Google AI Mode: Search Just Got Smarter

SEO folks are watching search change in real time, and I don’t want to sound dramatic, but it’s probably for good. Google’s new AI Mode is yet another step away from the glory days of traditional search.

Let’s break down what it is, how it’s shifting the search experience, and what it could mean for your CTRs.

What Is Google’s AI Mode

Google’s AI Mode is a new feature in Search designed to give direct, well-reasoned answers to users’ questions.

It analyzes information from multiple sources and synthesizes it into a clear, concise response that aims to feel more like a conversation than a static summary.

Here’s what it looks like: at first, it feels a lot like an AI Overview — same layout, same kind of summary — but with a box to ask follow-up questions at the bottom.

But there are more differences if you give it a closer look.

How Is AI Mode Different from AI Overview?

Simply put, AI Mode is an expanded version of AI Overview.

Here’s how it steps things up:

• More advanced reasoning: While AI Overview just summarizes information from across sources, AI Mode interprets it, connects dots, and offers its own conclusions.
• Better at handling complex questions: AI Overview works well for simple, fact-based queries, but AI Mode understands more nuanced, multi-layered, or open-ended questions.
• Follow-ups: You can ask follow-up questions, and the AI will respond based on the ongoing context.
• Multimodal understanding: In the Google app (via Google Labs on Android and iOS), AI Mode can also answer questions based on photos and images. 

Google promises that AI Mode will deliver a more dynamic and personalized search experience, and is particularly helpful for queries that require deeper exploration and reasoning.

How to Access Google’s AI Mode

AI Mode isn’t a part of the search results just yet.

Just like AI Overview was initially rolled out to users in the U.S. (and later expanded to other countries), AI Mode is currently only available to U.S.-based users. It started as a feature for premium accounts but has since been opened up to all Google users in the U.S.

Once the location is sorted, you can head to google.com/aimode and join the waitlist. It took just a few hours for me to receive an email with access.

When you’re in, follow the link in Google’s email, and you’ll find AI Mode in a dedicated Gemini-like tab. From now on, you can switch to AI Mode directly from Google Search (it’ll take you out of the search results page to the same tab though). Experiment away!

A Bit of Context on Google’s AI Tools

While most people think of AI as starting with ChatGPT, Google’s been building AI tools for decades. But let’s fast-forward to the part that matters for everyday searchers.

Gemini is Google’s family of large language models, built by its DeepMind team. It’s basically Google’s version of GPT and now powers a bunch of AI features, including Bard (which has been rebranded as Gemini), Duet AI, and the new AI Overviews in Search.

Here, let’s zero in AI Overviews. 

These were officially launched on May 14, 2024, as an experiment for U.S.-based searchers and have since expanded to global audiences. Research from Advanced Web Ranking (AWR) shows that AI Overviews appeared in 42.51% of search results in Q4 2024, marking an increase of 8.83 percentage points from the previous quarter.

With such a wide rollout, there’s a good chance you’ve come across them already. Here’s what a search results page with AI Overviews typically looks like:

Unlike standalone AI tools, Gemini in this case works alongside Google’s established ranking systems. That means when you see an AI Overviews, it’s blending Google’s usual web results with a conversational summary generated by Gemini. You’ll still get source links, images, and product listings right in the mix.

So instead of making you scroll through a bunch of pages, AI Overviews pull together the most useful info in one place, in a more natural, easy-to-digest format. 

And as AI Overviews continue to gain ground in search, Google is rolling out a new search feature — AI Mode.

So… Is AI Mode Any Good?

Let’s put it to the test and see how it stacks up against AI Overviews.

First, I ran a basic query: “What will be the most popular spring break destinations this year,”using regular Google Search with AI Overview enabled.

AI Overview did its thing: it analyzed my input, considered my location, pulled results from various sources, and stitched together a quick summary. 

Then I made things a bit more specific:

“what will be the most popular spring break destinations this year with a 6-month-old baby”

Surprisingly, AI Overview handled it pretty well. It adjusted the suggestions based on the added context and still gave me a relevant summary.

Now, here’s what happened when I tried the same queries using AI Mode:

The initial response looked similar but for a subtle shift. The first line suggested that AI Mode wasn’t just summarizing existing info; it was also applying a bit of reasoning to land on a more thoughtful recommendation.

Then I tested the follow-up feature:

I asked a related question without repeating the full context, and AI Mode picked it up instantly. It remembered my earlier query, understood the added detail, and returned a more detailed, well-reasoned list of baby-friendly spring break destinations.

The verdict: 

AI Mode definitely takes things up a notch—but in practice, the structure and content of its responses aren’t drastically different from AI Overview. You can see it trying to reason through the query, but the end result still feels pretty similar.

That said, the follow-up feature is genuinely helpful when you’re exploring more complex questions without having to start a new search every time.

Both AI Mode and AI Overview save you from having to click through multiple links in a lot of cases, which is both incredibly convenient and a bit unsettling. The more AI pulls answers directly from content, the fewer clicks publishers get. And if high-quality content stops getting traffic, it becomes harder to sustain — meaning the AI might eventually have less accurate information to pull from.

How Will AI Mode Affect CTRs?

AI Mode isn’t live in Google Search just yet, but we’ve already got some juicy data on how AI Overviews are shaking things up — and it’s not exactly reassuring.

• Fresh research from Ahrefs shows a 34.5% drop in average CTR for the top-ranking page when an AI Overview appears, compared to similar queries without one.
• Amsive reports that keywords triggering AI Overviews saw a 15.49% decline in CTR on average.
• Branded keywords were the exception — those with AI Overviews actually saw an 18.68% boost in CTR. That’s at least some good news, huh?

One thing’s clear: if AI keeps taking up prime real estate in search results, CTRs are likely to drop further. It’s possible that links inside AI Overviews get more clicks, but Google doesn’t break those out in Search Console — at least not yet. Maybe that’ll change down the line.