At Salt Rank, we recognize the fact that the vast world of the internet is constantly evolving. Led by the search engine giant Google, new advancements occur every day. Google’s latest breakthrough, as unveiled at Google I/O 2025, is its AI Mode. This search mode presents generative AI results seamlessly, providing direct answers to user queries.

Powered by Gemini—Google's AI assistant—Google’s AI Mode is transforming the way users interact with Google. With this, brands and businesses need to be vigilant about their potential impact on the traffic they receive. Read on as we explore more about what Google’s AI Mode means for brands in 2025.

Key Features Of Google’s AI Mode
Google’s AI Mode can be seen as the most significant UI, UX, and search-related update to have come from Google in recent times. Here’s a brief of some features of this advancement.

Detailed, Synthesized Answers
Through its AI Mode, Google offers comprehensive, AI-powered responses to even the most complex questions.

Conversational Interactions
This mode excels at handling natural language queries and following up on questions asked, thereby creating a smooth conversation.

Multimodal Capabilities
The search isn’t limited to just text. Users can search using text, images, or even their voice to find a particular product or source of inspiration.

Query "Fan-Out"
Google’s AI Mode breaks down complex queries into many subtopics and conducts searches on all of them simultaneously. Based on all the results, it synthesizes all the information into a single answer.

Source Citations
For users interested in diving deeper into the source of a cited piece of information, all AI-generated responses include supportive links mentioned alongside them.

How AI Mode Impacts Search And Brands
The shift towards AI-generated summaries, as provided by the AI Mode, is creating both challenges and opportunities for brands. Here’s how it impacts both organic and paid search.

Changes To Organic Search

Fewer Clicks on Informational Queries: Due to users getting complete answers to their top-of-funnel questions via AI mode only, businesses may encounter reduced clicks on their websites.

More Visibility for Lower-Ranked Pages: With the "query fan-out" technique in effect, users can view sources beyond the initial page. This means increased visibility for those who were previously invisible in traditional top search results.

Changes To Paid Search

Higher Quality Traffic: The traffic and clicks you get via AI-influenced results that you get via AI Mode are generally more qualified and high-intent based. This means getting more opportunities to acquire clients, even if the overall ad impressions and clicks are low.

Ad Placements in AI Responses: Google is experimenting with ad placements and determining how ads can be displayed more effectively in AI Overviews and AI Mode responses. This means more opportunities for brands to gain visibility in paid searches.

What Can Brands Do To Adapt To The Evolving Scenario?
Besides partnering with an SEO agency in Kansas City, brands can focus on using the following strategies to thrive in the new AI-driven search landscape.

Become A Cited Authority
Create high-quality, user-first, trustworthy content that AI can link to. You can do in-depth guides, case studies, and original research.

Update Your Content Strategy
Cover the topic in a thorough, conversational, and easy-to-read format rather than focusing on individual keywords.

Focus On Structured Data
Implementing schema markup to label key information on the site, such as products, articles, and reviews, would help AI better understand your content.

Get More Brand Mentions
Use online platforms to your advantage. Establish a robust brand presence across social media platforms and industry publications.

Optimize For Multimodal Search
Optimize all your website’s images and videos with the proper descriptive metadata so that they appear in relevant visual searches.

Update KPIs
Change what KPIs mean to you and start counting brand visibility, mentions, and the quality of traffic.

Enable AI Crawlers
Ensure your website’s “robots.txt” file permits AI crawlers like GPTBot and Google-Extended to access it as they use the site’s data to train and ground AI models.

Salt Rank—Your Digital Growth Partner

At Salt Rank, we recognize the significant impact that Google’s AI Mode has on every business competing online. It’s like a one-stop solution that online users can use to seek answers for their queries on almost any given topic. Brands seeking to capitalize on this opportunity should begin providing well-structured and comprehensive information. It’s no longer about who’s going to rank #1 but about synthesizing the information in such a way that Google itself is left with no choice but to put you up in the brand mentions within its AI responses.

Those seeking tangible growth for their businesses can contact us at Salt Rank SEO Agency Kansas City. With over a decade of experience, we can create online marketing strategies that work for you in real-time. Based on our 98% client retention rate, we guarantee providing results that matter to you. With Salt Rank—you do business; we help you grow it.