Google I/O 2025: How AI Is Reshaping the Future of SEO

Google I/O is Google’s annual developer conference, where the company shares all its major updates, new products, and technologies with the developer community from all around the globe. Google announces major changes to its AI and search, which are usually effective starting the same week. 

AI has already changed a lot in the way Google search works. More and more search queries are displaying AI overviews now. But that’s not all. There is a lot more on the way. In the Google I/O 2025 conference, various product owners and stakeholders at Google shared new AI-powered tools and products that they are working on. 

In the coming months, we can expect several new advancements, including the new AI Mode, improvements to the Gemini model, and new technologies that will reshape the future of search and SEO. Further in this blog, we have explained everything that search marketers need to know:

Google I/O 2025 - Key Highlights

Google I/O 2025 was a two-day conference where many major announcements were made. Below are some key highlights that search marketers and SEO professionals need to know:

• AI Mode in Search: Google is introducing a new AI search experience called ‘AI Mode.’ It’s like an expanded version of Google’s AI overviews with more advanced reasoning and interacting capabilities. With this, users will get an AI response for everything that they search, along with an option to go deeper into the topic through follow-up questions and relevant web links. 
• Upgrades to the Gemini Model: Google is also making significant improvements to its AI model, Gemini. Features like deep search are coming to Gemini, which will make it more proactive, personal, and powerful. 
• Improvements to Android Studio: This is an important update for Android developers. Google is continuously improving its Android Studio with new AI-powered features, better UI creation capabilities, and future-proofing of the Android ecosystem.
• New Gen AI Media Tools: Google also announced the launch of new Generative AI media tools and models, including Veo 3, Imagen 4, and Flow. 
• Other Announcements: Apart from the above-listed features, Google professionals also talked about real-time translation on Google Meet, updates to Google TV, sustainable AI, autonomous coding agent - Jules, etc. 

What Does Google I/O 2025 Mean For Organic Search?

Google’s AI Overviews were first introduced in 2024. Initially, the AI overviews were shown for a small percentage of queries, but as a result of positive user feedback, Google expanded these overviews to more queries. The introduction of AI overviews has already increased the number of zero-click searches. 

Many searchers do not even scroll down to see web pages if they find a relevant answer through the AI overviews, and that was the whole purpose - to make search easier, helpful, relevant, and more convenient for the users. Google announced that it is making the AI Overviews accessible in over 200 countries and more than 40 languages. 

Now with the positive impact of AI overviews on user experience, Google is going to expand this AI-driven experience. At Google I/O 2025, Google announced that the ‘AI Mode’ is going to be live very soon. It’s already publicly available in the US. 

The AI Mode tab can be seen on the left of all other tabs on Google search result pages, including the ‘All’ results tab. It means whenever a user searches for something, the first tab that appears on their screen will the the ‘AI Mode’ tab. 

Understanding Google’s New ‘AI Mode’ - The Expanded Version of Google AI Overviews

As discussed above, Google has announced the launch of ‘AI Mode,’ which is already live in the US. The AI Mode is aimed at re-imagining the search with advanced AI capabilities. This AI-driven feature allows users to get a detailed AI-powered response to their queries, along with an option to ask follow-up questions or get thorough information through relevant web links. The AI mode uses the “query fan-out” technique, which allows users to break down a complex topic into multiple subtopics for better understanding.

The announcement of AI mode was not a surprise for search marketers and SEO professionals, as it has been in talks at Google for the past several months. Google introduced it earlier as an experimental feature, but it is now finally live in the US. One reason behind this is the positive response that Google received in terms of user behaviors and interactions after launching AI overviews. 

Along with all the features that are there in Google AI overviews, Google has announced that some new features will be added to the AI Mode for a better user experience. These features include deep search, AI-powered shopping with interactive product panels, and agentic capabilities to make the AI mode more personalized. 

How Will The AI Mode and AI Overviews Impact Organic Traffic?

There is no doubt that AI Mode and AI Overviews are going to impact the organic traffic. It’s because if users get relevant answers through these features, they will never click on external web URLs to find any information. But that’s not always the case. Google has said that users are visiting a more diverse set of websites with AI overviews for complex search queries. Here’s what Google says about it:

“With AI Overviews, people are visiting a greater diversity of websites for help with more complex questions. And we see that the links included in AI Overviews get more clicks than if the page had appeared as a traditional web listing for that query. As we expand this experience, we’ll continue to focus on sending valuable traffic to publishers and creators.”

However, this seems quite opposite to what many website owners and SEO professionals have experienced so far. The Google AI Overviews mostly impact the organic traffic negatively, according to what new industry studies suggest. Many websites have reported a reduction in click-through rates and organic traffic after the introduction of AI overviews. We can expect something similar from the AI Mode as well.

Although the AI responses include links to external sites, users click on those links only when they cannot find a satisfactory answer through the AI's overviews. So, it is no surprise that the new AI-driven search experience is going to have a huge impact on how search engines work.

The Future of Search Optimization - What Should SEO Professionals Do?

Search marketers and SEO professionals should consider making relevant changes to their strategies in order to align with the new AI-powered features of Google Search. If you are still focusing just on getting more website traffic, things might not work in your favor. 

Now, it’s time to start tracking your success with online visibility and authoritativeness. Sites that are included in AI overviews are considered more authoritative by the users. Even if they do not visit those external links, it will create a positive impression on their minds about the brands that show up there, even above the organic results.

So, along with focusing on website traffic, try to appear in AI overviews. Mostly, Google’s AI overviews link to the top organic results. So, yes, organic rankings still matter. You just need to make a shift in how you measure success. 

To appear in Google’s AI overviews or the upcoming AI Mode, create high-quality content, target conversational keywords, add FAQ schema to your blogs/web pages, write content that genuinely helps the audience rather than just stuffing keywords, and focus on originality. 

A Piece of Advice From Our SEO Experts at MadHawks

AI overviews and AI Mode are aimed at improving the user experience. Instead of getting upset about losing the organic traffic, website owners and search engine professionals should focus on optimizing their strategies in a way to aligns with this new world of search. The only way to do this is to create user-first content rather than trying to manipulate search engines through keyword stuffing. 

If your website content fulfills user intent, it will be used as a source by the AI responses. Along with gaining website traffic, you should aim to appear in AI overviews now. So, keep your major focus on content quality and make sure that your website content demonstrates E-E-A-T. For any further information or SEO assistance, you can get in touch with our SEO experts!

FAQs

1. What is Google's new AI Mode, and how does it transform traditional search experiences?

Ans. Google’s new AI Mode is an expanded version of the Google AI overviews. The AI mode generates AI responses for every search query, along with options to ask follow-up questions and break down complex topics into multiple subtopics. 

2. What factors are contributing to the recent fluctuations in search rankings post-Google I/O 2025?

Ans. Some major factors contributing to the recent fluctuations in search rankings post-Google I/O 2025 can be the introduction of the new AI mode, increased percentage of search queries displaying AI overviews, etc. 

3. What strategies can SEO agencies adopt to optimize content for AI-generated search results?

Ans. In order to optimize content for AI-generated search results, SEO professionals should focus on:

• Content quality
• Targeting long-tail conversational keywords
• Adding relevant schema markup, such as how-to schema, FAQ schema, etc
• Increasing website authority through high-quality backlinks

4. Is traditional SEO still relevant in the age of AI search?

Ans. Yes, traditional SEO and organic rankings are still relevant, as most of the sources displayed in AI responses are top-ranking organic search results. 

5. How is Google using AI to personalize search results?

Ans. Google will be adding new features like deep search and agentic capabilities to the AI mode to make it more personalized.