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Google has introduced a major change to the way we interact with search. Known as AI Mode (previously Search Generative Experience or SGE), this new mode uses generative artificial intelligence to summarise search results directly within Google’s results page.
This marks a shift in how users discover information and a serious change in how digital marketers should approach both SEO and paid search advertising.
In this article, we explain how Google’s AI works in simple terms, what users can expect, and how digital marketers can adapt to stay visible and relevant.
What Is Google’s AI Overview?
AI Overview is Google’s way of providing fast, AI-generated summaries in response to complex queries. Instead of simply displaying a list of blue links, Google now gives users a quick, conversational response pulled from multiple trusted sources.
Users still have the option to click through to full results, but the immediate experience is more AI-assisted than ever before.
How Does It Work?
Google AI uses large language models (LLMs) trained on enormous datasets. These models interpret the intent behind a query, gather relevant content from indexed pages, and generate a written response in real time.
Unlike ChatGPT, which often relies on static training data, Google’s AI is grounded in its live index of the web. It’s designed to surface high-quality, relevant information often linking back to the original sources, but not always in a way that drives traffic.
What Changes for Users?
For everyday users, the experience becomes faster and more intuitive:
- Quick answers: You get a summary without needing to scroll through multiple pages.
- Smarter queries: You can ask more complex or comparative questions and get meaningful, human-like responses.
- Follow-up prompts: Google suggests what to ask next, making the search more of a conversation.
This saves time but also changes how users interact with websites. If an answer is already summarised in AI Overview, the incentive to click through is reduced and that’s where it becomes tricky for marketers.
What It Means for SEO
From an SEO perspective, AI Overview presents both risks and opportunities.
1. Traffic May Drop Even If Rankings Stay Strong
Your content could rank on page one, but if the AI summary answers the user’s question upfront, they may never click through. This is part of the growing trend of zero-click searches, and it means visibility doesn’t always equal visits.
2. Content Needs to Be AI-Citable
Google’s AI is selective about which sources it draws from. To appear in the overview, your content needs to:
- Be factual, trustworthy, and well-structured
- Demonstrate expertise and authority in the topic
- Be referenced or cited by others (strong backlink profiles help)
The emphasis on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is stronger than ever.
3. Long-form and Topical Depth Matter
Thin or surface-level content is unlikely to be pulled into AI summaries. Google prefers sources that demonstrate comprehensive coverage of a topic.
4. Structured Data Becomes Essential
Schema markup and structured data help Google understand and feature your content in enhanced results, including AI responses. This is no longer just for technical SEO. It’s a visibility strategy.
What It Means for Paid Ads
Google’s AI Overview doesn’t just impact organic search. It also shifts how users interact with paid ads.
1. Reduced Real Estate
AI responses take up a significant portion of the screen, especially on mobile. This pushes both organic results and paid ads lower, potentially reducing visibility and click-through rates.
2. Shifting User Behaviour
As users rely more on AI answers, their journey changes. They may skip clicking on ads if the summary provides enough context or answers. This means your ad creative needs to be more aligned with what users are seeing above.
3. Responsive and AI-Powered Ad Formats
Google continues to evolve ad formats that rely on machine learning, from automated headlines and descriptions to Performance Max campaigns. Advertisers need to understand how these formats work within the broader AI context.
4. Relevance Is Everything
Ad relevance, message clarity, and consistency with search intent become even more important. If your ad contradicts or oversells something that’s already been summarised by AI, users may lose trust.
Google AI vs OpenAI and Other Platforms
While Google AI shares similarities with tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, it stands out in one key way: it’s embedded directly into the search experience.
