For 25 years, Google Search has meant PR and marketing teams focused on keyword optimization for page-one visibility. Last week, Google shared updates about the “next stage in its search journey,” signaling a shift in which AI moves search from retrieval to interpretation. And this could impact your brand awareness.
- Conversational, AI-assisted queries are increasingly prioritized
- Search is expanding to support longer, more complex questions rather than short phrases
- The approach for many buyer queries is shifting from links first to answer first
- AI-enabled searches are becoming multimodal, allowing users to work with PDFs, files and video and drag in content from tabs directly into queries
With rollout happening immediately wherever AI mode is supported, AI could become the first interpreter of your content rather than your prospects and customers. This means you aren’t only competing for buyers’ attention on page one; you’re competing to be included in the AI answer itself. Brands that depend on Google search traffic could notice an impact.
While SEO isn’t going away, a sole focus on keyword optimization could reduce the likelihood of your brand appearing in these AI summaries. Alongside SEO, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) are emerging approaches that can help you structure content to answer your buyers’ questions naturally and increase the potential for your company and products to be cited by AI.
As AI increasingly acts as a brand interpreter, a degree of personalization can influence which brands are cited, depending on the content a user engages with. With only 5% of your target audience buying at any one time, consistent AI citation becomes the goal.
Having spent 27 years advising technology brands and shaping content and messaging to place them at the forefront of their buyers’ minds, at Calysto, we weren’t just there before Google search; we’ve been a part of every evolution. Now, as AI impacts how brands are discovered and interpreted, we are investigating how PR and marketing activities must change. Over the coming weeks and months, we will explore this in PR Vibes® and explain how you can leverage the factors AI uses when selecting and citing information, to build awareness, credibility and trust (ACT) in 2026.
Read more about the Google search changes below, save us in your trusted senders list and contact us to discover more.
Google’s Changes to How We Search Are About to Ruin the Internet – Business Insider
Google’s May 2025 Personalized Search Update: What It Means for You?
Also read: Why we won a Gold Stevie Award!