It's still super early, but we've been talking to clients about it and so we decided to write out our thoughts.
AI mode is a different way of doing Google search. Getting prepared for how this works and how it's different is super important.
We think that this will probably become the default Google experience in the next six months. We don't know what's going to happen, but there's a lot of incentives for Google to make this how people search.
(Prefer video? Watch Justin Dunham walking through AI mode and thinking out loud.)
Say goodbye to blue links
What does the new interface look like? The short answer: it looks more like other LLM search interfaces (i.e. GPT, Perplexity).
A few things stand out:
- Infinite scroll. This isn’t entirely new.
- Citation links in the sidebar. Similar to other LLMs, AI Mode puts links to cited websites in a sidebar.
- No blue links. This is a major shift for Google search UX.
Organic search strategy was built on the traditional Google interface, where those blue links were the centerpiece.
Some fundamental changes are underway. We’ll all need to change the way that we think about this if we're going to be competing for space in AI Mode now.
(And we’re all competing for AI Mode now.)
Related reading: Breaking down the AI Mode patent.
If you want to pick apart the technical specs of AI Mode, this is the post for you.
Hello, synthetic queries
When you type a query into the AI Mode search bar, Google will try to anticipate your follow-up questions. It generates these questions and incorporates them into its first search response. “Synthetic query” is the term we’re using – for now, at least. (Marc Andreessen’s agency is using the term “implicit query”.)
These synthetic queries will be a consideration for the content we all create. It’s worth asking during the outline stage of a blog post: What other questions are people asking about this topic?
When it comes to LLM visibility, these synthetic queries might prove just as important as traditional keyword-driven queries.
A lot of clicks are going away
Tracking click-through data for our clients, we’re still seeing clicks. But the click volume from organic search is dropping. And that’s a trend that we’ve been seeing for a while. In many ways, AI Mode will be reinforcing broader trends that Perplexity and GPT started.
The people who do click through tend to be higher-intent leads. This brings up interesting questions about how content influences the marketing and sales pipelines.
We still want to think about unbranded search clicks. Its influence might decline a bit, but the channel is far from done. And tracking clicks from AI Mode and other LLMs will be essential for keeping tabs on the situation.
Our questions shift with the customer journey
In the pre-LLM era, if someone wanted to learn about your brand’s approach and perspective, they had to visit your website. This is no longer a given.
So, in this new environment, what will compel them to leave an LLM and visit your site?
The questions we ask, as content marketers, will necessarily change:
- How did we influence the AI Mode response to a query?
- How did that query response introduce people to our company?
- How did that introduction encourage them to learn more about us?
Start these conversations with your marketing team
Here are some practical discussions we’ve been having with clients:
- Are we showing up at all in AI Mode (and Perplexity, and ChatGPT?)
- Does our content answer the questions (real and synthetic) that matter in these LLM searches?
- Where are the gaps in our library? Which questions do we need to answer?
- What content do we need to convey our authority on a topic?
- What KPIs are we going to use?
When it comes to questions about topic authority and query coverage, these are conversations we’ve been having for years already.
The upside: Google AI is an opportunity for quality content
Again: we don’t know exactly how this is going to shake out, but we know that we’ll need to stay agile. And, in this early stage, it helps to be practical.
Everybody will be subject to these changes. And it’s all going to keep changing for the foreseeable future.
But if you've been thinking critically about the content that you write, this is actually a really big opportunity. Google is mixing up the Yahtzee shaker again and, you know, we've got some new dice that we can roll.
