2 mins read
Link37 Team
Quick answer: SEO is still the foundation of online visibility, but search has changed. AI Overviews and AI Mode answer questions directly on Google and reduce clicks for many searches. In 2027, visibility goes to sites that combine technical SEO, helpful content with first-party data, direct answers (AEO) and content that generative engines can easily cite (GEO).
In 2024, we published an article on this blog with five SEO trends for that year. Since then, Google’s results page has changed considerably: AI-generated answers have reached the UK, Portugal and Spain, the Core Web Vitals interactivity metric has changed, and content mass-produced to manipulate rankings is now treated as spam.
This article replaces that guide. It covers what has changed, what the data shows and what to do to get your website ready for 2027.
Updated October 2026.
The table summarises the changes with the biggest impact for anyone running a website.
| Topic | In 2024 | Now | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Results page | AI Overviews launched in the US in May 2024 and were only starting to reach other markets | AI Mode has been available in the UK since July 2025 and, according to Google, has passed one billion monthly users | Identify the searches in your sector that already show AI-generated answers |
| Clicks | A click on an organic result was the main measure of success | When an AI summary appears, users click traditional results less often (8% of visits versus 15% without one, according to Pew Research Center) | Also track impressions, brand mentions and conversions |
| Helpful content | The helpful content system worked as a separate signal | Since the March 2024 update, it has been part of Google’s core ranking systems | Review, merge or remove thin, outdated or duplicate pages |
| AI-written content | Many brands started publishing AI-generated text at scale | The scaled content abuse policy (March 2024) covers content mass-produced to manipulate rankings, whatever the method | Use AI as support, with human review, first-party data and real experience |
| Page experience | Interactivity was measured with FID | INP replaced FID as a Core Web Vital on 12 March 2024 | Measure INP with real-user data and fix pages above 200 ms |
| Voice search | It was treated as a separate trend | Searches are more conversational: in AI Mode, queries are around three times longer than traditional searches | Write direct answers to full questions |
AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of some searches, with links to their sources. AI Mode is a conversational search tab powered by Gemini. Google began rolling out AI Mode in the UK on 28 July 2025. In Portugal and Spain, AI Overviews arrived on 25 March 2025 and AI Mode on 8 October 2025.
The scale is already large. At Google I/O in May 2026, Elizabeth Reid, Google’s VP of Search, announced that AI Mode had passed one billion monthly users, one year after launch.
| Study | Data | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Pew Research Center (July 2025) | 900 US adults; 68,879 Google searches in March 2025 | With an AI summary, users clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits, versus 15% without one. Only 1% of visits included a click on a link inside the summary |
| Ahrefs (February 2026) | 300,000 informational keywords; December 2025 data | The presence of an AI Overview correlates with a 58% lower click-through rate for the page ranking first |
Both studies use US data. To measure the impact on your own site, compare the click-through rate of your main queries in Search Console before and after AI features reached your market.
Google’s documentation for site owners says there are no additional requirements or special optimisations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. A page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet. Traffic from these features is included in the Search Console Performance report, under the "Web" search type.
In other words, SEO fundamentals still decide who can be cited. What changes is the format of content most likely to be chosen, and how results are measured.
GEO (generative engine optimisation) is the work of making content easy for answer-generating engines, such as AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini, to find, understand and cite. The term comes from a study by researchers at Princeton University and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (Aggarwal et al.), presented at the KDD 2024 conference. The authors found that some content adjustments can increase visibility in generated answers by up to 40%.
| Technique | What it means | Effect on visibility |
|---|---|---|
| Adding quotations | Including quotes from experts or relevant sources | +41% |
| Adding statistics | Replacing vague claims with sourced figures | +31% |
| Improving fluency | Making the text clearer and easier to read | +28% |
| Citing sources | Stating where each piece of information comes from | +27% |
| Keyword stuffing | Repeating the target keyword throughout the text | −8% |
Source: Aggarwal et al., GEO: Generative Engine Optimization (KDD 2024). Change versus the original text on the position-adjusted word count metric.
