Google’s AI Mode has landed, and it’s changing everything for brands that rely on search visibility. Built on the powerful Gemini 2.5 Pro model, this feature doesn’t just return a list of links, it delivers a complete, conversational answer compiled from sources it trusts.
For users, it’s a time saver. For marketers, it’s a fundamental shift. If you’re not one of the sources Google’s AI is citing, you’re effectively invisible to your audience in that moment of decision making.
At its core, AI Mode takes a user’s question, breaks it down into smaller, related queries, and pulls together information from across the web to form a detailed, natural sounding answer. This means people no longer need to click through to multiple websites to compare information they can get it all in one place.
Since its UK rollout on 29 July 2025, AI Mode has been integrated into mobile and desktop search, the Google app, and even the Pixel search bar. It’s part of a bigger move towards AI-first discovery, alongside tools like Google Lens, which now processes over 25 billion searches a month, and AI Overviews, which Google has called its most successful launch in a decade.
Early usage patterns show that search sessions are now lasting two to three times longer than before, and queries themselves are more conversational, often phrased as complete, natural language questions. In other words, users aren’t just searching, they’re having a dialogue with AI.
For marketers, the most immediate effect is the drop in traditional click-through rates. Research from Ahrefs shows that when an AI Overview is present, the click-through rate for the top organic result can fall from 7.3% to just 2.6%. BrightEdge has reported a similar decline, with average CTR for top-ranking pages slipping from 28% in 2024 to 19% in 2025.
This isn’t all bad news. The traffic that does make it to your site is often more qualified, visitors arrive having already read a summary, meaning they’re further along in their decision-making process. As Nikki Goodman, Head of SEO at Sleeping Giant Media, puts it:
“Less clicks, but supposedly more value. The research has already happened before they get to your site.”
The real challenge is no longer about owning the top ranking. It’s about making sure your brand is cited as part of the AI’s answer in the first place.
At its core, AI Mode takes a user’s question, breaks it down into smaller, related queries, and pulls together information from across the web to form a detailed, natural sounding answer. This means people no longer need to click through to multiple websites to compare information they can get it all in one place.
Since its UK rollout on 29 July 2025, AI Mode has been integrated into mobile and desktop search, the Google app, and even the Pixel search bar. It’s part of a bigger move towards AI-first discovery, alongside tools like Google Lens, which now processes over 25 billion searches a month, and AI Overviews, which Google has called its most successful launch in a decade.
Early usage patterns show that search sessions are now lasting two to three times longer than before, and queries themselves are more conversational, often phrased as complete, natural language questions. In other words, users aren’t just searching, they’re having a dialogue with AI.
For marketers, the most immediate effect is the drop in traditional click-through rates. Research from Ahrefs shows that when an AI Overview is present, the click-through rate for the top organic result can fall from 7.3% to just 2.6%. BrightEdge has reported a similar decline, with average CTR for top-ranking pages slipping from 28% in 2024 to 19% in 2025.
This isn’t all bad news. The traffic that does make it to your site is often more qualified, visitors arrive having already read a summary, meaning they’re further along in their decision-making process. As Nikki Goodman, Head of SEO at Sleeping Giant Media, puts it:
“Less clicks, but supposedly more value. The research has already happened before they get to your site.”
The real challenge is no longer about owning the top ranking. It’s about making sure your brand is cited as part of the AI’s answer in the first place.
This shift has given rise to a new discipline: Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). While traditional SEO focused on climbing rankings, GEO is about ensuring your content is discoverable, understandable, and credible enough to be chosen by AI systems.
AI doesn’t just look for keywords, it looks for content that signals depth, authority, and trustworthiness. That means anticipating the follow-up questions a user might ask, weaving in relevant data, referencing credible sources, and using expert insights to add weight. Research shows that these techniques can dramatically increase the likelihood of your brand being included in AI answers, with statistics alone boosting visibility by as much as 41%
One of the most powerful ways to increase your chances of being cited is through entity optimisation. Search engines like Google map entities – people, brands, products, and places – and understand the relationships between them. The stronger and clearer your brand’s entity profile, the more likely you are to be surfaced across related queries.
