Google at 27: As search grows up, so must SEO

Estimated reading time: 21 minutes. Updated 4th September 2025.

September 2025 has arrived, and with International SEO Day on 27 September, it feels like the right moment to be candid.

Over the past year, my conversations with colleagues and clients have shifted. What’s uncomfortable isn’t the conversation or the work — it’s the unknowns and the pace.

Search is moving at a social-media tempo — faster cycles, more fragmented surfaces, a higher bar for trust.

AI is the first question in every room; “Do we still need search engine optimisation (SEO)?” often precedes budgets; and one client asked whether a website is still worth it.

I’m adapting strategically: acknowledging that organic traffic has dipped, experimenting more on platforms like LinkedIn to build authority and earn citations in AI summaries, and reworking content so it can be cited as well as read. There are early signs it’s working.

There isn’t a simple search anymore — you choose your entry point. Some days it’s a quick conversation with AI; others, a familiar results page with richer modules; and sometimes you begin inside a dedicated surface such as Images, Maps or Video.

Search is more visual and conversational than it used to be, and more geared towards helping us decide, not just browse — and that changes how visibility works.

Not every win is a click to your site; some wins are a mention in an AI summary, a product card in Shopping, a place pin on Maps, a clip in Shorts, or a trusted answer in a forum.

Customers compare across multiple touchpoints and only click when they’re ready. Our job now is to be present, legible and credible wherever that evaluation happens.

The foundations still hold — crawlability, clear structure, helpful content, speed, internal linking — but they now support a bigger brief: deep audience research, entity and brand building, structured data, feed hygiene, image and video optimisation, local proof signals, and measurement that tracks selection, not just sessions.

So, yes. SEO — the skills, the coverage, the holistic approach — is more relevant today than ever. As search behaviours evolve alongside technology, and Google’s features advance to meet demand, so too must SEO — our approaches, our tools, our metrics — mature with them.

Search marketing is having a growth spurt, and the brands that grow with their customers’ journeys will feel it where it counts; in revenue, retention and reputation.

I’ve distilled the last twelve months into what matters next: where Google has moved, how behaviour has shifted, and the practical plays for 2025-2026. Use this to recalibrate, show up in more of the right moments, and become the brand people choose when it counts.

(A lot has happened — feel free to jump to the parts that matter most.)

What’s happened in the last year (2024-2025)

AI Mode goes global and starts thinking ahead

In 2025, Google’s most experimental interface became part of the mainstream. AI Mode is now live in over 180 countries, inviting users into a multimodal, agentic experience that feels more like working with an assistant than typing into a search box.

People can type, speak, or upload images, ask follow-up questions without starting over, and increasingly delegate tasks - from booking a restaurant to grabbing event tickets - like having a concierge at your fingertips.

The real change lies beneath the surface. AI Mode breaks each query into parts, running parallel searches through a process known as query fan-out. A single input can spark dozens of related look-ups, which are then stitched into one seamless, AI-written response.

For marketers, this broadens the chance to appear but muddies attribution. Which sub-query brought your brand into play? Why did a competitor surface when you didn’t?

Optimisation is no longer about targeting keywords alone. It’s about preparing content for unpredictable journeys that start before the click ever happens.

Two AIs, two realities and they’re reshaping the SERP

For the first time in search history, Google Search no longer speaks with one voice. AI Overviews and AI Mode are not two names for the same thing; they are distinct systems, each shaping visibility in very different ways.

AI Overviews, now reaching 1.5 billion users a month[^1], leans heavily on citations; often 20 or more per answer. AI Mode takes a lighter touch, favouring five to seven structured “source cards” and mentioning brands far more frequently. In fact, brands appear in 90% of AI Mode responses, compared with less than half of Overviews[^2].

Stability also differs; ask twice, and you may see two completely different stories told back to back.

AI Overviews is notoriously volatile, shifting 30 times more week-to-week than AI Mode. Even AI Mode produces variance: 21% of repeated tests showed no overlapping URLs across runs. And with only 10.7% URL overlap between the two systems[^3], the same query can now produce entirely different answers, tones, and source choices.

