ChatGPT wrote the lyrics, Perplexity created a beat, Claude did the backing vocals. Google walked in, remixed it and won the grammy.
Earlier this week, Google announced the rollout of ‘AI Mode’ across the United States (naturally, they’re putting the States first), with global availability coming hopefully in the not-too-distant future.
The huge rise in usage of LLMs as search engines – aka generative engine optimisation (GEO) – has almost certainly sped up Google’s development and rollout of AI Mode. Put simply: people are turning to ChatGPT over Google; they’re asking it questions, and the simple Google search is dying a death.
As one of the largest businesses in the world, Google was never going to roll over and just let this happen. So, what is AI Mode, why have Google rolled it out so urgently and how does this affect our usage of Google and other search engines?
We’ve got all your answers right here in this blog.
AI Mode – what is it?
Ironically, to quote ChatGPT:
“AI Mode is a dedicated tab within Google Search and the Google app that offers conversational, in-depth responses to user queries.”
In short, it’s a very, very similar process to your current LLM of choice, in that it will generate a well-researched response to any brief.
It’s important to note that the new AI Mode won’t clash with ‘AI Overviews’ which were rolled out in 2024. This is more of a mashup of AI Overviews and Gemini.
Users will be able to select ‘AI Mode’ as a type of search mode directly from their web browser – as if you would with images, videos and news tabs. This will sit alongside your ordinary search function, and is designed as a direct competitor to LLMs that have taken over in recent months.
AI Mode for SEOs and marketers
Every time Google has a new update, big or small, there are segments of SEOs and marketers who decide that the world is going to end. Google is Bane in the digital Gotham – they want to watch everything burn. The introduction of AI mode is no different – many SEOs are freaking out.
Contrary to the opinions I’ve seen online thus far, I believe that AI mode will heavily benefit SEOs and marketers looking to grow their business. It solves a number of issues around the current TAYA (they ask, you answer) models within AI Overviews and LLMs.
One of the largest critiques of LLMs currently, albeit they are definitely improving, is the legitimacy and reliability of the answers provided.
Even with Google’s AI overviews, some of the answers in the initial roll out were comical, but more importantly poorly researched/cited.
To alleviate this issue with AI Mode, Google confirmed in their initial announcement that “in cases where we don’t have high confidence in helpfulness and quality, the response will be a set of web search results.”
Which is great, but we’ll all miss classic responses such as this:
How will AI Mode affect your marketing efforts?
Realistically, if you’re not putting the majority of your search efforts into E-E-A-T by now, I don’t know what to tell you. I can only assume you’re still sending messages via carrier pigeon, too. But it’s absolutely PARAMOUNT that E-E-A-T is in the forefront of your minds.
If you haven’t heard of it, E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness, and they’re the four pillars of content when it comes to helpfulness:
- Experience – First hand knowledge and practical experience
- Expertise – How qualified you are to discuss a certain topic
- Authoritativeness – The reputation of the writer themselves
- Trustworthiness – Accuracy, objectivity and transparency around the subject matter
The other crucial piece of advice for marketers is to worry about more than just organic search visits when creating content. The term ‘zero click searches’ hasn’t been banded around every marketing circle for the past 6 months for no reason.
It’s time to move away from informing directors that Organic Search visits have gone down, and that you’ll do everything in your power to regain lost visitors. You should now be setting different KPIs and targets, especially to prepare for the introduction of AI Mode.
I’ve listed a few key targets to keep an eye on moving forward:
SERP features/impression share
- A fantastic way of tracking content performance is through SERP features, this will give you an indication of how helpful your content is when answering certain queries within your niche.
- I’ve added a screenshot of what they look like from semrush, other keyword trackers are available, of course.
Brand authority
- This is a score, similar to domain authority, developed by Moz. Brand authority provides an indicator of visibility through search intent, search volume and brand term awareness.
Semrush AI dashboard
- Arguably the most relevant to AI Mode, Semrush’s AI dashboard gives you strategic insight and market share within relevant LLMs.
- This dashboard already includes Gemini, so no doubt AI Mode will follow suit.
Biggest AI Mode takeaways
This is a whole lot of information, and I wouldn’t blame you if you’ve already zoned out.
To make things a little easier for you, here are three key takeaways that, if you remember, then I’ve done my job:
- The strategy for AI mode is the same as other LLMs
- STOP WORRYING ABOUT CLICKS
- Google love to copy people’s homework and make it their own
I’ll leave it there, but if you’ve got any questions, or if you want to chat a little about SEO, I’d love to hear from you.
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