Photo by Akram Huseyn on Unsplash
Google’ AI Mode, since its launch in Australia last month, has shaken the advertising landscape, but for marketers there are sweet spots.
Those at the coal face of the click economy have been hastily reworking strategy, shifting from search engine optimisation (SEO) to generative engine optimisation (GEO).
Aaron Jansen, director of commercial and media operations at independent agency Bench Media, said AI mode has been positive on brand visibility, appearing earlier in the discovery process which plants the seed for spending intentions.
And there has been a slight increase in click-through rates, which could be attributed to AI Mode traffic. But a lack of data sharing between AI Mode and marketers, limits the full scope of analysis.
“Search behaviour has been shifting for a while, with people asking questions in a more natural and conversational way,” said Jansen.
“AI Mode has taken that to the next level, changing how results are shown and how ads appear alongside them.
“Rather than reaching users right at the point of purchase, AI Mode allows brands to appear earlier in the discovery phase, helping influence thinking before decisions are made.
"While it’s still early and without isolated AI data, we’ve seen small lifts in click through rates and strong on-site engagement, suggesting these placements are reaching high intent, trusting users.”
He said strategy has evolved to consider shifting search intent, and prioritising generative engine optimisation (GEO) which optimises content to appear in AI search results and summaries, over search engine optimisation which relies on keywords to maintain relevance.
“Our strategy is evolving from performance focused keyword lists toward broader, intent led approaches that align with how people are searching.
“As Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) starts to influence how AI platforms surface both paid and organic results, we’re refining our approach to ensure our campaigns remain visible and contextually relevant. We’re also no longer viewing search as a purely lower funnel tool, but as a space that influences discovery, education and conversion in one journey.”
The focus is on value: everything that happens after the click, over vanity metrics: impressions and click-through rates.
“We’re focusing less on surface metrics and more on what happens after the click, analysing session depth, dwell time and conversion quality to see how AI driven placements shape user behaviour and engagement," he said.
Dylan Sargant, associate media director at Yango, said there has been a decline in click-through rates, however, doesn’t paint a bleak picture. Instead, Sargant recognises there is still engagement, just earlier in the discovery process.
“By delivering information upfront, AI Mode can help satisfy the user intent more efficiently, creating new opportunities for brands to build trust and authority before the click,” he said.
“Outside of that, many users report inaccuracies with results, causing them to research further due to a lack of trust.”
He said budgets are following the changing consumer behaviours and strategy is increasingly prioritising AI-driven search visibility.
Measurement has expanded beyond clicks and conversions to include how brands show up in AI-generated answers, assisted conversations, and incremental lift via Google’s AI-powered optimisation suite, AI MAX.
“We also monitor engagement with blended search experiences, comparing performance across paid and organic channels to see how AI-driven visibility affects overall user behaviour," he said.
“Consistent testing and iterative experiments are key. For example, we run controlled campaigns to understand how changes in targeting signals or creative inputs influence AI performance. This approach ensures we can quantify not just traffic and revenue, but also how AI is shaping awareness, consideration, and long-term business outcomes.”
Feedback from clients has been mixed, with marketers having to manage expectations during the test and learn phase of AI-Mode.
“Clients are responding with a mix of curiosity and caution to the rollout of AI-driven search results,” said Sargant.
“They understand the potential, but we’re having to manage expectations, as AI needs time to learn and optimise, so performance gains aren’t always immediate. That said, once past the learning phase, we’ve already seen some impressive early results from initial tests."
Some express concern over the lack of control over how their brands are appearing in AI responses and inaccuracies that may occur.
“Clients are rethinking what success looks like and how SEO strategies need to evolve,” he said.
“Despite the challenges, they’re more eager than ever to secure visibility in AI-driven results, pushing us to develop blended search strategies that can better influence this fast-changing landscape.”
Charlie Ransom, national trading and operations lead - search, at Kinesso, also said his team has shifted strategy “pivoting keyword priorities based on AI visibility and performance”.
Measurement has moved beyond SEO, to examine visibility across different LLMs (large language models) platforms and dig deeper into search intent. Marketers are now asking questions like how frequent and for what purpose are audiences using these platforms? What questions within the brands/publishers market are being searched for? How visible are we across core categories and topics?
“Our SEM (search engine marketing) approach now includes a Performance Maturity Framework, enhancing the use of AI-powered features such as Broad Match, Performance Max, Dynamic Search Ads & AI Max for Search to be eligible to show in AI-based ad placements,” said Ransom.
“To measure the impact, we're taking a OneSearch holistic approach to understand true search visibility. Identify the keywords most affected by AI Overviews or AI Mode and blend 3P and 1P data to assess the impact on website traffic, conversions, and overall business impact.”
While other marketers are experiencing the positive benefits from LLMs (large language models) - driven traffic sources like chat GPT and Perplexity. Despite still being outranked by paid or organic search, these sources are inspiring quicker purchasing decisions from users.
“Unsurprisingly, we’re seeing strong conversion rates from LLM-driven traffic sources, largely because they’re acting as both influencer and filter within the decision journey,” said Lukas Temple, managing director, BCM Group.
“While volumes aren’t yet rivalling paid or organic search, they’re certainly meaningful enough to broaden our clients’ mindset from keyword-centric optimisation to entity and intent-based.”
He recognises how user intent changes depending on what LLM source they are using. He said results show that AI Mode actually extends the traditional and “learned search intent” of engines like Google, by how users seek a single, definitive answer, separating it from other AI platforms that have become more exploratory in function.
“AI Mode specifically sits somewhere in between. The queries and citations we’re tracking for clients on AI Mode are behaving more like traditional Google Search than what we’re observing on platforms such as ChatGPT or Perplexity.
