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Google AI Mode

Prepare for conversational search

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Google AI Mode is Google’s conversational search mode and has been available in Sweden and in Swedish since October 2025. AI Overviews provide summaries, whereas AI Mode lets the user hold a conversation with an AI assistant directly in Google Search.

For businesses, that means being visible throughout the conversation, from the first question to the final decision.

AI Mode is available in more than 200 countries and territories. You can optimise your content for the feature today and track your visibility in Search Console.

What is Google AI Mode?

AI Mode turns search into a conversation

AI Overviews

AI Mode

  • A conversational AI assistant
  • The user starts it themselves or reaches it through a follow-up question in an AI Overview
  • Multi-step conversations with follow-up questions, deeper answers and guidance
  • Memory of the conversation (the AI “remembers” what you discussed earlier in the session)

How AI Mode works in practice

In this made-up example, the user clicks “AI Mode” in Google Search and starts a conversation:

User
“Plan a holiday in Italy”
AI Mode
“Italy is perfect for a holiday! What interests you most: art and history, food and wine, beaches or mountain walking?”
User
“Art and history, especially the Renaissance”
AI Mode
“Then I recommend Florence and Rome. Florence is the cradle of the Renaissance, with the Uffizi and Michelangelo’s David. Rome has the Vatican and ancient monuments. How long a holiday are you planning?”
User
“A week”
AI Mode
“For a week, I suggest four days in Florence and three days in Rome. Shall I find centrally located hotels?”
User
“Yes, ideally under SEK 1,500 a night”
AI Mode
[Lists hotel options with links]

AI Mode keeps the context throughout the conversation and builds on each answer.

How AI Mode differs from ChatGPT

AI Mode is similar to ChatGPT, but there are differences:

ChatGPT

Google AI Mode

AI Mode sits inside Google Search, where people already search, but the user has to choose the feature or ask a follow-up question. At the same time, ChatGPT is used by more than half of Swedes.

Why businesses need to be visible in AI Mode

How many Swedes already use AI services

In Sweden, 62 per cent use AI services such as ChatGPT, and 81 per cent use AI services or Google’s AI Overviews. Google is used by 97 per cent of Swedes aged eight and over.

AI Mode lowers the barrier even further

  • No apps to download
  • No account to create
  • Nothing new to learn
  • Just a button in the search engine where users already search

The whole journey from question to decision can happen in one session

Traditional search often takes place over several separate sessions:

Day 1: “What is SEO?” → Reads a few articles
Day 3: “How much does SEO cost?” → Compares prices
Week 2: “SEO agency Stockholm” → Visits a few sites
Week 3: Contacts an agency

With AI Mode, the whole journey can take place in one conversation, as in this made-up example

User
“What is SEO?”
AI: [Explanation, citing your guide]
User
“Does my business need it?”
AI: [Guidance, citing your article on ROI]
User
“How much does it cost?”
AI: [Pricing information, citing your transparent price list]
User
“Find an agency in Stockholm”
AI: [Lists agencies, including yours, with contact details]

To be visible throughout the journey, you need content at every stage.

What businesses can gain from optimising for AI Mode

  • Become a source that AI Mode can cite throughout the conversation
  • Learn which of your pages are cited
  • Track in Search Console how impressions in the AI features develop

How AI Mode differs from AI Overviews

AI Mode keeps the context throughout the conversation

AI Overviews
Each search is answered on its own. A follow-up question takes the user on to AI Mode.
AI Mode
The AI “remembers” what you discussed earlier in the session.

Example

Search 1
“What is SEO?”
AI Mode explains.
Search 2 (in the same session)
“How long does it take?”
AI Mode knows that “it” refers to SEO (from earlier in the conversation).

AI Mode can guide users further than AI Overviews

AI Overviews
Gives answers and links, and then the user has to carry on alone.
AI Mode
Can actively guide users through complex processes.

