Google’s AI Mode: Here’s what matters for SEOs and marketers

Google’s AI Mode became available earlier this month as a Google Search Labs experiment.

After researching dozens of keywords across transactional, navigational, commercial, and informational intents, here’s what SEOs and marketers need to know about Google’s AI Mode.

It’s genuinely AI-powered

The query [cheap flights] produced many different outputs, ranging from 370 to 449 words, with anywhere from 13 to 39 right-sidebar citations.

Local intent is everywhere

Even for queries where location makes zero sense, queries like [online courses], [subscribe newsletter], and [youtube login] included location context.

Navigation patterns

Searches for DuckDuckGo, Gmail, CNN, YouTube, Twitter, and Wikipedia all bypass AI Mode completely, reverting to traditional Google SERPs with 8-10 blue links. 

Commercial and Informational keywords have the longest AI Mode outputs

These appear more like blog posts. For example, [Laptop brands] produced 576 words with 56 citations, while [Causes of the French Revolution] produced 512 words with 12 citations.

Reminder: these will likely look different when/if you run these queries.

Previously buried page 2 results now appear as citations

Queries that produce no AI Mode output, just the blue links (like [Twittter]) surfaces URLs that were previously hidden beneath featured snippets and on Page 2. There’s also visibility for page 2 URLs with keywords that produce longer citations.

Thumbnail insights

Images get cropped to 82×82 px from the most prominent (or optimized for the keyword) image or on-page headers.

Also, URLs without thumbnails stay thumbnail-less until Google finds a usable image. Check your URLs and add relevant images when appropriate.

Local brand winners emerging

Best Buy (if you have one semi-nearby) is crushing it in commercial searches (especially with local intent), while SmartAssist set the record for most blue links within an AI output result for [mortgage rates].

Note: You’ll likely have different locally referenced winners for your area.

Blue link records

[Lightweight hiking boots reviews] had 21 blue links (with anchor text) within one AI Mode output (and only three right-sidebar citations).

This creates a massive opportunity for visibility if you can create supporting content for Google to cite within AI Outputs that have a propensity to produce higher in-text citations.

Additional AI Mode insights

• Advanced citation mechanics: AI Output links frequently take you to pages with referenced text highlighted (just like featured snippets occasionally do). This is a huge clue about what Google values on the page!
• Mobile vs desktop divide: Mobile AI Mode consistently shows ~50% fewer citations than desktop. Definitely optimizing differently for smaller screens.
• Citation patterns by intent: Informational queries get minimal citation love – [why is the sky blue], [bitcoin explained], and [how to calculate compound interest] all had just three or four citations (the lowest observed).
• Mathematical oddities: Inconsistencies were found between the number of citations listed and the actual results shown. The system still has bugs/quirks worth exploring.
• Thumbnail insights: ~85% of citations display thumbnails – if you’re in the 15% without, you’re at a significant disadvantage for clicks.
• Traditional SEO disrupted: [Book flights] now surfaces competitive blue links that were previously buried beneath Google Flights. OTAs are getting unexpected visibility.
• Citation reputation matters: LinkedIn posts dominate citations for [best seo in the world] (Neil Patel’s older content heavily cited for [top seos] and [top seo agencies] queries) – historical authority still weighs heavily.
• UX quirk: You lose the full right-side citation list once you interact with any in-text link citations (the little circle links).
• Google’s positioning: AI Mode works hard to convey Google’s real-time + location relevance (their competitive edge) with oddly specific contextual statements like “relevant for someone in Mound, MN, interested in enhancing skills or exploring new subjects in March 2025 for [online courses].
• Brand queries get hyperlocal: [Disney] and [NASA] triggered results about brand-related events near Minneapolis – suggesting high local intent weighting even for major brands.
• Infrastructure insights: Occasional “something went wrong with this response” errors suggest Google’s still figuring out the cost/infrastructure balance for running LLMs at scale.
• Working out bugs: Found entirely random citations (like “Used RVs For Sale in Rutland, MA” showing up for “laptop brands”) – suggests some noise in the system that G still has to work out.

What this means

The rules of SEO are being rewritten.

There’s a massive opportunity to learn about how Google is integrating AI technology and optimizing for AI Mode citations like this before it’s mainstream.

Sites that were previously buried on Page 2 of Google now have a fighting chance through evaluating AI output content, topics, and citations – and revamping their content to better compete.

Also, add a relevant photo that helps entice a click. Remember, these will be cropped square at the center.