Google’s AI mode: a guide for B2B and B2C marketers
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In recent months, Google’s AI Overviews have presented us all with a significant shift in how search works. Rather than simply providing a list ‘10 blue links’, AI overviews compiles information from multiple sources to provide a single, comprehensive answer directly at the top of the SERPs.
With this new, shiny SERP feature, we believe that “zero-click searches” will be on the rise, as people trust the information provided in overviews, meaning they no longer need to physically click through to find their answers. The impact of this for both B2B and B2C marketing is yet to be determined, but we know that the new goal isn’t just ranking highly, but creating content to a standard of which Google starts to cite us within their results, as well as us ranking throughout the SERPs.
That being said, it’s not impossible for users to click through as Google has kept links and citations within the AI Mode SERP feature. This means that all answers given are cited by source links, so we’re still able to see clicks through to our sites. In Google’s words, the AI’s response is like a “fully cited report generated in minutes,” saving users from hours of manual research, so we can definitely capitalise on this as marketers.
But let’s break this blog into two sections:
- What AI Mode means for your business?
- What AI Mode means for your workload…
What AI Mode means for your business?
The trust users already have in AI is extraordinary.
People are using AI more throughout their ‘messy middle’ stage of the journey, before turning to brand search to convert via search, or other means.
If that doesn’t mean we need to adapt, then I’m not sure what does.
Understanding the difference between “traditional SEO” and GEO (Generative engine optimisation) is crucial at this stage, with GEO being the new strategy for creating optimised content, in order to be cited or summarised in AI-driven answer engines including ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
Reviewing your content strategy
What you have been doing may already be working (likely it is!), so my best advice is to just review performance and consider different approaches when it comes to content creation.
As we know, AI can often answer simple questions, and provide an overview of research from across the web. Therefore, you should focus your B2B content on proving your expertise within the market and why you should be considered further down the funnel.
AI mode will likely “steal” traffic from generic terms, and more generalised questions, so you should review tact and look at potentially shifting your focus to content that helps potential customers who are ready to buy; for example case study content and comparison guides.
Improving the user journey
For years, we’ve spoken about personalisation of ads, or CRM campaigns. But now, AI is also allowing us an opportunity to be more personalised within search too. AI Mode is allowing the user journey to be a more personalised experience. We’re expecting users to start using AI mode more and more, as it essentially can act like your own personal assistant, using preferences, search history, and even geographical location to provide more bespoke results.
Think of it like this…
AI is completing the initial research phase, so us marketers need to shift our focus to creating more appealing content and advertisements that target users at the crucial moment of decision and purchase.
AI is driving their understanding, we need to prove “why us”.
Taking a holistic approach to SEO
As we move into the new era of AI search, it’s important not to panic. Don’t stop all activity and take an entire new focus. Don’t scrap your existing organic strategy.
Any business, whether B2B or B2C, needs to adapt their search strategy in the coming months, focusing on the wider picture. You really need to understand where your users are, and where they’re searching too.
AI mode for your business, in summary…
Yes, we need to adapt.
Online success nowadays means your content needs to be high-quality and digestible (old news, I know), but it also needs to be valuable enough to drive clicks. Don’t abandon your existing online marketing strategy; instead, adapt it by focusing on:
- Creating more expert-led content that builds your brand’s authority, and proves your expertise like never before!
- Focus on conversions by ensuring your strategy targets users closer to a purchase decision, such as product pages, case studies, and comparison guides. This should be a given, but it’s worth reviewing.
- Embrace multimodal content by using high-quality images, videos, and schema markups to make your content more discoverable and appealing for AI to showcase it.
- Realign your SEO and PPC campaigns, ensuring your paid and organic strategies are well aligned with the user journey, we may start seeing paid ads appearing as logical next steps from AI-generated answers, rather than users scrolling the serps… who knows.
If you’re trying to navigate the evolving search landscape, our team at embryo is here to help you build a robust, future-proof strategy. From holistic marketing strategists to channel specialists, get in touch with us today to discuss how we can help your online strategy.
AI Mode for your workload…
Okay, so you’ve reviewed your strategy, and you’re on the right track? Great.
Now let’s discuss how AI can help speed up your workload and ensure that you’re not only getting seen for your expertise, but savouring your brainpower for the most important tasks.
We would never encourage executing tasks such as content creation, ad copy creation, design execution through AI means, as let’s be honest… we’ve been training their craft for years, and AI mode is poor for that. But, it can be handy for some of the below:
- Researching topics and advising on content structuring
- Understanding your target audience in greater detail and segmenting audience data
- Paid media optimisations, such as, Google’s Smart Bidding, Responsive Search Ads
- Data analysis to help shape data into more actionable, understandable outputs.
- And many, many more!
Two of the key areas I use are…
Researching and structuring content
AI can often accelerate the initial stages of content creation by assisting with research and content structuring.
Instead of manually scouring online, through various articles and data sets, AI mode can quickly search and summarise large amounts of information from various sources, quickly and simply. Which allows you to quickly grasp the core concepts of a topic, to help structure your content.
Once the research is complete, AI can also help structure the content, generating outlines, headings, and subheadings. It can also suggest ways to tailor content for different audiences or formats – which again, is a great use of saving time.
Data segmentation
AI’s ability to process and analyse huge amounts of data from various sources allows us to see a full view of the audience. You could use various data sources to compile data too, using Ads data, GSC, GA4 etc. This would allow you to blend the data and see a holistic view, rather than relying on simple categories like age or location.
AI prompts can be used to identify complex behavioural and psychographic patterns, such as online interests, browsing habits etc. It can also predict future search behaviour, such as the likelihood to purchase a product or even churn.
Here at Embryo, we’re continuing to build and innovate new, exciting tools and strategies for both our team and businesses to utilise. But using AI mode alongside these impressive tools can help us improve productivity, without compromising output.
Get in touch with our expert team today to find out more about how we can help you and your business succeed through the uncertainty of this brand-new era of AI.
