In reality, nothing has changed.

So, let us get that out of the way first and foremost- so don’t panic!

Google AI its enhancing the search results, getting rid of pages which are well, not that good.

In that respect, this is nothing new, Google Panda did just that, so did Google Penguin updates when businesses decided to go link-building crazy!

Google has stated, “Focus on your visitors and provide them with unique, satisfying content”.

In reality, this is why we would go so far as to say, well, nothing has therefore changed.

We understand that you’re concerned about losing visitors due to AI Overviews and the new AI Mode.

Similarly, businesses globally are worried because of the rise of “zero-click searches”.

Zero-click searches occur when a shopper asks a question, and Google responds with a bespoke answer directly within the search engine results page.

Therefore, the “hard work”, if you like, of the shopper clicking around “pogo-sticking” and bouncing around various websites to find an answer, well, that’s becoming less and less.

 

Unique value

Since the days of Google Panda, Hummingbird, and more recently Google’s Helpful Content Update, they (Google) have made their intentions crystal clear.

They want pages which are not just a “run-of-the-mill” answers to a question- nope.

That type of work, well no longer cuts the mustard.

Google wants an outstanding answer, a page that knocks it out of the park.

This is why, for what seems like an eternity now, Google has been shouting from the rooftops, “focus on the visitor” and also create “original” and “high-quality” content marketing.

Honestly, that’s been drummed into us marketing companies for good reason, because Google hates spam and low-quality pages.

People first content

So, what does ‘people’s first content’ even mean?

Well, SEO experts, agencies, freelancers, and marketing teams have been too stuck in the business world, that is, focused on KPIs.

Marketing bosses are asking questions such as:

– How many links have you built this month?
– How many blog posts have you published?

The focus is on more, and more is somehow better?

Well, not always.

On Google’s own website, when they are dispensing advice on how to optimise content marketing for this new era of AI mode, they state:, publish content that ‘fulfils people’s needs”.

Come up with something original, helpful, and just, well, good.

Again this is nothing new, nothing that needs businesses to panic, throw their current marketing plans out of the window.

Nothings changed in terms of how to create content marketing, just make it better than the competition and helpful to your customers- it really is as simple as that.

 

“Good page experience”

Google has used this terminology, that is does the page offer a “good page experience” – for those in the know, this is nothing new.

This simply means to offer a good UX or “user experience”.

 

This means:

– Make the page load ultra quickly
– Think about mobile shoppers, how can you make the design simple, uncluttered, and a breeze to use?
– Navigation is it simple to use? Or is it challenging to keep looking at different products, for example is the navigation really badly designed? Plus no bread crumbs?

 

Super simple

We are entering an era of SEO where people don’t want over-complicated web design, sometimes, simplicity is best.

My favourite TV commercial says it best: “Isn’t it nice, when things just work?”– it was a TV advert for the Honda Accord that ran over 10 years ago.

Isn’t it nice when things just work?

Think about that for a second: the world’s largest brands seem to balance good web design with keeping things simple, elegant, and non-cluttered.

What’s the result?

Shoppers have a good user experience; in seconds, they can start adding items to their shopping cart.

They don’t waste time, they don’t get frustrated, there not waiting for a slow website, because faster than the blink of an eye the page is loaded.

Google U.X- again its nothing new, Google’s been promoting offering your shoppers a good user experience, for well donkey years!

If you’ve equipped the shoppers with right tools to buy what they want simply, by sorting by most popular items, those products with the best reviews, and by new stock that has just arrived- well shoppers like that.

 

Resulting in?

Lower bounce rates, more sales, higher dwell times, and talk to any business mogul, and they will tell you something even more important than that: you’ve allowed the shopper to create an affiliation with your brand.

Now, the customer knows that your business is ingrained in their memory, you delivered the product they want, and you made it simple, which means you increase the chances of making more sales and generating “repeat business”, which all business moguls want.

Isn’t it nice when things just work?- Honda had it one.

