Google AI Mode for Search Is Out: Bad News for Websites?
Google rolled out in the US their AI Mode. For reference, AI Mode is Google’s new AI technology for Google search. The question is – how is it going to impact the websites and SEO?
According to ahref’s research, AI Overviews already reduce click-through rates by 34.5%. In ahref assume AI Mode can have even bigger impact.
Are you running websites and doing SEO?
Hello there, me too.
If you landed here to understand what happened to the HowTo and FAQ schema markups, don’t worry. I will explain it as simply as I can.
Here I will talk about
- What is AI Mode by Google
- What do SEO experts think about AI mode
- Can you track clicks from the AI Mode?
- I asked Google’s Gemini about Google’s AI Mode
Watch this SEO news on my YouTube channel:
Can I Track Clicks from AI Mode?
At this point, you can’t track clicks from AI Mode.
And this is what makes a concern for SEO experts.
I was testing if the clicks would show in Google Search Console, but they aren’t showing up. A post by Tom Critchlow on LinkedIn made me wonder how a click on a link in AI Mode would be recorded in analytics. – writes ahref’s SEO technician Patrick Stox.
The tl;dr is that clicks to links in AI mode are not being recorded at all in Google Search Console, and they’re not sending a referrer value when you click. They’re treated as Unknown or Direct, depending on your analytics system.
This was the situation for the day of May 21.
AI Mode Traffic Will Show Up in GSC
After highlighting this in public, Google confirmed it and John Mueller reassured that the bug will be fixed and the report will appear in Google Search Console later.
As of this day, some users share that they see already the AI Mode report in their GSC.
Final Thoughts
What does it all mean for websites and SEOs?
Here is my expert opinion.
Ok, my “expert” opinion.
There is nothing new.
Watch, wait, keep going, repeat.
Also.
I Asked Google’s Gemini AI about Google’s AI Mode
So, I asked Google’s Gemini AI what impact will have Google’s AI Mode on SEO and websites.
I talked about the key points in my video:
- Reduced Organic Click-Through Rates (CTR): Direct Answers, Fewer Clicks
- AI features contribute to the existing trend of “zero-click searches”
- Simply ranking in the top blue links is becoming less of a guarantee for traffic
- E-E-A-T Becomes Crucial: E-E-A-T means ‘Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness’
- Content for AI Consumption: Content needs to be structured in a way that AI can easily understand, parse, and summarize. This includes clear headings, concise language, and well-organized information
- Generic content that can be easily summarized by AI may lose traffic. Websites offering unique insights, original research, deep analysis, personal experiences, and proprietary data are more likely to still attract clicks or be prominently featured
- Content that incorporates text, images, and video may be favored, as AI models become more capable of understanding various formats.