Shopping queries reshaped with image-forward layouts

Ecommerce search has undergone a dramatic facelift. By 2025, many shopping queries resemble a curated magazine spread rather than a list of links: oversized image tiles dominate above the fold, product grids give way to AI-led layouts, and question modules prompt shoppers deeper into discovery.

Image-forward results now appear for over 90% of ecommerce queries, up from 60% in 2024[^4]. Meanwhile, videos are being dialled back as People Also Ask (PAA) boxes expand.

A growing suite of tools - from virtual try-ons to price tracking and vision-powered inspiration feeds[^5] - reinforces Google’s shift from catalogue to assistant.

For brands, this raises the bar. High-resolution imagery, structured markup, and content that anticipates user questions are no longer optional. The SERP is no longer just a pathway to a website - it’s a marketplace in its own right - and in a marketplace, the weakest displays get skipped.

Discover: mobile staple, new desktop front door

Discover is Google’s personalised feed; a stream of cards with headlines, evergreen reads and YouTube. It doesn’t rank by keywords alone. It learns from behaviour: taps, dwell, saves, smooth UX. Do well and the loop kicks in; your post reaches more lookalike readers, who engage in the same way, and reach grows again.

On mobile, it’s become a major referrer. Discover is up ~12% year on year, and many publishers now treat it as their primary source of traffic[^6]. It rewards useful, visual content that loads fast and reads clean on the move.

Now it’s coming to the desktop homepage[^7]. Same feed, bigger stage. For brands already strong in Discover, visibility could effectively double.

For everyone else, the brief is simple: ship stories that earn responses - striking images, clear headlines, satisfying payoffs - because this front door opens when people act, not when keywords line up.

Travel search: inspiration meets action

Google’s travel experience has grown up. You can now ask for a country-wide itinerary with a focus on nature, track flight and hotel prices, organise plans from screenshots in Maps, and get local recommendations through Gemini-powered assistants[^8]. No spreadsheets, no tabs, just one seamless thread.

It reflects a deeper shift in behaviour. People don’t start with a destination; they start with a mood. A coast they saw in a reel. A bakery mentioned in a blog. A recommendation buried in a thread. Discovery now begins long before dates are set, and Google is building for that journey.

To match this change, the algorithm is leaning into lived experience. Hidden Gems, integrated into the core algorithm since late 2023, prioritises first-hand tips from forums, niche blogs and small creators. The domains classified as Hidden Gems appeared less often than established sources, but offered more variety[^9]. It's a scrapbook, not a swap-out. Personal stories are appearing alongside the big names, not instead of them.

For marketers, the opportunity is clear: let storytelling spark the dream, and make it effortless to act when the moment lands. If your café gets mentioned in a travel guide, your Business Profile should be up to date. If a tour is pinned in someone's screenshot, your location should surface when they open Maps. When inspiration hits, you want to be visible, available, and bookable.

Forums rise again and Reddit leads the charge

If 2024 was the year of AI summaries, 2025 is the year of user voices. Reddit’s visibility has surged nearly 200%[^10], fuelled by licensing deals with Google and OpenAI worth around $130M USD[^11], and by users’ appetite for authenticity.

User-generated content (UGC) platforms - from Reddit threads to YouTube comments - now appear prominently in SERPs. Many users skim an AI Overview, then head to forums for a second opinion[^12].

For marketers, this signals a pivot: authority is no longer just about domain strength, but about appearing in conversations that feel lived, candid, and real.

And when was the last time polished copy beat lived experience?

The numbers are in and search is still growing (so far)

Despite predictions of decline, Google Search is not dying. Far from it.

In 2025, global search volume crossed 5 trillion queries per year, up from the 2 trillion plateau that held for nearly a decade[^13]. In the US, desktop users average 126 unique searches per month, with 87% choosing Google’s homepage search experience[^14].

Even at ChatGPT’s peak - a billion daily messages - it still equates to less than 1% of global search volume. Google handles ~373× more daily queries[^15]. Search remains a daily ritual, not a fading habit. The challenge is not demand, but timing: capturing fleeting attention in a layered results page.

From rankings to recognition: when visibility stops meaning clicks

The traditional equation - impressions lead to clicks, clicks drive traffic - no longer holds.