Example

User
“I want to improve the SEO on my website”
AI Mode
“Great! Let’s start with a simple check. Does your site use HTTPS?”
User
“Yes”
AI Mode
“Excellent. Next: does your home page load in under three seconds?”
User
“Not sure”
AI Mode
“Test it with PageSpeed Insights [link]. While you do that, have you set up Google Search Console?”

This is step-by-step guidance that AI Overviews cannot offer.

AI Mode can tailor answers to the user

AI Mode can personalise its answers for users aged 18 or over who have history and personalised recommendations switched on. The personalisation can be based on:

  • Previous search history
  • Previous conversations in AI Mode

Example

If the user has previously searched a lot about e-commerce, AI Mode may prioritise e-commerce-related answers even when the question is general.

How to optimise for AI Mode

Create conversational content

Write in natural language

What to do

  • Write in natural, conversational language
  • Avoid over-optimised keywords that feel forced
  • Use questions and answers (FAQ format)
  • Use “you” (address the reader directly)

Example

Formal and stiff
“Search engine optimisation involves the implementation of strategies for improved organic visibility.”
Conversational
“SEO is about improving your site so that it shows up better in Google. Think of it as making your site easier to find for people searching for what you offer.”

Answer follow-up questions

Plan your content around the whole dialogue, from the first question onwards.

First question: “What is SEO?”

Likely follow-up questions

  • “How does it work?”
  • “How much does it cost?”
  • “How long does it take?”
  • “Does my business need it?”
  • “Can I do it myself?”

Create content that answers all of these, either in the same article or in linked articles.

The more follow-up questions you can answer, the longer you keep the user in the conversation with you as the source.

Cover the whole customer journey

To be visible throughout the AI Mode dialogue, you need content at every stage.

Awareness: the user is learning

Here the user asks informational questions.

Content

  • “What is X?”
  • “How does Y work?”
  • “Why is Z important?”

Examples: Guides, explanatory articles, educational content

Consideration: the user is evaluating

Here the user asks comparative questions.

Content

  • “Difference between A and B?”
  • “Pros and cons of X?”
  • “How do you choose Y?”

Examples: Comparisons, buying guides, good practice

Decision: the user is ready to act

Here the user asks transactional questions.

Content

  • “Buy X”
  • “Hire Y”
  • “Contact Z”
  • “Price of W”

Examples: Service pages, pricing pages, contact details

If you only have content for one stage, AI Mode has nothing from you to refer to at the next stage.

If you have content for every stage, the whole dialogue can refer to you.

Create step-by-step guides

AI Mode can guide users through processes. That requires step-by-step content.

How to build a guide

Format

  1. Introduction: What the user will achieve
  2. Step 1: The first action (concrete and specific)
  3. Step 2: The next action
  4. Step N: The final action
  5. Result: What the user has now achieved

Example: “How to carry out an SEO audit in seven steps”

AI Mode can then lead the user through the process step by step in the conversation.

Make it clear where you are based and who you help

AI Mode can give very specific recommendations based on the context.

Make your niche clear

Generic
“We help businesses with digital marketing”
Specific
“We help B2B tech companies in Stockholm with SEO and content marketing”

The more specific you are, the easier it is for AI to recommend you in the right context.

Be clear about where you are based

If you are a local business, make that clear

  • City or region in the metadata
  • A visible address
  • “Stockholm” or “Gothenburg” mentioned in the about-us text
  • Local schema markup (LocalBusiness, if relevant)

Clear details about where you are based make it easier for the search engine to understand which searches you are relevant for.

