AI Mode Has Changed Google, Its absolutely about to change Search... But That’s Still Just the Beginning

SEO isn’t dead. But the way we approach visibility? That’s getting torn up and rebuilt.

Google’s rollout of AI Mode will come to represent the most significant shift in consumer search behaviour since Universal Search in 2007.
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But here’s the thing no one’s saying loudly enough:

You can’t "fix" your way into visibility anymore.
You have to earn it across the search universe, long before the search ever even happens.

This isn’t about rankings or optimising a title tag. This is about whether your brand shows up at all.

First, What even is "AI Mode"

AI Mode is Google's latest advancement in search technology, offering a conversational, AI-driven experience that transforms how users interact with information online. Announced at Google I/O 2025, AI Mode is now available to all users in the U.S., providing more personalised and intuitive search results.

Unlike traditional search methods, you know... the ones that return a list of blue links, AI Mode will deliver comprehensive, synthesised answers by leveraging Google's Gemini 2.5 AI model.

This allows users to engage in multi-turn conversations, ask follow-up questions, and receive information that is contextually relevant to, not only their queries, but their personal experiences and specific pains/needs/wants/desires.

Key features of AI Mode include:

• Conversational Interaction: Engage with search in a dialogue format, refining queries through follow-up questions.
• Personalised Responses: Receive answers tailored to your search history, preferences, and context.
• Integrated Actions: Perform tasks such as booking tickets or making reservations directly within the search interface.

This shift signifies a move towards a more dynamic and user-centric search experience, where the focus is on delivering precise information efficiently.

From Queries to Context: The Move to a truly 1:1 Search experience

Google’s new AI Mode doesn’t just personalise search, we've had a level of basic personalisation within the SERPS for a while, AI Mode actually individualises it.

Fashion: Planning an Outfit

Just bought a pair of tan loafers last week?
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Planning a weekend trip to Rome?
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Google may now show you outfit inspiration based on your past purchases, the climate at your destination, and even Instagram-style blog content aligned with your taste, pulling together trousers, accessories, and layers that complete the look.
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This is no longer JUST a search engine, it’s a curated digital stylist.

Food: Restaurant Suggestions Based on Your Taste

Left 5-star reviews for vegan restaurants across London?
Flagged “spicy” as a no-go in a Google Maps feedback form months ago?
Now in Barcelona for a work trip?
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You’ll likely be served restaurant suggestions near your hotel that match your dietary preferences, ambiance tastes, and previous review sentiment - without needing to search "vegan food near me."

‍Search is now shaped by the personality of your palate.

Fitness: Marathon Prep + Recovery Products

Training for your first marathon?
Logged recent long-distance runs with a connected app?
Subscribed to a few endurance nutrition blogs or purchased a foam roller last month?

Your search results for “protein” or “post-run recovery” won’t show general options — they’ll highlight carb-to-protein-balanced supplements, electrolyte support, anti-inflammatory advice, and recovery tools tailored to long-distance runners.

The Result? A SERP that has become a coach, not a catalogue.

The SERP is now your personal search concierge — informed by search history, Gmail, Maps data, purchases, YouTube watches, and more.

And with that comes the biggest implication for brands:

If your brand isn’t part of someone’s universe before their search - you won’t be part of their search universe.

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Search Everywhere™: Our Take on the New Search Reality

At Deviation, we’ve been building for this for a couple of years now - passing our first business year as deviation earlier this year.
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We call it: Search Everywhere™.

It’s a strategy rooted in the belief that discovery happens across the entire search universe, not just Google. It means:

• Social platforms are search engines
• Brand mentions build algorithmic memory
• Search begins in moments, not in queries
• Visibility comes from belonging, not just optimising

It's ultimately our belief that a search everywhere mindset can facilitate discovery, and this discovery will then facilitate and grow [Brand]+[Term] searches (that are about to become ESSENTIAL).
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The bigger picture that we need to recognise

1. Search is emotional and it's about to become truly contextual

Consumers don’t type “gym leggings” anymore - any search has already become much more intent-led and use case focused.

If we lean on our "gym leggings" example again, its why we've seen a huge spike in searches for "squat proof leggings"

Users are served a product they’ve seen and engaged with within 4 creator videos, watched in a review, discussed on a reddit thread or discord board - and that fits their running habits.

This is discovered on those social-platforms, like TikTok, Instagram, and YT Shorts and facilitates a brand search for [Brand]+[Gym Leggings]

Your brand’s role?
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Be part of the before, not just the ask.

2. Social is Now a Search Intent Engine

TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, Pinterest - they’re not just places where people get inspired.
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They’re where people search, validate, and make decisions.