Zero-click searches dominate. Nearly 66% of all Google searches now end without a click[^16]. Across Australia and New Zealand, March 2025 data showed impressions shifting significantly: 70% of sites saw swings over 10%, and 60% experienced CTR drops of more than 50% year on year[^17].

Picture this. Your site holds #1 in the blue links for a how-to, but the Overview answers it in-line; your brand is mentioned, the click (to your website) never comes.

What does that mean for your site? That visibility without action is increasingly the norm. This shift is fuelled by SERP features - AI Overviews, Featured Snippets, Knowledge Panels, People Also Ask, Local Packs, Direct Answers, calculators, and more - which capture attention above the fold, like a noticeboard already plastered with flyers before you can add your own.

Organic positions are less effective. Even when rankings improve, users may not see or need to click through, as rich SERP features dominate the first screen and satisfy the query instantly. It raises the uncomfortable question: what good is a number-one ranking if nobody clicks?

This is a new kind of visibility: ambient, indirect, and harder to attribute. Success is less about driving sessions and more about being present, remembered, and trusted.

Sentiment towards Google today

Publishers feel the strain

For publishers, the past year has been a bruising one. Organic referral traffic, once the lifeblood of content businesses, is thinning. Not because audiences have disappeared, but because AI Overviews intercept them before the click - like being quoted in a headline without the story attached.

The numbers are stark. In a dataset of nearly 70,000 queries, just 8% of users clicked through when an AI Overview appeared. Only 1% clicked a cited source[^16]. On desktop, CTR halves; on mobile, it falls by a third[^18]. Most people skim the first few lines, then stop - or leave.

It leaves publishers in a glass box - able to see the crowd, but unable to reach them - visible, quoted, even trusted, but without the reward of traffic.

Antitrust filings in Europe argue these summaries siphon value while offering no meaningful opt-out. The frustration is real. If this continues, survival may depend not on chasing clicks but on building presence; clarity, quotability, and trust that can travel beyond the SERP itself.

Sentiment shifts: scrutiny becomes strategy

The tension around Google isn’t just from marketers, publishers, or users anymore. It’s institutional. In 2025, regulators stepped out of the background and into the spotlight, and scrutiny became strategy.

In Europe, independent publishers lodged a formal antitrust complaint over AI Overviews[^19]. Their claim: Google’s summaries strip context, divert traffic, and extract value from original reporting, with no real opt-out short of leaving Search entirely.

At the same time, older disputes have resurfaced. Price comparison services are now seeking billions in damages, citing earlier EU findings that Google favoured its own results[^20].

And Brussels isn’t done. Fresh charges under the Digital Markets Act are imminent, after Google’s proposed search changes fell short[^21]. If enforced, they could reshape how Shopping, Flights and Hotels appear, and who gets seen.

The UK is watching closely. Under its new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, the Competition and Markets Authority has launched its first full probe into whether Google holds “strategic market status.” What’s on the table: auction transparency, default deals, ad placements, and the mechanics behind visibility for more than 200,000 advertisers[^22].

And across the continent, trust is fraying. The EU wants fact-checks baked into ranking systems under the DSA. Google has pushed back, refusing to hardwire fact-checking into Search or YouTube and signalling it will exit voluntary codes. Meta is retreating too, betting on looser crowdsourced models[^23].

In the United States, the headlines teased a reset. The reality was a pivot.

A federal judge found that Google held and maintained monopoly power. The case centred on familiar levers: paying to be the default on phones and browsers, tying apps together, and long contracts that made it hard for rivals to get a fair shot.

Early remedies sounded sweeping. Spin off Chrome. Unbundle Android if needed. End default deals. Open key data so others could build competitive products. It felt like the kind of change that might genuinely rebalance the market. [^24][^25][^26]

The final order was narrower. No break-up. Instead, no more exclusive default deals. Contracts must be shorter and less restrictive. Browsers can offer more than one search option during setup. Android device makers can preload alternatives without penalty. And competitors get limited access to Google’s index coverage and interaction signals to improve their own results and ads. Clearer, but not transformative.[^27]

Alphabet’s share price jumped[^28]. For many users, it felt underwhelming. The timing and the politics[^29] around it didn’t help perceptions, particularly outside the U.S.

