Was AI Mode available in the UK?
Not when this was written. AI Mode was then a separate tab in Google Search, available in the US only, with no confirmed timeline for a wider rollout.
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AI Mode is coming. Here is what brands should be doing now – part 3
Prepare rather than panic. AI Mode builds an AI-written results page from many sources, and STAT found paragraph responses on 99.5% of AI Mode results pages, with the organic-like cards on 62.6%, mostly sitting from position five downwards. When this was written it was a separate, US-only tab, so gradual blending with normal search looked more likely than a sudden switch. Focus on depth in your five most important topics, correct structured data, and measuring brand mentions alongside clicks.
What is Google AI Mode?
An AI-generated results page. Instead of ten blue links with features around them, it builds a structured response from several sources, with paragraphs, lists, cards, image grids and maps, and it is far more text-heavy than a standard results page. The first thing users see is almost always a paragraph response that looks like an expanded AI Overview. STAT ran the keyword set from its wider study through AI Mode and found paragraph responses on 99.5% of AI Mode results pages, lists on 84.4%, and cards, the feature closest to an organic result with a source link and snippet, on 62.6%. The cards tend to appear in positions five to ten and beyond: the organic-like result is still there, just not near the top.
Will AI Mode replace normal Google search?
Probably not in the short term. When this was written, AI Mode was a separate tab in Google Search, available only in the US, with no confirmed timeline for wider rollout. STAT's view, which I find persuasive, is that traditional and AI search will keep blending gradually rather than switching over cleanly. That is no reason to ignore it: hybrid transitions can move faster than expected, and the existing results page is already heading towards more features, more AI and less organic space. The useful question is how your brand shows up in AI-generated responses.
Why do brand mentions matter more than clicks?
Because when organic-like results sit several screens down, the click stops being a reliable signal of visibility. Being cited in paragraph responses, appearing in cards even without a click, or being referenced in lists is presence and awareness, and it affects how people perceive authority in your field. Tracking it needs different tools from rank tracking; share of voice in AI-generated responses is what some people now call generative engine optimisation.
What influences which sources AI responses cite?
Much the same things that have always influenced rankings: clear topical expertise, well-structured content, authoritative backlinks and accurate structured data. Being cited tends to follow depth of coverage on a topic rather than keyword frequency, and content that answers the likely follow-up questions, not just the first query, does better than thin content spread across many keywords. Schema markup helps Google understand and extract content, which matters especially for products, recipes, local services and events. And AI systems are more likely to surface brands that already appear across several credible sources, so PR, partnerships and third-party coverage feed in.
What should brands do now?
Three things. Audit topical authority: pick your five most commercially important topics and ask honestly whether your content is the most thorough and useful thing a person could read on each. Get structured data right for your products, location, services or content types, which is unglamorous and tends to pay back well. And measure brand mentions alongside traffic, whether with tools such as STAT's AI brand visibility tracking or by reviewing which AI responses in your field cite competitors and why. The businesses that handle this well will be the ones that take their content seriously and stay honest about where they have authority.
Related evidence: 55 digital audits. Here’s what I found.. Earlier in this journey: Why B2B businesses should look at their desktop search data differently – part 2.
Questions people ask
What is generative engine optimisation?
The name some people use for improving how often a brand is cited or visible in AI-generated search responses, measured as share of voice rather than rank.
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