INSIGHTS

12 tips to drive Google success in the AI Mode era.

June, 2025: Optimizing for AI Mode isn’t just business as usual. It requires a recognition of the evolving complexities in both Google Search and user behavior. Yet, SEOs are perfectly poised to thrive in this new search landscape, leveraging many existing tactics through updated strategies, innovative applications, and fresh approaches.

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byNikki Lam/June 2, 2025

1
Build topical authority through robust, semantically optimized content, and ensure your online presence (not just website, think Search Everywhere Optimization) is optimized for related queries.
Your goal is to have Gemini find your brand for as many topically related queries as possible, and to make your message the most relevant at every reasoning turn. You’re optimizing for your content to be semantically relevant across dozens of queries the user didn’t even ask.
2
Move beyond text-based content.
AI Mode pulls from imagery, audio, and video, not just text. Hopefully your strategy has already accounted for mixed mediums, but if not, you could be behind the pack.
3
Onboard Profound. Profound is a best-in-class AI search optimization tool, built by a team who’s thinking isn’t clouded by the history of SEO and how things have been done historically.
They’re building technology specifically to help brands show up in LLMs and AI Mode. Going forward, you’ll need data about your performance in AI search such as sentiment, citation frequency, and AI share of voice. Your standard SEO tools just aren’t going to cut it anymore.
4
Be user driven.
AI Mode is user first, and success in this new chapter will require user centric approaches. AI Mode answers will be heavily personalized, integrating user behavior and preferences from other Google sources (like Gmail). AI Mode answers will be contextualized based on user embeddings, which are like digital fingerprints based on search and click history, content engagement history, location, demographics, etc. Google’s longstanding recommendation to do what’s best for your users has never been more critical.
5
Create truly unique content.
Been saying this, but it’s more critical than ever. Creating something that already exists a dozen times won’t cut it. Use proprietary or custom data to make your content stand out. Integrate custom quotes, contextualized subject matter expertise, do what it takes to create something truly valuable and interesting that hasn’t been done a million times.
6
Think beyond rankings & clicks. Success metrics in modern day search are changing.
Google hasn’t shared data backing up their claim that clicks in an AI Overview SERP are coming from “more engaged audiences” that are “more likely to spend more time onsite” but their recommendation to “understand the full value of your visits” is valid nonetheless. Make sure you’re honing in on lower funnel KPIs and how those are trending. (Sorry, publishers, I know you’re in a different ballgame right now).
7
Audit your content for relevancy & freshness.
Relevance is everything in this next era of search. Continuously audit and refresh content for stronger relevance and new insights. Strategically retire outdated or off topic content to optimize site value and topical authority.
8
Think outside the ‘search volume’ box.
AI mode captures intent that the user didn’t even explicitly express. Gemini moves beyond the initial prompt and determines user intent either directly from the user’s explicit query, or by inferring and synthesizing it from their history and context. This will make keyword search volumes less relevant and less accurate. Instead of overly focusing on keywords, ensure your content is semantically rich, explores related concepts and diverse user intents, and provides a deep and authoritative understanding rather than just integrating keywords with high search volumes.
9
Start thinking about agent optimization.
We have a way to go until this becomes a reality, but marketers will need to learn to connect with audiences through agents because eventually end users won’t need to visit websites to get what they need. Agents will not only synthesize and personalize answers for people, but they’ll complete actions too: booking a restaurant reservation, signing up for a new yoga studio, purchasing a new set of earbuds. Agents will become personal assistants, and marketers need to start thinking about how they optimize content and experiences for agents.
10
Build your brand through Search Everywhere Optimization.
In 2025, there’s so much about search that’s out of our control, making it very important to control what is in your control. And that entails influencing user search behavior through other branding channels (think Reddit, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.) as well as investing in Digital PR to get your brand out there more.
11
Invest in CRO & UX.
As traffic shrinks, it’s vital to ensure that anyone who does visit your site has the best experience and the path of least resistance to conversion.
12
Put poor collaboration to bed.
Winning in 2025 and beyond means there’s zero tolerance when it comes to working in silos. Knowledge sharing and collaboration is the only path forward. SEO, Content, Social Media, CRO, User Experience, Engineering, Digital PR, Brand, Product, and Data & Analytics will all have to work together to win AI visibility, keep up with the shifts, and react to what’s working or not.