Even so, the mood has shifted. Access to alternatives should get easier. And when people try a different default, they often stay. One behavioural study found that a third of Google users kept using Bing after just two weeks[^30]. 64% said it was better than they expected; 59% said they simply got used to it.

Google is still central. But the confidence around its position is no longer absolute. Choice is edging in.

Market mood: dominant, but no longer untouchable

Open a browser and the reflex is still Google. But the ground has shifted a little.

StatCounter put Google’s global share under 90% through late 2024[^31], the first dip of that kind in almost a decade. Small in size, big in signal: there are now real alternatives in play.

Apple underlined it. Google searches on Safari fell for the first time in 22 years. Apple is exploring a revamp of Safari to prioritize AI-powered search engines[^32]. The front door to search is being re-imagined.

Scale still favours Google. In the EU, ChatGPT search averaged 41.3 million monthly users. Google reported 355.7 million signed-in and 424.4 million signed-out, nearly 20× larger.[^33] In the US, behaviour matches that: 95% of Americans still use Google, Bing, Yahoo, or DuckDuckGo monthly, with 87% considered heavy Google users, up from 84% in 2023[^34].

AI use is rising fast. Adoption jumped from 8% in 2023 to 38% in 2025; one in five Americans uses tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity or DeepSeek 10+ times a month. When people pick up AI, their Google searches often rise too[^34]. The journey widens; it doesn’t simply switch.

Despite the branding, many AI assistants still lean on Google’s scaffolding. Most assistants don’t run a full web index, can’t reliably render JavaScript at scale, and lack mature anti-spam defences.

Evidence of scraping services[^35] and near-verbatim overlaps with Google snippets[^36] show that visibility in Google still decides what surfaces in AI assistants. But, here's the rub: SERP features on Google provide impression, click data or transparent attribution chains; AI assistants do not.

So where does that leave marketers? Search is drifting into AI-first spaces - the address bar, the sidebar, the chat box - where answers appear before a page has even had a chance to load. Google still anchors the journey, but the route is splintering: Bing’s index and assistant layers are gaining ground, and browser defaults will increasingly decide which lens people look through.

Your brand can be “seen” without a click, noticed without a visit. The job now is to be recognisable wherever the question is asked, and to earn the nod in those AI results even when the path back to your site is less direct.

Google’s narrative: “Search isn’t solved, it’s evolving”

Amid growing scepticism, Google has held a steady line. AI, it insists, isn’t replacing search but expanding it. Liz Reid, Google’s Head of Search, put it plainly:

Search is never a solved problem. People change. The web changes. So the interface must too.

The message is visible across the SERP. Typed prompts now sit alongside Lens scans, Circle to Search gestures, and follow-up voice queries. AI Overviews and AI Mode are woven into daily experience. Behind it all, the classic index still powers results, but what gets surfaced - and how people interact - has shifted. The familiar scaffolding of the index still holds, but the shopfront has been rebuilt.

Trust is shifting, but Google remains central

The tension is clear. Publishers feel sidelined, markets are exploring alternatives, regulators are circling, and Google is reframing its story as evolution rather than erosion.

For marketers, the picture is more complex than a simple rise or fall. Clicks are harder to earn. Trust is spreading across forums, video, and social discovery. But Google’s scale, infrastructure, and daily role in people’s lives remain unmatched.

The takeaway? Treat Google as essential but not exclusive. Build a presence that resonates both inside and outside the SERP. Because in 2025, visibility is not a single channel, it’s a mosaic. And Google, while no longer untouchable, is still the largest tile on that board.

How search behaviour has changed

Discovery is fragmented; journeys rarely stay in one lane

The act of searching no longer begins and ends in a single box. Discovery now splinters across Google Search, AI chat tools, and user-driven platforms like TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, and Pinterest. Each plays a different role: Google provides the breadth, AI tools shape explanations, while forums and video feeds add trust and texture.

For example: You Google “Queenstown ski pass early September” → an AI Overview outlines mountains, passes, and chain rules. You skim a Reddit thread for locals’ tips on queues and rental shops, then watch a YouTube short on what to pack. An Instagram reel catches your eye; you Circle to Search a jacket in-frame and price-check it. Back in AI mode, you ask for a 3-day plan with meal stops and shuttle times. You finish with branded searches for the rental shop and the jacket to lock things in.

