Why You Need to Get Your Marketing Ready for AI Mode Now – Not Later
When AI Overviews launched, the impact on click-through rates was swift—and stark. BrightEdge reports that impressions rose 49% year-on-year, but CTRs fell 30% across affected keywords (Search Engine Land). A recent Pew study also found that users were far less likely to click: only 8% clicked on a traditional organic link when an AI Overview appeared—compared to 15% when it didn’t. Just 1% clicked any link within the AI summary (Pew Research).
But this disruption also signals a major opportunity. Google’s AI Overviews now reach more than 2 billion monthly users (Digiday), and AI Mode—already live in select markets—is opening up even more real estate for brand visibility.
If you haven’t already, now’s the time to get your marketing ready for AI mode. The brands that adapt early will dominate the next evolution of search.
Superman is launching in Cinemas this week and so is AI Mode!!
“You don't need a cape to be a hero. AI Mode can help you plan the most complex of outings. Just ask Google.” Google July 2025
https://youtu.be/OgG0dHHSH0k?si=6UAOpHRIBsEEwrd2
Here’s what UK marketers need to know—and do—before the rollout.
Where We Are: AI Mode Rollout Timeline
- United States: Live (post-Google I/O 2025)
- India: Live (as of July 2025)
- Canada: Confirmed for Summer 2025
- United Kingdom: Rolled out began on the 28th-29th July. It is expected to be fully available by late August (based on the US roll-out pattern).
The UK rollout may be influenced by the Competition & Markets Authority’s review of Google’s Strategic Market Status, which could delay or alter feature availability.
Why AI Mode Changes the Game
AI Mode isn’t just an enhancement—it’s a shift in user behaviour and expectation. Key changes include:
- A dedicated conversational search tab powered by Gemini 2.5
- AI-generated Deep Search reports summarising key insights
- Voice-driven agentic tasks (like calling local businesses or comparing products)
- Integrated ads within both AI Overviews and AI Mode
For marketers, this means fewer conventional blue-link clicks—but vastly more potential to appear inside the decision journey itself.
What We Learned from AI Overviews
- CTR fell 30% across affected queries (Search Engine Land)
- Users clicked organic links only 8% of the time when AI Overviews appeared (Pew Research)
- Only 1% clicked any link within the AI-generated summary
Yes, traffic will be lower. But the real win lies in what that traffic becomes.
Users entering through AI-generated summaries are often deeper in the decision journey. Their queries tend to be more specific (“best B2B CRM for HR tech”, “what’s a fair price for a digital PR audit”), which means higher intent and stronger conversion potential. The role of visibility in AI answers is no longer just about awareness—it’s about relevance at the moment of action.
The Opportunity: Visibility Through AI
- Google’s AI Overviews reach over 2 billion monthly users (Digiday)
- 96% of enterprises plan to expand AI agent use in 2025 (Cloudera)
- AI-led responses already match or exceed traditional snippets for visibility in key categories (Search Engine Land)
The brands that optimise for this shift now will capture that higher-converting, mid-funnel visibility—before the competition even notices it’s changed.
Six-Level AI SEO Strategy for AI Visibility
Your AI Mode strategy should evolve from solid SEO foundations to advanced visibility across LLM-powered platforms. Here's the breakdown:
Level 1: Technical Optimisation
Ensure your site is fast, crawlable, mobile-friendly, and properly structured. This helps search engines and AI systems parse your content efficiently.
Level 2: Blog Articles
Target long-tail, conversational queries. Focus on natural language and answer intent clearly in under 50 words.
Level 3: Pillar Pages
Develop comprehensive, authoritative content hubs that establish topical relevance—this helps AI models confidently surface your brand.
Level 4: Referring Domains
Secure backlinks from credible, relevant sources. These remain strong indicators of trust for both Google and LLMs.
Level 5: Authority Score
Monitor and improve your authority score to strengthen credibility.
Level 6: Brand Mentions & Digital PR
Generate citations on trusted websites and forums. AI systems, including Gemini and ChatGPT, are more likely to reference brands they see in reputable third-party contexts. Digital PR and high level optimised content helps you earn those mentions at scale.
How Angelfish Helps You Stay Visible
At Angelfish, we help UK brands navigate every shift in search—from BERT to AI Overviews. With AI Mode, we focus on the dual opportunity: keeping your existing visibility and capturing new, higher-intent traffic inside emerging search formats.
We offer:
- Technical and content audits tailored for AI readiness
- Schema strategy and markup implementation
- Monitoring across Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity
- SEO, digital PR, and traffic diversification strategies grounded in real-world analytics
Our goal is not just to protect rankings—it’s to rebuild them in a new, AI-first landscape.
Get Your Brand Ready for AI Mode
Our AI SEO programmes are designed to get your marketing ready for AI mode, fast:
- Visibility monitoring across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and AI Overviews: brand mentions, citations, prompts, and share of voice
- AI SEO strategy: on-page optimisation, high-authority backlinks, schema deployment, brand mentions, and ROI reporting
- Technical audits and content updates aligned to how LLMs ingest, summarise, and reference brand content
This is your opportunity to own the new search experience before your competitors get there.
Ready to get your marketing ready for AI mode?
Book your free discovery call to assess your site’s AI visibility, schema health, and LLM optimisation potential.
The future of visibility is being rewritten. Let’s put your brand at the centre of it.
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