 

Indexed?

So, people on LinkedIn are already proclaiming themselves the AI SEO gurus!

But what’s Google saying?

They are stating what they have always said: the importance of quality content and discussing why Googlebot must be able to crawl and index a page. So again, nothing’s changed there.

Forget the Linkedin experts, we say listen to Google.

 

Nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet, or noindex;

You’re not likely to not want to be displayed in AI answers?

Just in case you do, Google allows you to opt out of Google AI.

 

Structured data seems to be of greater importance

So, what’s structured data?

Well, it’s simply text, instructions, which are used to mark up paragraphs, or say a product’s ratings in a more machine-readable way.

This then allows Google to decide where to use the information, such as in a featured snippet.

Go beyond text for multimodal success.

Okay, so this is new, well relatively new, so marketing companies need to pay attention here.

From experience, Google Gemini is not just amazing; it’s truly mind-blowing.

Let’s give you an example. I was at a friend’s house, Google Gemini had just become mainstream, integrated into certain handsets, and a friend asked Google Gemini the following:

“What is my camera showing?”

Google Gemini responded with a wooden chair, which so far, might not sound that impressive, right?

Well, then my friend asked, Google who makes this chair, When can I buy it from?

Google Gemini’s answer then responded with, that is an Ikea chair, and the model, based on no input from the user other than asking questions about what the camera was pointed at.

Now, that’s the era of AI we are in.

So, how do SEO agencies adapt?

– Unique photography, not AI photos
– Still add alt text
– Add pictures into the content marketing, so if there’s content you’re writing, for example, how to cook Japanese food, add pictures, as this helps AI to read the text, plus unique pictures of the food, which means your work is much more likely to be cited in AI answers.

 

More opportunity, not less

Google is a glass-half-full kind of company.

Why do we say this?

“With AI Overviews, these clicks are higher quality, where users are more likely to spend more time on the site”

So, Google’s is saying, instead of everyone running around like headless chickens saying “SEO is dead” because of AI, Google is saying the opposite.

It’s saying that for those businesses that adapt, their content marketing so its superior, gets cited more.

Well, sure, there are fewer clicks because of Google AI Overviews, but the shoppers through citation clicks, those shoppers are going to be more engaged, spend longer on your website, and buy more.

And that stands to reason, and here’s why:

If a salesperson answers a question in a car showroom and the person immediately walks off, they obviously were not that interested in buying a car on that day.

So, this is a bit like Google’s zero-click searches; it’s just the same.

If a shopper has their question answered there but doesn’t click on any of the sources for more information, well, they may not have had “purchase intent” in the first place.

However, if the shopper asks

“What’s the best electric car of 2025?”-

Then, using Google’s query fan out the shopper asks:

“Okay, which is the safest vehicles in recent crash tests?”

Well, this shows more purchase intent; that shopper is more interested in buying that item because they want to spend even more time reading about the product.

So, this is no more different than when Google rolled out Google Hummingbird

Google Hummingbird changed things; the answers were more precise.

Now with AI mode and Google AI Overviews, the “search strings” are likely to be more complex and complicated questions.

And Google, thanks to AI, can still now offer a more precise answer than ever before.

Businesses that publish high-quality content marketing will be rewarded by being mentioned as a source.

Therefore, if the shopper clicks on you, you’ve achieved two great things:

– You’ve answered what is already a more complicated search string, because in AI mode shoppers may ask more complex search strings

– Next, you’ve been selected as a source, which means Google has mentioned your page because you offer a superior answer than your competitors.

 

So, is SEO dead?

Nope, as always, it’s adapting, and so should your business:

 

Who is Ryan Walsh

Ryan is one of Cardiff’s best and most experienced SEO consultants. We are a highly skilled marketing agency, from Google’s PageRank days to now in 2025, where the hot topic of conversation is Google AI- we keep on top of the changes in our profession.

We are here to help your business navigate Google’s improvements, ensuring you gain more visibility.

Call us today