What is Google AI Mode?
Google AI Mode is a way of searching Google by having a conversation. You ask a question, get a written answer with links, then ask follow-ups without starting again.
Google describes it as its most powerful AI search experience, built on a custom version of Gemini. It sits alongside the normal results as its own mode, rather than replacing them. People can type, speak or use an image as the question. Google started testing it in the US in early 2025 and has since rolled it out more widely, including in the UK.
How is AI Mode different from AI Overviews?
AI Overviews are a summary at the top of normal results for some searches. AI Mode is a whole conversation, chosen by the person searching, built for longer and more complex questions.
- Where it appears: AI Overviews sit above the normal results. AI Mode is a separate view people switch into.
- Length of question: AI Overviews answer a single search. AI Mode handles long, layered questions and follow-ups.
- Searches behind it: both use query fan-out, but Google says AI Mode runs more of these related searches.
- Control: Google decides when an AI Overview shows. People choose to use AI Mode.
How does Google AI Mode choose which pages to show?
It draws on Google's search index and ranking systems. Google says it breaks the question into subtopics, searches each one, and brings the results together into an answer with links.
That fan-out matters for businesses. A question like "I need a website for my dental practice in Leicestershire, what should I budget and how long will it take?" might be split into searches about cost, timelines, dental websites and local agencies. A page that answers one of those parts clearly can be cited, even if it doesn't rank for the whole question.
Does your site need anything special for AI Mode?
No. Google says the same SEO best practices apply to AI Mode as to the rest of Search. There's no extra markup and no separate index.
To be eligible, a page must be indexed and allowed to show a snippet. If you use nosnippet, data-nosnippet or a short max-snippet, those settings apply to AI Mode too.
What should a business do about AI Mode?
The same work as for AI Overviews, with more weight on covering the related questions around your main one. These are the steps we follow.
- List the long questions your buyers ask, including the follow-ups you hear on sales calls.
- Break each one into its parts: cost, time, what's included, who it suits, where you work.
- Make sure each part has a clear, quotable answer somewhere on your site, straight after a question-style heading.
- Check those pages are indexed and nothing blocks snippets.
- Keep your Google Business Profile complete, so local parts of the question have accurate facts to draw on.
- Try your buyers' questions in AI Mode yourself every month, and note which pages are linked.
- Watch clicks and impressions in Search Console alongside enquiries, not just rankings.
Can you track AI Mode in Search Console?
Partly. Google counts clicks and impressions from AI Mode in the Search Console Performance report, but within your normal web search figures rather than as a separate line.
So you can't pull out AI Mode on its own. What you can do is watch the questions your buyers ask, check AI Mode by hand, and track whether enquiries from Google hold up.