Google search is changing for good with Google’s new AI Mode
Written by Daniël van Meerendonk
Digital Marketing & AI Agents
Google is introducing a new search feature called ‘AI Mode’. It is an advanced version of the search engine, designed specifically to help users with more complex research. Where people previously had to combine information from different websites themselves, AI Mode lets users ask a broad question, such as comparing products or planning a project. The AI then analyses the most relevant web pages and uses them to generate a complete, summarised answer.
We compare the previously published AI Overview with AI Mode
We are comparing this new AI feature with the AI Overview that was released earlier. What is the biggest difference?
- 1. AI Overviews (AIO): The quick summary
These are the AI-generated summaries that can appear automatically at the top of the normal search results. They are meant for relatively simple to moderate questions (for example: “How do I prune a rose?”). The aim is to give a quick, direct answer to a factual question. - 2. AI Mode: The in-depth research assistant
This is a separate, more powerful search feature, often found as its own tab. It is designed for complex, in-depth questions that would normally require several searches (for example: “Compare the pros and cons of a heat pump versus a hybrid boiler for a 1930s house”).
In practice, then, you come across the AI Overview without asking for it. It appears as an extra information block, similar to the ‘featured snippets’ of old, but more extensive. It is designed for efficiency: you look for a fact and get an immediate answer, which often means you no longer need to click through.
AI Mode, by contrast, is a feature that you consciously choose as a user. It is not a static summary but an interactive research space. Here you have a dialogue. You start with a complex question (such as comparing CRM systems) and can then ask follow-ups (“Which of those three integrates best with my accounting package?”). It is a conversation, not a one-off answer.
Where AI Overviews produce a simple summary, AI Mode (based on Gemini 2.5) uses a far more advanced technique called Query Fan-Out.
Instead of looking for one answer, AI Mode breaks your complex question down into multiple sub-questions. It runs several searches simultaneously across a range of sources to compile a hyper-relevant, in-depth and nuanced answer for you. It reasons, compares and explores the topic on your behalf.
How does AI Mode work? (And why is it so different?)
The impact on traffic and the opportunities of zero-click
It is a logical consequence of AI Mode that overall website traffic will fall for many businesses. The reason is known as zero-click: the answer is already right there in Google, so in many cases there is no longer any need to click through to a website.
That may sound like a threat, but it also creates a completely new opportunity. Before, you fought for a place in the top 10. Now your content can be included as a source in the AI answer, even if your page did not previously rank on the first page.
Even if searchers do not click through directly, you are still building authority. If your company name and expertise are shown prominently alongside the perfect answer, and your offer fits that need, there is a good chance the searcher will remember you. Google supplies the answer to the searcher’s question, but you remain the one supplying the product or service within that answer. With that in mind, AI Mode suddenly turns into an opportunity.
The opportunities of AI Mode
This shift makes it more important than ever to have your own conversion goals clearly defined. If you get fewer visitors, every visitor counts for more. Your website must be set up perfectly for the action you want them to take. Consider the following:
- The ‘transactional’ click stays: The data is clear: although general, informational clicks are disappearing, clicks with transactional intent (making a purchase, booking a service) are still very much there. People use AI Mode to research, but they still make the final purchase on your site.
- The ‘expert searcher’ does click: The research showed that most searches in AI Mode are ‘conversational’ (long, natural sentences). These are users doing in-depth research. And it is precisely this group that is inclined to click through, because they want to verify the AI answer or see the source’s expertise. This is your chance to position yourself as an authority.
This also offers an interesting opportunity for your broader strategy. Every complex question in AI Mode gives Google an enormous amount of valuable data about users’ intentions and interests. This will undoubtedly lead to even smarter, more targeted advertising options within Google Ads in the future.
Technological shifts like this are nothing new. The arrival of the smartphone also forced us to set up our websites completely differently (mobile-first). AI Mode is now doing the same for our content and SEO. The key is not to fear the change, but to adapt your strategy to it and seize the new opportunities.
What this changes in practice for your organic content strategy
This means your strategy has to change more radically than you thought.
- Stop chasing ‘keywords’, win the ‘query fan-out’
You need to think like AI Mode. Do not optimise your content for a single keyword, but for a whole cluster of sub-questions. A blog about heat pumps now also has to answer the sub-questions about installation, payback period, noise nuisance and subsidy options. Your page has to be the most complete answer to every possible sub-question. - Embrace the ‘conversational search’
Write for the 89% who search in natural language. Use long, question-style H2 and H3 headings. Answer the ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions, not just the ‘what’. Your content should read like a conversation with an expert. - E-E-A-T is your only lifeline
The AI must be able to prove that your answer is reliable. This is the only way to get cited as a source. Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) are no longer ‘nice extras’; they are the absolute prerequisite for still appearing in the answers at all.
AI Mode is not a threat, but a filter
AI Mode is not the end of SEO & GEO. It is an extremely powerful quality filter.
You just can no longer get away with ‘quick SEO tricks’, thin content and articles written purely for traffic. But it offers a huge opportunity for the businesses that do go in depth. AI Mode rewards those who dare to share their expertise in complete, nuanced and reliable stories. Is your content strategy ready for the query fan-out?
Does your website radiate the in-depth E-E-A-T that Google’s AI Mode is looking for? Or is your content still focused on individual keywords? At BE Digital, we help businesses turn their unique expertise into online authority.
Get in touch and we will analyse your current content structure and give you down-to-earth advice on how you can dominate AI Mode. Not through tricks, but by structuring your expertise in the right way.
