How SEO Is Changing with Google’s New AI Mode: a practical guide to getting cited by artificial intelligence

Google’s AI Mode is already a reality, and it is profoundly transforming the way content is generated, displayed and, above all, selected in search. The person who has outlined this new landscape is Britney Muller, an SEO and artificial intelligence expert who has carried out a detailed analysis of the results generated by this new mode.

What changes for those who work on content optimisation? Which SEO strategies need to be updated right away to avoid losing relevance in search results? And, most importantly: how do you become a source that Google’s AI will want to cite?

Let’s find out together, point by point.

What Google’s AI Mode is (and why you should already be paying attention)

AI Mode is a new search interface powered by generative artificial intelligence, which Google is testing and rolling out in the results for certain queries. It no longer simply provides links, but builds genuine narrative answers, long and detailed, drawn from a broad range of sources.

These answers:

• Are dynamic and change from one user to another
• Draw on dozens of citations taken from different web pages
• May contain inline images and links (not always clickable)

The result? The concept of the “top position” loses part of its meaning. Now it is essential to become a credible, well-structured source, able to get itself “chosen” by the AI.

Local SEO: even where you least expect it

Google adds local references everywhere

One of the most surprising aspects to emerge from Britney Muller’s analysis is that Google tends to geographically personalise even queries that seem neutral, such as:

• online courses
• newsletter sign-up
• YouTube login

This means that local SEO becomes relevant even in contexts not directly tied to a specific location.

What should you do?

• Add local references to your content even when they don’t seem strictly necessary.
• Optimise your Google Business profiles, even for businesses that operate online.
• Work on localised keywords, especially in page titles and tags.

The power of the brand: the strong ones win

Big brands conquer commercial queries

In searches with commercial intent, Google’s artificial intelligence shows a clear preference for strong brands. In the US, for example, Best Buy dominates the scene for searches related to consumer electronics.

In Italy we can expect the same phenomenon with:

• Amazon
• Unieuro
• Mediaworld

Even in non-retail sectors, brand strength will be increasingly decisive.

How to leverage inline blue links

AI citations are textual: they don’t contain visible links as in classic SERPs. However, Google includes inline links (the so-called “blue links”) within the sentences. Being part of those citations can bring visibility and authority.

To achieve this, your content must be informative, well written and highly relevant.

Informative content = synthesised articles

AI answers look like real blog articles

Google’s AI doesn’t only respond with short paragraphs. In many cases, it generates long, structured answers, with a blog post style. Some examples from the US:

• Laptop brands → 576 words, 56 citations
• French Revolution → 512 words, 12 citations

This indicates that your informative content must be designed to be synthesised by the AI, and not only to be found by users.

How to write citable content

• Organise your text into clear paragraphs with descriptive subheadings
• Use verifiable data and sources
• Avoid a promotional tone: focus on informative value and neutrality

Images: not a detail, but an SEO factor

Google’s AI Mode extracts images and shows them as a preview

Images in AI results have a reduced preview format (around 82×82 pixels), but they are essential to the appeal of your content. If your page doesn’t have an optimised image, it risks staying anonymous.

Best practices for AI-friendly images

• Use relevant and eye-catching images
• Optimise dimensions, alt text and compression
• Include at least one main image for each piece of content

Good news: thanks to Google’s AI Mode, “hidden” pages are climbing back up

The AI’s sources aren’t only the top 3 results

One of the most encouraging aspects is that Google, through the AI, also draws on content that isn’t on the first page. If a piece of content has relevant, well-structured information, it can be selected as a source even if it isn’t among the top organic results.

This opens up a strategic opportunity: reviewing and improving your “near-winning” content, meaning the pages that today sit on the second page or underperform expectations.

Where to start? Your SEO checklist in the era of Google’s AI Mode

Here is what you can do right away to adapt your strategy:

• Analyse the AI answers to the main queries in your sector
• Study the cited sources: why were they chosen?
• Optimise your content to be clear, reliable and citable
• Add high-quality images, relevant and optimised
• Work on your forgotten pages too: they could be the key to getting noticed

Get found (and cited) by artificial intelligence

SEO is changing, and those who stand still risk disappearing. With the new Google AI Mode, content must not only convince the user, but also win over the generative algorithm.

It’s no longer enough to optimise in order to climb the SERP: now is the time to become an authoritative, well-structured source, able to stand out among hundreds of other sources and earn a place in the new generation of results.

Want to understand how to update your SEO strategy to get noticed by Google’s AI? Contact us: we can help you bring your content to the fore in a world where artificial intelligence sets the rules.

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