For simple facts, most still reach for Google first. Yet for layered tasks - planning, comparing, troubleshooting - people are increasingly turning to conversational AI. One in three who skim an AI Overview then detour to Reddit or YouTube to sense-check what they saw. It’s a new rhythm: Google for orientation - peers for validation - AI for guidance.

A generational pivot: Gen Z sets its own rules

For Gen Z, discovery is social-first and visual by default. Nearly half prefer TikTok or Instagram for local searches, and overall Google usage is down 25% compared with Gen X[^37]. Their instinct isn’t to type but to scroll, swipe, and see.

See something on your screen and want it, now? Press and hold the navigation bar on Android, then circle, scribble or tap. The price, product name or explainer appears without leaving the app. That’s Circle to Search: on-screen lookup that turns whatever you’re viewing into a query.

Out in the world - or in your camera roll - Google Lens does the same for the physical and visual: point, upload or paste a screenshot to identify products and places, translate or copy text, and jump straight to shops, maps or sources.

Visual search isn’t niche anymore. Lens usage is up 65% year on year. Circle to Search runs on 250 million Android devices and already drives one in ten searches.

The result? Inspiration collapses into action: circle a logo mid-scroll, scan an outfit from a video, tap a product to price-check. Decision made in seconds. Great for users. For brands, it raises the bar on imagery, on-screen text and structured data, because the picture is now the prompt.

Pinterest: from pinboard to search engine

Once a digital scrapbook, Pinterest has matured into a full-fledged visual search platform. 36% cent of consumers - and nearly 40% of Gen Z - now start searches there, not Google[^38]. Users treat it as a curated engine of choice for lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and small business ideas.

What sets Pinterest apart is engagement. People don’t just glance; they linger, save, and return. 80% of businesses say Pinterest drives stronger engagement than other platforms, including Google Search[^38].

For marketers, that makes it more than a source of inspiration. It’s an engine with intent baked in, and ignoring it risks being left off the shortlist entirely.

Reddit: where trust gets checked

When answers feel over-optimised or AI-polished, people look for a human voice. They open a thread, not a new tab. They read what actually happened - the fix, the failure, the workaround - and weigh the comments like a panel of peers.

Community search runs on specificity. Subreddits surface lived experience and candid trade-offs that feel reliable in a way press copy rarely does. It also moves demand: Reddit reports that nearly half of social users are frustrated by irrelevant search terms during product research, and about 23% of recommendation posts nudge people toward brands they hadn’t considered.[^39]

You can see the same reflex around Google’s answers. Many skim an AI Overview, skip the citations, and jump to Reddit to sanity-check with something that sounds real. In other words, the validation layer increasingly lives in conversation. Any modern search strategy should acknowledge that reality; not to game it, but to recognise where trust is formed.

When video becomes the answer

Search isn’t always typed any more, sometimes it’s watched, sometimes replayed, sometimes paused and circled before someone even knows what they’re searching for.

Short-form video has shifted from “nice to have” to a central part of the journey. People now scroll to learn. They watch a side-by-side demo. They save a quick tutorial. Then, if you’re lucky, they come looking for your name. For younger audiences especially, platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram are no longer just content channels, they are the search box.[^40][^41]

That shift is cultural, but it’s also showing up in the results. Google is citing YouTube more often in AI Overviews[^42][^43], including direct video frames and clips when they help answer a query faster than text. Multimodal search means users can upload screenshots, speak a question, or follow up visually, and Google can respond with a mix of formats in return.

Across Southeast Asia, over 290 million people watch YouTube, and more than 40% of shoppers there say video is how they make informed buying decisions. The appeal is obvious: it’s personal, relatable, and fast.

For marketers, that makes the case clear. Video isn’t just content anymore, it’s a search asset. And to meet modern expectations, your brand needs to speak in more than one format.

Tool choice is the new habit

We’re entering an era of tool choice. For speed and facts, search engines still dominate: 47% of users reach for Google when they need a quick answer[^44]. It’s the reflex tap for conversions, dates, definitions, and everything that demands immediacy.

But for complex, layered problems, people are beginning to lean elsewhere. 36% cent still use traditional search, but 27% now turn to chatbots and 21% to AI-powered search[^45]; not just for answers, but to think, compare, and plan. In those moments, users don’t want a list; they want a guide.

