Google has officially launched AI Mode in Search for users in the UK and beyond, marking a significant shift in how people interact with search results. Read the announcement here.
What are is Google AI Mode?
Google AI Mode offers a major step forward in how people interact with search engines. Instead of just compiling blue links on a search results page, AI Mode uses advanced artificial intelligence – powered by a version of Google’s Gemini 2.5 model – to answer complex, nuanced questions in conversational language and with deeper context.
Key features of Google’s AI Mode include:
- A dedicated AI Mode tab appears in both desktop Search and the Google app on Android and iOS, allowing users to opt in easily.
- Users can pose multi-part queries or follow-up questions that would previously have required several searches, like planning a weekend trip, comparing products, or unpacking a complex how-to.
- The system employs a “query fan-out” technique, breaking a big question into subtopics, issuing multiple searches at once, and synthesizing an in depth, tailored answer with links for further exploration.
- AI Mode supports multimodal input: you can ask questions with text, voice, or images, enabling even richer search experiences.
- Early users are asking questions “two or three times the length” of standard search terms, highlighting how AI Mode enables more conversational and exploratory inquiry.
- When AI Mode can’t provide a confident answer, it defaults to regular search results -underscoring Google’s focus on balancing innovation with accuracy and transparency.
This launch signals a major shift in online search behaviour. For users, it means more natural, fast, and insightful answers—while for publishers and advertisers, it’s raising critical questions about visibility and referral traffic, since fewer users may click through to traditional sites.
What AI Mode means for B2B marketers
Google’s rollout confirms that AI native search is here to stay. For B2B brands, this means:
- Content strategies must evolve: Winning in generative search means aligning content with buyer questions, topics and tasks, not just keywords.
- Traditional SEO isn’t enough: You can rank #1 in classic search and still be absent from AI Overviews.
- Visibility = trust: If your brand or product isn’t cited in AI-generated content, it may not exist in the user’s shortlist.
At FirstMotion, we help B2B software companies adapt to this new world of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). From prompt mapping to AI visibility audits, we position brands where buying decisions are increasingly being made: inside AI tools.