Google’s AI Mode Arrives in the UK – here’s what you need to know

Google has just launched a major update to its search experience in the UK, and it’s something every small business owner should have on their radar. Say hello to AI Mode – a new feature that uses artificial intelligence to answer user queries directly in the search results.

It’s fast, smart, and – most importantly – a big shift in how people find information online.

What is Google AI Mode?

At its core, Google’s AI Mode uses its large language model (LLM) – called Gemini – to offer a more “ChatGPT” style search experience. The search experience is completely different to Google’s traditional list of links (although this has evolved significantly over the years) and offers a more conversational experience when searching. It is predominantly designed to handle long search queries, similar to how a user might prompt with ChatGPT.

 

So, what does this mean for your business?

For now, Google search will still default to its traditional results but now with an option to switch to AI Mode.

As with similar chatbot style interfaces, AI Mode presents the user with most of the information that they are looking for, reducing the need to click multiple websites to find the answers to their queries. As we have seen with the AI Overviews, which are the summaries that appear at the top of the search results, this does lead to less traffic being sent to websites from search, although the traffic that is sent across tends to be of a higher quality, as users have already carried out their initial research through the AI search results.

What this means for businesses is that generally, traffic that has been of a more informational nature will likely decrease, and the focus now needs to be on maximising the conversion performance of websites to increase the opportunities of lower quantity but higher quality users.

Since AI Mode launched for users in the US in May, we’ve been assessing how this work and how it displays the results and more importantly, the links to websites. Although this is constantly changing, we already have a great understanding as to how AI Mode works and what businesses can expect now that it’s launched in the UK.

Want to know how AI could boost your business online?

Our AI Marketing Services are designed to help small businesses stay ahead of the curve – combing smart content strategy with the latest AI tools to improve visibility and conversions.

Get in touch today to see how we can help your business make the most of this new AI-powered search landscape.

Google AI Mode will be rolled out in the UK over the coming days. Read Google’s full announcement here