Google’s AI Mode is going to absolutely pull from these signals. If your brand isn’t there, it isn’t seen.

3. Audience Understanding & Segmentation Is Step Zero - Not Keyword Research

You can’t “SEO” your way to visibility in this model without knowing:

• What your audience cares about
• Where they search
• What content shapes their choices
• What life events connect them to your category

At Deviation, we use audience-intent models to shape every strategy - from platform activation to content planning and creator partnerships. This is becoming the foundation of an SEO strategy instead of Keyword Research which was always the staple starting point.

4. Performance Will Look Different

Rankings? Irrelevant.
What matters now:

• Share of Total Search Vs Competitors
• Brand + Term searches
• Impressions and mentions
• Share of SERPs (Across Platforms)
• Conversion-driven visibility
• Community trust signals

If your reporting is still stuck on keyword ranks... you're STILL measuring the wrong game and have been for months.

5. Discoverability Has to Be Engineered

You now need to engineer discoverability across:

• Creators
• Communities
• Social platforms
• Aggregators
• Third-party content
• Life moments

That’s the foundation. Google is now the confirmation, and often the conversion, but it is ABSOLUTELY not the discovery.

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Even with all this change, Authority Still Wins

In a search landscape where AI is evaluating multiple similar pieces of content, authority is what cuts through.

When Google’s AI Mode has to decide which answer makes the cut, it’s not about who did it better — it’s about who’s more trusted, cited, and contextually relevant. That’s where E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) becomes more than a guidance for me, it indirectly becomes the algorithm’s internal compass.

Google's AI Mode doesn't want to be stuck with generic, regurgitated advice. They want trusted voices, with digital footprints that signal credibility across platforms.

Example: Tesla vs. Polestar on “EV battery lifespan”?
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The AI won’t just pick the prettier paragraph — it’ll pick the brand with authority in the space.
That means:

• Who’s being cited by experts (within creator-led content)?
• Who’s being linked to from top-tier automotive and energy sites?
• Who’s showing up consistently in relevant media and conversations?

And here's where Deviation has always seen a major opportunity:
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Creators can fuel this authority engine.

We don’t just think about links and mentions in traditional press, we build discovery-led content at scale using creators who already command trust in their niches. Their content builds awareness and relevance across social platforms, but it also gets repurposed and integrated into your site, feeds authority signals back into Google, and helps your brand win in ALL results, but yes even AI-generated results.

Authority CANNOT just be about backlinks anymore
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It’s about being referenced, respected, and remembered across the full discovery search universe.

Think - Can we demand attention? Can we manufacture organic brand mentions? This is how winning will be done!
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So, What Should YOU, and Other Brands, Be Doing to Succeed?

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It’s time to stop treating SEO as a silo.


Brand + Social + Search MUST come together as a Digital Team. We've talked about this for months with our client BUT now really is the time to embrace that strategically connected team.

As personalised search is deployed and becomes more mainstream, visibility cannot possible be just about technical optimisation, it’s going to be about building brand presence across the entire search universe, every touchpoint a user can discover your offering.

That means aligning your marketing, content, PR, and social teams around a shared goal: visibility, relevance, and resonance.

At Deviation, we’re already helping brands navigate this shift through deep audience-intent segmentation, platform-native content strategies, and creator integrations that align with how and where people actually search. We design branded search acquisition strategies to ensure your brand is top of mind before the query, and we build modular content frameworks tied to life events and emotional triggers, not just generic search terms. Our discovery audits go beyond Google to assess how visible, mentioned, and trusted your brand is across the platforms that now define discoverability.

If you want to be successful, you should be doing the same. You should be engineering discovery!

Let's Wrap this Up

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This isn’t just another Google update, it’s a fundamental shift in how visibility and discovery works.

Personalised, AI-powered search is collapsing the funnel, decentralising discovery, and prioritising familiarity over findability. If your brand isn’t already part of the conversation - across platforms, creators, and real-world context... you risk vanishing from the journey altogether.

There’s no shortcut, no hack, no one-page fix.

You don’t “beat” the algorithm anymore.
You earn your place within a users search results by being useful, relevant, referenced and resonant before the search begins.

This is especially true when you EARN a [Brand] + [Term] search that you will absolutely continue to be the major voice within.

At Deviation, we don’t optimise for rankings alone.
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We build discoverability systems rooted in Search Everywhere™ . Our approaches are designed to make your brand visible, trusted, and chosen across the entire search universe.

The question now isn’t how to rank. It’s how to make sure your brand SHOWS UP!

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Let’s make sure it does. Get In Touch if you want us to asssit with your search strategy.