What’s happening
Last week, Google made several announcements at their annual developer conference, Google I/O. Amongst these were a couple that impact their search product in the short term, and are particularly relevant to search engine optimisation.
One of the more significant announcements was dubbed by Google as the “biggest upgrade to our Search box in 25 years”. Over the last two and a half decades, Google’s search box has undergone several changes of size, but rarely of much significance beyond this.
Last week’s announcement, however, heralds a truly seismic shift, not only in the design of the search box itself, but in Google’s thinking about how people search for information, products and services online, as we all move firmly into the age of AI.
The new search box now expands as a user types their query, designed to accommodate longer searches and prompts. The new search box will also allow users to upload files, images, documents, and Chrome tabs for multi-model searches (using multiple types of content for one search query).
The new AI search box is live globally and offers a search experience closer to that of AI Mode.
In another announcement, Google is integrating AI Mode further into its traditional search product by making it easier to transition between AI Overviews and AI Mode
What do these changes mean?
Ultimately, Google sees AI Mode as its main search product and the future of its search business. With this in mind, long-term, Google will transition traditional search to AI Mode. In the short term, they are progressing towards this by removing the differences between the two search products. Last week’s announcement represents multiple steps closer to this happening and will change how users interact with Google.
When it comes to AI search, searchers use significantly more complex terms compared to traditional search, because they’re increasingly confident in the quality of the answers. With the changes to the search bar, easier transition between AI Overviews and AI Mode, and the use of Gemini 3.5 Flash to power traditional search, users are likely to increasingly use traditional search in the same way they use AI search. This may mean search volumes increase in traditional search in the short term, as confidence builds. This pattern is well established, with previous developments in search driving higher search volumes. In the long term, users will shift to using AI mode.
Whilst increasing search volumes are a good thing, AI Overviews were introduced globally in October 2024 and since then have been rising in visibility, with a study reported by Forbes showing that AI overviews appear in 58% of all search results.
AI Overviews provide a curated summary of information, which often gives the searcher an answer to their search query alongside additional contextualising information. Searchers will see more of this as Google transitions to AI search.
As a direct result of these changes, sometimes, searchers do not need to click on search listings to satisfy their search need, and industry data shows that this means less traffic to websites listed in the search results. Different search query types are being affected by the shift to different degrees. Informational search queries (where a search is looking for information) are significantly more impacted than transactional keywords (where a searcher is trying to find a product or service). The consequence of this, is that searchers are coming to websites from search armed with more information, and are therefore more likely to purchase. The silver lining for websites that have previously generated significant traffic from informational searches, is that whilst traffic for these keywords is generally declining, in many cases, conversion rates are improving. To put it bluntly, whilst sessions have declined since the introduction of AI Overviews, the end goal of search in the form of conversions/leads has not.
How should you manage these changes?
As the transition between traditional search and AI search progresses, it’s important to ensure you rank your website higher for both of these search types.
The fundamentals of traditional search remain relevant for AI search. A couple of weeks ago, Google released their first documentation relating to optimising for AI search, and directly addressing this point:
“The best practices for SEO continue to be relevant because our generative AI features on Google Search are rooted in our core Search ranking and quality systems.”
In the guide, Google also discusses next step action points relating to AI search, stressing the need to “Prioritize effective SEO strategies over AEO/GEO hacks”:
“Apply SEO best practices to generative AI search: Continue prioritizing foundational SEO best practices, such as building a clear technical structure and creating unique, valuable content; these are the foundation for visibility in generative AI search experiences (and Google Search overall).”