Example

User (in Stockholm)
“Find a web agency”
AI Mode
“Here are some agencies in the Stockholm area: [a list where you appear if you are clearly based in Stockholm]”

Spell out which audience you help

Make it clear who you help

  • “For small businesses”
  • “For e-commerce”
  • “For large enterprises”
  • “For B2B”

Example

User
“Find a CRM for small businesses”
AI Mode
[May prioritise sources that explicitly mention “small businesses”]

How to track your visibility in AI Mode

What you can measure today

In Google Search Console

  • The Generative AI report: impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode by page, country, device and date
  • Clicks and impressions from AI Mode are included in the overall figures in the Performance report under the Web search type
  • The Generative AI report does not show clicks, queries or how far into the conversation you were cited

Qualitative observations

  • Which types of conversation mention you?
  • At which stages of the customer journey do you appear?
  • Comparisons with competitors

What you can do now

Track traffic from Google in Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

  • Track visits and conversions from Google in GA4 for the pages that appear in the Generative AI report

Test manually

  • Use AI Mode yourselves
  • Search for your keywords
  • Record whether you are cited and in what context
  • Compare with competitors

A/B test your content

  • Conversational or formal
  • FAQ or running text
  • Step-by-step or free-flowing

See what seems to make AI cite you more often.

How to build a content strategy for AI Mode

Which content works best in AI Mode?

Write FAQs as dialogues

Example

Q: “How long does it take to see results from SEO?”
A: “It depends on where you start. A brand-new site often takes longer. Do you have an established site with a sound technical foundation? Then it can be quicker.”

It reads like a conversation, and AI Mode can easily bring it into the dialogue.

Write scenario-based content

Start from the user’s situation.

Structure

“If you [scenario A] → do [recommendation X]”
“If you [scenario B] → do [recommendation Y]”

Example

“If you can wait for results, SEO is often a good first step. If you need to be visible straight away, Google Ads can complement it.”

AI Mode can use this to give personalised recommendations.

Write comparative content

“A or B” comparisons suit conversations in which users are weighing up options.

Format

  • A clear summary of the main difference first
  • A detailed comparison in a table or bullet list
  • When should you choose A? When should you choose B?

Example: “SEO or Google Ads: which suits your business?”

Optimise for multi-step conversations

Link to more in-depth content

In every article, link to related topics that the user may want to explore.

Example

In the article “What is SEO?”

  • A link to “How does SEO work?”
  • A link to “How much does SEO cost?”
  • A link to “SEO for small businesses”

If the user asks a follow-up question, the AI can lead them on to your more in-depth articles.

Create content clusters

Group content around themes:

Hub page: “Everything about SEO”Spoke pages

  • “Technical SEO”
  • “Content optimisation”
  • “Link building”
  • “Local SEO”

AI Mode can lead users through the whole cluster.

How optimising for AI Mode differs from traditional SEO

Pages have to work together in AI Mode

Traditional SEO
Each page is optimised in isolation for its keywords.
Optimising for AI Mode
Pages have to work together in a conversation.

Example

Traditional
Optimise “What is SEO” for that phrase.
AI Mode
Optimise “What is SEO” for that phrase and make sure it links naturally to “How does SEO work”, “How much does SEO cost” and others, so that the AI can take the conversation further.

The user can ask several follow-up questions in AI Mode

Traditional SEO
The user finds an answer, perhaps clicks, perhaps leaves.
AI Mode
The user can ask several follow-up questions in the same conversation.

You need content that also answers the next question in the conversation.

The brand is cited, not just individual pages

Traditional SEO
Individual pages rank.
AI Mode
Your brand as a whole is cited throughout the conversation.

Credibility needs to show across the whole site.

How to get started with optimising for AI Mode

Step 1
Review your existing content
Do you cover the whole customer journey? Are the follow-up questions answered?
Step 2
Fill content gaps
Create the missing content for awareness, consideration and decision.
Step 3
Restructure for conversation
Make the language more natural, add FAQs and link related content.
Step 4
Keep your structured data accurate
Google does not require any special markup for AI features, but the data should match the visible text.
Step 5
Strengthen your trust signals (E-E-A-T)
Build trust with author information, sources and expertise.
Step 6
Test and follow up
Use AI Mode, monitor the Generative AI report and record what works.

Ready to optimise for AI Mode?

We help you build a content strategy and a technical foundation for conversational AI search.

Contact us about optimising for AI Mode →

Want to know where you stand today?

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