This isn’t about chasing the latest keyword trend. It’s about ensuring consistency across your brand name, digital assets, and profiles, enriching your Google Knowledge Graph presence, and using schema markup to connect your brand to the products, services, and people that define it. As Nikki Goodman explains:
“Optimising for the entity means you appear for all the surrounding topics without stuffing keywords.”
Visibility in AI Mode isn’t just a technical challenge, it’s also about trust. Structured data helps AI interpret your content correctly, but it’s your brand authority that convinces it to cite you.
That’s where Digital PR plays a vital role. Securing high quality coverage in reputable outlets, building a presence on trusted platforms like Reddit and YouTube, and earning mentions from respected voices all strengthen your authority. Even without backlinks, these signals can tell AI systems your content is reliable.
When combined with strong content and a technically sound site, this can create a powerful foundation for AI visibility.
One of the most powerful ways to increase your chances of being cited is through entity optimisation. Search engines like Google map entities – people, brands, products, and places – and understand the relationships between them. The stronger and clearer your brand’s entity profile, the more likely you are to be surfaced across related queries.
This isn’t about chasing the latest keyword trend. It’s about ensuring consistency across your brand name, digital assets, and profiles, enriching your Google Knowledge Graph presence, and using schema markup to connect your brand to the products, services, and people that define it. As Nikki Goodman explains:
“Optimising for the entity means you appear for all the surrounding topics without stuffing keywords.”
Visibility in AI Mode isn’t just a technical challenge, it’s also about trust. Structured data helps AI interpret your content correctly, but it’s your brand authority that convinces it to cite you.
That’s where Digital PR plays a vital role. Securing high quality coverage in reputable outlets, building a presence on trusted platforms like Reddit and YouTube, and earning mentions from respected voices all strengthen your authority. Even without backlinks, these signals can tell AI systems your content is reliable.
When combined with strong content and a technically sound site, this can create a powerful foundation for AI visibility.
While organic inclusion is essential, paid search is evolving alongside it. In the US, AI-powered ad placements already appear directly within AI answers and visual search tools like Google Lens. Unlike traditional keyword targeting, these ads respond to the context and intent of the query, creating opportunities to appear exactly when your audience is most engaged.
Imagine a user asking, “Why is my pool green?” The AI delivers an answer explaining the cause and directly alongside it, an ad for your pool cleaning products. This is a new opportunity for high-intent advertising.
The arrival of AI Mode changes the measures of success in search. Rankings and traffic still matter, but they’re no longer the whole story. The priority now is to ensure your brand appears inside the AI answer box, consistently, credibly, and across multiple platforms.
That means building AI-friendly websites, keeping structured data and entity signals consistent, and producing content that meets the highest standards of E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness). It also means diversifying your visibility beyond Google, into environments like TikTok, ChatGPT, and Perplexity, where AI-driven discovery is already reshaping user behaviour.
AI Mode isn’t a trend, it’s a permanent change in how people search, find, and choose brands. At Sleeping Giant Media, we help businesses adapt by combining technical SEO, content optimisation, and Digital PR to make sure your brand doesn’t just appear in search but it becomes the answer.
If you’re ready to secure your place in the AI conversation, get in touch with our team today. Let’s make sure your audience hears your voice when it matters most.
The arrival of AI Mode changes the measures of success in search. Rankings and traffic still matter, but they’re no longer the whole story. The priority now is to ensure your brand appears inside the AI answer box, consistently, credibly, and across multiple platforms.
That means building AI-friendly websites, keeping structured data and entity signals consistent, and producing content that meets the highest standards of E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness). It also means diversifying your visibility beyond Google, into environments like TikTok, ChatGPT, and Perplexity, where AI-driven discovery is already reshaping user behaviour.
AI Mode isn’t a trend, it’s a permanent change in how people search, find, and choose brands. At Sleeping Giant Media, we help businesses adapt by combining technical SEO, content optimisation, and Digital PR to make sure your brand doesn’t just appear in search but it becomes the answer.
If you’re ready to secure your place in the AI conversation, get in touch with our team today. Let’s make sure your audience hears your voice when it matters most.
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