“On those ‘classic’ LLMs, user behaviour still skews more exploratory. When people open a Google tab, they’re entering with a learned search intent, an instinct to find a definitive answer, and that behaviour is simply extending into AI Mode. By contrast, when you open something like Perplexity, you’re typically starting further upstream, closer to the discovery phase than the decision point.”
Nick Grinberg, head of strategy at Next&Co, said that SEO isn’t delivering as it used to, with “fluctuations in traffic from keyword themes” with AI overviews and AI Mode changing how search engines display results and delivering answers on the search results page (SERP).
“It’s the brands with the largest content marketing footprints that have been hit the hardest by this," he said.
This isn’t all bad news, with AI traffic actually converting better than organic, according to Grinberg.
“Early signs, however, show that AI traffic seems to convert better than standard organic search. This may be due to the fact that a user arrives more informed / prequalified. There are issues isolating Google AI mode traffic so this is referring more to traffic across LLMs as a whole.”
Marketers aren’t just investing in GEO, they are also adjusting planning to include search buys that account for the users longer, conversational journeys over single queries.
“We are looking at planning our search buys across longer, more conversation journeys, as opposed to a single query,” said Grinberg.
“We have also pivoted to incorporate generative engine optimisation (GEO) into our existing organic search strategies. It has changed the way we look at content strategy, technical on-page SEO and link-building. We are also experimenting with AI max ad formats with tight guardrails to assess this ad format effectiveness. It is still too early to draw a conclusion here.
“We are still watching the fundamental metrics of traffic, conversions, and the knock-on effects to other channels whilst trying to establish a ‘cause and effect’ relationship between traffic swings and conversion outcomes. We are seeing this vary from category to category. We are really interested to see if Google AI is creating new customers or just moving demand around.”
He said their Australian clients have benefited from the agency being part of the initial roll-out of AI Mode in the US early this year, giving them more confidence that they are prepared for the changes.
“There are healthy nerves with any change of this magnitude,” he said.
"Some sectors (e.g., publishers, hospitality) feel more pain, while others will prove more resilient. We have the benefit of having been hands-on with the AI mode launch in the US (launched May, 2025) so our AU clients came in more prepped with playbooks and feel far more in control of the change.”
Jordan Taylor-Bartels, CEO at Prophet, has a less optimistic view of the information model and addresses concerns over attribution.
“We work across some of the world’s largest enterprises and scale-ups, and what’s becoming clear is that platform measurement is once again rewriting the rules to suit itself,” said Taylor-Bartels.
“AI Mode doesn’t just change discovery; it changes attribution. When the same company controlling media spend is also determining what gets seen, clicked and credited, it’s not measurement - it’s marketing.”
For publishers, AI Mode has effectively challenged their role as information providers, with visibility dependent on clicks and the curiosity of the user to continue to research beyond an AI summary.
Eliza Sorman Nilsson, head of content at women’s media publisher Mamamia, said AI mode has changed the game, with “collapse” of discovery and the “traffic economy” that publishers long survived off, “effectively imploded”.
Audiences are also becoming more fragmented as the role of publishers is replaced by the “new front doors” that are social media algorithms, podcast feeds and AI summaries.
Strategy has changed from SEO and keywords, to content, context, tone and relationship building to maintain long-term engagement with audiences. She said this has helped reveal the value of high-value publishers and brands over “generic content”.
“What’s thriving are brands that offer voice, authority and emotional truth, the things AI can’t convincingly fake,” said Nilsson.
“We’ve shifted from traffic acquisition to relationship depth.
“Instead of optimising for search engines, we’re optimising for humans who stay. Reframing the website as our ecosystem’s engine room: the destination for deeper engagement for subscribers, commerce and community, not just consumption. Investing in social-native storytelling that pulls people into the brand instead of pushing them to click out.Doubling down on trust and personality.
“Experimenting with AI internally, not as a content creator but as a workflow accelerator freeing up journalists and producers to focus on judgement, originality and creative risk. In short, while others are panicking about the algorithm, we’re building something it can’t bury: brand equity and emotional loyalty.”
Scott Purcell, co-founder of men’s publisher, Man of Many, said AI mode has “effectively killed informational intent clicks”. But he agrees that it has brought a new opportunity for publishers of authority to thrive.
Research conducted by marketing and strategy platform, Growth Memo, shows a steep decline in external or outbound clicks.
Search behaviours have changed, with informational, top-of-funnel questions like “what is…” seeing between a 92% and 94% decline.
While transactional questions such as “best…” lists or product reviews have a click-through rate of close to 100%. This shows how AI tools are becoming that “trusted” partner for users with content strategy more important than ever, to ensure brands and publishers are recommended by AI Mode.
“The trend is crystal clear: Google's AI is ending the game for low-quality, aggregated content. The user's journey is now a flight to trust,” said Purcell.
He said business goals have changed as the traditional publishing revenue model has been dismantled: “visibility is the new KPI”. It is critical for publishers to optimise content in a way that secures a mention in AI-generated answers. For brands that appear alongside these cited “expert” sources, this signals an opportunity to garner credibility and trust in the market.
“The old goals of ranking for informational terms are obsolete,” he said.
“Our new goal is "winning the mention," and this is the solution we provide to our partners. We are shifting our measurement framework from pure clicks to influence and "AI Visibility." We are actively tracking how often Man of Many is cited as the definitive source within AI answers for key commercial topics.
“For our brand partners, this is the new, measurable ROI. A partnership with us delivers that citation. Being named in an AI-generated answer as the expert source, even without a click, is a massive branding win that transfers trust and influences future purchasing decisions.”
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