Trust is what makes the shift possible. Nearly 80% of Americans say they trust AI-powered search, and 77% trust AI chatbots[^45]. That trust is quietly reshaping instinct: the question is no longer just “Where do I find this?” but “Who can help me make sense of this?”

For brands, the challenge is clear. Design for both paths: be skimmable when someone wants speed, and layered when they need depth. Because the most valuable visibility isn’t simply being seen. It’s being useful in the moment that matters.

Which is why Google’s role - and where it sits - is being quietly re-drawn.

Where Google sits now, and how it’s staying relevant

The centre of gravity, redefined

Google is still where curiosity begins. Not because it’s perfect, but because it’s present in more of the moments that matter: from the first nudge of intent to the final check before purchase. Think of it as the concourse where journeys intersect: search, Maps, YouTube, image results, local listings, and the answer layer now woven through it all.

For marketers, the practical truth holds: even with discovery fragmenting, Google remains the most reliable way to meet demand at scale; the habitual tap that happens while the kettle boils, on the commute, or in the queue.

Google’s strategic pivot

What Google has changed isn’t just the interface, it’s the job it’s trying to do. The priority is usefulness across surfaces, not just relevance on a page. And that’s a harder standard for brands to meet.

That shows up in three ways:

Multimodal as table stakes. Search is no longer only typed. It’s circled, spoken, screenshotted. Google’s push into visual and voice inputs is about catching intent the instant it appears: mid-scroll, mid-video, mid-life. The message to brands: design content that’s seeable and sayable, not just searchable.
SERP as a shopfront. On retail queries, the results page behaves like a curated showroom: large imagery, scannable Q&As, intent prompts. Google rewards pages (and product feeds) that answer the obvious questions in the result, fast. If your images and data structures sing, you’re in the window; if not, you’re behind the glass.
Presence over position. Google’s guidance has shifted from “rank for keywords” to “earn selection” - through originality, clarity, and proof. It’s nudging site owners to measure outcomes (leads, purchases, returns) and design experiences that keep people engaged when they do click. In a world of layered answers, the metric that wins is whether you’re chosen, not just whether you’re seen.

How this fits the wider marketing mix

Marketers don’t operate in a vacuum. Budgets and attention are moving toward short-form video, forums, and visual discovery. Google’s role, then, is becoming both the starting line and the stitching, the thread that ties fragmented journeys together. A place to reach scale, to validate claims with context, and to convert intent that other platforms spark.

Your practical plan:

Use Google to unify journeys started elsewhere. Someone sees a reel, a pin, or a Reddit thread; the branded or category search happens next. Make sure what appears then is cohesive: site name, sitelinks, product availability, review signals, and imagery aligned with what they just saw.
Treat YouTube and Maps as first-class surfaces. For consideration, YouTube is now a research engine in its own right. For action, Maps and the Local Pack make many journeys zero-click. Own both with native assets (watch pages, shorts, GBP photos, inventory).
Let Google reflect your off-page credibility. Forums and UGC often show beside or above your site. That’s not a threat, it’s borrowed trust. Encourage authentic conversations and make your on-site content quotable so those discussions reinforce you, not replace you.

SEO advice for 2025-2026: practical priorities

Start with the foundations: your website still matters

Open any result and you can feel it: answers stitched together from everywhere; a paragraph here, a product tile there, a video frame in the corner.

Underneath that tapestry sits the same thread: your pages. Google still synthesises its responses from what it can read and trust on the open web. When your article is the source, your words, images, and data become the building blocks other surfaces draw from.

The same is true in Discover: when someone lingers on your piece, scrolls, taps to another, or saves it for later, those interactions tell Google which readers your work genuinely helps and who to show it to next.

Quality is the price of entry, and Google hasn’t moved the goalposts. It values helpful, original, people-first content that shows real experience and earns trust.

Think of it as four quiet tests every page must pass: effort (real human work you can feel), originality (something meaningfully new, or the primary source), talent or skill (clear writing, sound structure, solid production), and accuracy (facts that hold up, especially on YMYL topics). Pages need a purpose. Authors need to show they’ve been there, done the thing, and can explain it cleanly. Thin, repetitive, machine-spun copy reads as low effort because it serves the engine, not the person.

