO tactics remain applicable, how we define success — and how we earn visibility — must evolve.
Brands that embrace this shift early, build expertise-centric content at scale, and move beyond legacy metrics, will outperform in this next era of AI-powered search. Those that cling to traffic and rankings without context risk missing the invisible — but highly influential — brand moments embedded in the search experience, even when no click occurs.
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