Last week, Google announced that AI Mode, its AI-generated answer experience within Search, has surpassed one billion monthly users, with queries more than doubling every quarter since its launch one year ago.
Alongside that, Google unveiled the biggest redesign of its search box in 25 years, rebuilt from the ground up around AI.
So, what does this mean for brand visibility? And why do organisations need to pay attention?
The way people can search has changed. Users can use text, images, files, video, or even use Chrome tabs as inputs. And Google can now respond intuitively. Now able to anticipate intent, it can also support with formulating questions and queries with AI-powered suggestions that go way beyond autocomplete – and can carry a conversation across multiple exchanges.
But the new headline feature is Google’s “information agents” – personal AI assistants capable of scanning the entire web and alerting you the moment something relevant happens. Think of it as setting a standing order for information, rather than repeatedly googling the same query.
The use cases are incredible for businesses. Following a competitor? Set your agent to flag the moment they update their pricing page, publish a new case study, or land a press mention. Keeping tabs on an industry vertical? It can synthesise any updates before your morning coffee.
Agentic booking is expanding too – just describe what you’re looking for, and search can handle the research, pricing and availability, handing you a direct link to book. For some industries, it can even call the business on your behalf.
The direction of travel is clear. Search is becoming less of a tool you use, and more of an assistant that acts.
To be clear: SEO still matters. Google’s AI features sit alongside organic results, not in replacement of them, and traditional search remains a significant channel. Abandoning SEO strategies entirely would be a mistake.
However, it’s clear that AI-driven answers are increasingly becoming the default for searchers, and brands must take note. Nearly 60% of Google searches now end without a user clicking through to any website – with users receiving a single synthesised AI-generated answer in response to queries. This will no doubt increase following Google’s announcement.
When AI handles the searching, the comparing and the deciding, the traditional search moment – the one where a user sees your brand, compares, and chooses to click – no longer exists. If a brand isn’t represented in an AI-generated answer, it isn’t just losing a click – it’s been excluded from a customers’ decision.
Most organisations haven’t considered what happens when AI systems lack clear, authoritative information about a brand. They don’t return a blank. They synthesise from whatever’s available – competitor content, category commentary, outdated coverage, forum noise. The result can be imprecise, incomplete, or simply wrong.
The stakes have risen sharply with Google’s latest move. When AI-generated answers become the primary search experience, an inaccurate characterisation doesn’t just misinform a user – it can become a reputational issue. For brands, the reputational and commercial cost of getting this wrong is significant.
AI doesn’t draw from a single source – it builds a picture from a broad signal environment. That means the question is no longer just “where do we rank?” but “what does AI understand about us, and from what?”
There’s good news for communications teams – the discipline required to answer that question is one they already practise. Earned media, owned content and social presence account for the large majority of AI visibility. AI learns from the content that PR has always shaped.
What shifts is the objective. GEO – generative engine optimisation – gives a name to something communications teams should now be doing proactively: ensuring AI systems represent your organisation accurately, prominently and in the right context.
The most useful thing any organisation can do right now is find out where it stands. That means mapping how you currently appear across the major AI answer engines – understanding how you’re positioned relative to competitors, and identifying which sources are shaping the responses you’re getting.
That picture can become your baseline for optimisation and can provide clear next steps on what to fix, what to build, and where the greatest risk to your visibility lies.
GEO was already important, but Google’s announcement is the strongest signal yet that GEO must be a key priority.
firstlight works with organisations to understand and improve how they appear across AI through signal, our dedicated GEO programme.
If you’d like to explore what that looks like for your organisation, get in touch.