So yes, keep the scaffolding tight: fast loads, clean structure, working links, fresh structured data.

But make the story irresistible. Publish the kind of page a human would recommend and an AI can safely cite: first-hand walkthroughs, clear comparisons, plain-spoken claims, strong visuals, and product information that stays in sync across your site, Merchant Center, and your Business Profile.

Search is becoming integrated, multimodal, and personal, yet it remains grounded in the web. Make your site the place where the truth lives, and every other surface can point back to it.

Design for two systems: AI Mode and AI Overviews

Google now speaks in two distinct voices and they reward different strengths:

AI Mode behaves like a curious colleague, fanning out into related angles and stitching them into a conversation. It rewards breadth and continuity: a clear hub with connected spokes; FAQs that anticipate follow-ups; explainers that link naturally to demos, comparisons, and next steps. Think in journeys: one topic, many adjacent questions, all interlinked so the model can roam without losing the thread.

AI Overviews are choosier. They read like an editor’s summary: tighter scope, stricter citations, and a preference for sources that are easy to quote. Here, you win with clarity and distinctiveness. Lead with precise headings; open paragraphs with the point; include sentences that carry a complete, citable idea; and add the proof - data, method, images, short video - that separates your view from commodity content. Mark it up, keep names consistent, and make your visuals and claims match across site, feeds and profiles so inclusion is effortless.

You don’t need two websites; you need content that flexes.

Draft the comprehensive version first - the hub, the related questions, the internal links - then sharpen the same material for citation: crisp intros, unambiguous claims, original comparisons, tidy schema, and assets worth embedding.

Review key queries in both AI experiences; expect different outcomes; adjust structure and wording where you’re absent.

The takeaway for marketers is simple: appearing in one layer doesn’t guarantee presence in the other, but a single, well-designed system can serve both; broad enough for conversation, sharp enough to be quoted.

Make images your most persuasive salesperson

Watch how people actually shop now: a glance at a thumbnail, a tap to zoom, a ten-second clip to see it in use, then a question to AI, sometimes with a photo attached.

Results are unapologetically visual, and audiences skim across formats (video, images, text) in the same breath. As Google’s AI becomes more multimodal, your images aren’t decoration; they’re how the product is understood, compared, and chosen.

Treat every image as content with a job to do:

Use high-quality, modern formats (WebP or AVIF where possible) and place them as real images on the page - not backgrounds - so they can be found and indexed.
Give each file a clean, crawlable URL.
Write descriptive alt text (that’s the primary signal for meaning), keep titles sparing, and support the picture with a useful caption or surrounding copy.
Carry the same discipline through Google Merchant Center and your Business Profile so the visual story is consistent wherever it appears.

Then go beyond the product page. Add step-by-step photos to how-to guides, side-by-side shots to comparisons, and short clips that show the thing working, the kind of assets AI Overviews can cite and Discover can surface. AI Mode already accepts text, voice, and images, so give it something unambiguous to recognise.

AI-generated visuals are fine when they genuinely help someone decide; if an image is purely ornamental, consider preventing it from being crawled. The standard is simple and human: does this picture reduce doubt? If yes, make it fast, clear, and consistent; because this year, every pixel earns its place.

Treat your Google Business Profile as your digital shopfront

Before anyone visits your site, many will meet you in the Local Pack or on Google Maps.

That listing is your shop window. Increasingly, local decisions are made without a click; people compare, call, or get directions straight from the SERP.

Keep it alive. Refresh photos monthly, keep hours accurate, add posts, sync products and services, and reply to reviews in a human voice. Ratings, images, and details aren’t just “nice extras”, they are the credibility cues Google surfaces first.

The question to ask: if your Business Profile were the only page a customer saw, would it win them over?

Off-page matters: keep the brand consistent everywhere

After the first answer, people go looking for proof. A ten-second YouTube demo. A Reddit thread that sounds like a real person. An Instagram reel, a pin saved for later, a quick glance at your Google Business Profile.

That human layer is part of the journey now, and Google reflects it: forum posts, short video and image-led placements sit alongside your pages, not beneath them. In that world, recognition rivals rank; the branded search only follows if you’re unmistakable in every stop along the way.

This isn’t about being everywhere at once; it’s about being the same brand wherever you appear. Use the exact name and handles across Google Business Profile, YouTube, Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and your site.

Keep the visuals consistent - thumbnails, tiles, logos, colours, typography - and let your claims match across pages, profiles and feeds.

Then supply the proof people want to cite: lived-experience assets like step-by-steps, side-by-side comparisons, short demos, local expertise, and product imagery that’s genuinely helpful.

Treat those off-page placements as part of search, not a side project. Do this well and, when someone finally types your name, the ecosystem they reach - site, Business Profile, YouTube, and every visual touchpoint - reads like one confident answer to everything they’ve already seen.

Turn video into a search asset

If someone presses play, they’re already deep in their decision. That’s your moment, don’t waste it.

Start with what matters most: quality.

A helpful, clear, well-paced video will always outperform a generic AI-generated clip. Explain the thing. Show the steps. Compare options. Keep it tight, useful, and trustworthy. These are the kinds of videos people save, cite, and share. They're also the kinds Google is learning to favour.

Give each video a proper home. Create a dedicated watch page with a fast load time. Add a title that matches search intent, a plain-language description, and structured data using VideoObject markup (JSON-LD is best). Include key info like thumbnail, upload date, duration, and surround the video with helpful text so it’s understood in context. Embed it high on the page, especially on mobile.

Then add it to your video sitemap. Help Google find it, interpret it, and trust it.

Next, design for selection. That means thumbnails that are instantly recognisable. Captions and overlays that carry your brand. Keep your voice consistent across YouTube, Shorts, TikTok, Instagram, your site; wherever you publish.

If you’re hosting on YouTube (which you should, where discovery matters), match the content with your on-site version to consolidate authority. And don’t let your content sit still. Link it to your product pages, blog posts, FAQs. Use transcripts, summaries, and step-by-step stills to serve different formats and surfaces.

Google is multimodal now. Search spans words, images, and frames. Your content should too.

Rethink success beyond clicks

Clicks are no longer the prize they once were. Scroll bars stop short, screens are skimmed and swiped past before your page even breathes. Many users leave without visiting at all.

So how do you prove your work is working?

The answer lies in impact. Leads, sales, sign-ups, and loyalty are what matter now. Set up analytics that track depth as well as entry: engaged sessions, conversions, repeat visits, and branded search growth. These are the markers of trust and influence.

Attribution has become stretched. Someone notices you in an AI Overview, sanity-checks you on YouTube or Reddit, then types your name three days later. In analytics, it looks like “direct traffic” won the day; in reality, Google’s ecosystem did the warming.

Your antidote is measurement that respects the full journey. Look beyond single clicks to the signals that show you were present, remembered, and chosen in a world where one metric rarely tells the whole story.

From tactics to trust

SEO in 2025 is about designing for presence, recognition, and proof across a layered ecosystem.

Start with the assets you control: your website and Google Business Profile.
Add compelling visuals that earn both clicks and citations.
Extend presence into AI Mode, AI Overviews, and off-page platforms.
Measure impact, not vanity.
And above all, build a brand people want to search for. So that when the moment arrives, your name feels like the obvious choice.

Because in this landscape, visibility is fragmented but trust still compounds. Be useful in the micro-moments, and you’ll be remembered in the ones that matter.

From here to 2026: earn selection, not just clicks

Search has grown out of its old clothes. Winning means being recognisable and trusted wherever that decision is being made, then easy to choose when intent hardens.

So let this be the brief for the year ahead: tighten the foundations you control; make images, video and feeds first-class assets; shape content that can be cited as well as read; and build off-site proof that Google can reflect, not replace. Measure selection alongside sessions, because the journey is layered and the click is only one chapter.

Do this consistently and you won’t just be seen; you’ll be the brand people remember when it’s time to choose.

Need help strategising your digital performance for the year ahead? Book a free consultation with Altitude Search today to discuss your goals.

Citations & References

Phew! Thanks for reading. Almost 80 articles from the past 12 months were reviewed for this summary for International SEO Day. You may find the listed citations below, for further reading.

Back to blog

Country/region

Table of Contents