The study was not run on Google Search, so the figures are a guide rather than a guarantee. The practical conclusion matches what Google asks for: content with substance, sources and clarity gains visibility; keyword tricks lose it.
Start each section with a short, self-contained answer that makes sense even if it is quoted on its own.
Use first-party data (client results, surveys, prices, timelines) and give the source and date for every figure.
Quote experts by name and role, and show who wrote the article and why they know the subject.
Use tables for comparisons and lists for steps: both are easy to extract.
Write your brand, product, service and location names the same way everywhere, on your site and elsewhere.
Make sure important content is available as text, not only in images or PDFs.
AEO (answer engine optimisation) is optimising content to answer questions directly: in featured snippets, AI answers and voice assistants. In practice, AEO and GEO overlap. AEO focuses on the format of the answer; GEO on the likelihood of the page being cited.
Use real questions as subheadings, for example "How much does… cost?" or "How does… work?".
Answer straight away in 40 to 60 words, then expand.
Add FAQs to pages where customers have recurring questions.
Write in natural language, the way customers ask, not in internal jargon.
A note on structured data: since August 2023, Google only shows FAQ rich results for well-known government and health websites. The question-and-answer format is still useful for readers and for AI answers, but do not count on the visual enhancement in results. According to Google, no special schema.org markup is needed to appear in AI features either.
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. It is not a single ranking factor, but it sums up what Google’s systems aim to reward.
In March 2024, Google released a core update and three new spam policies: scaled content abuse, site reputation abuse and expired domain abuse. In April 2024, it reported 45% less low-quality, unoriginal content in search results. In 2026 there have already been two core updates, in March and May.
On AI-generated content, Google’s position has been the same since February 2023: what matters is quality and helpfulness, not how the content was produced. Using automation to manipulate rankings is spam, whatever the tool.
Show first-hand experience: case studies, your own photos and figures from real projects.
Name the author, with a short bio and a link to their professional profile.
Update or merge outdated articles instead of publishing new pages on the same topic.
Use AI to speed up research and structure, but check facts, data and tone before publishing.
Yes. Core Web Vitals measure page experience across three dimensions. Since 12 March 2024, INP (Interaction to Next Paint) has replaced FID as the interactivity metric. Thresholds are assessed at the 75th percentile of page loads, segmented by mobile and desktop.
| Metric | What it measures | Good |
|---|---|---|
| LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) | Time to load the main element of the page | Up to 2.5 s |
| INP (Interaction to Next Paint) | How quickly the page responds to clicks and taps | Up to 200 ms |
| CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | Visual stability while the page loads | Up to 0.1 |
Good Core Web Vitals will not make up for weak content, but a slow site loses visitors before they convert. In our 7-week SEO plan, week 5 is dedicated to this work.
For businesses with a physical address or a service area, yes. Searches with local intent still show the map and the Google Business Profile, and Google ranks these results based on relevance, distance and prominence.
Keep your Google Business Profile complete: categories, opening hours, services, photos and posts.
Ask for reviews regularly and reply to all of them.
Use the same business name, address and phone number on your site, your profile and directories.
Create local pages with original content for each city or area you serve.
For more detail, read our introductory guide to local SEO.
With AI answers on the results page, clicks no longer tell the whole story. These are the metrics to track.
| Metric | Where to find it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Impressions and click-through rate by query | Google Search Console ("Web" search type) | Shows where your site appears and where clicks have dropped |
| Visits from AI assistants | GA4, with a custom channel group for chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and copilot.microsoft.com | Separates visits that come from AI answers |
| Presence in AI answers | A list of 20 to 50 questions from your sector, tested every month in AI Mode, ChatGPT and Perplexity | Shows whether your brand is cited, and alongside which competitors |
| Branded searches | Search Console, queries containing your brand name | People who see your brand in an AI answer may search for it later |
| Organic conversions | GA4 or your CRM | The end goal is leads and sales, not visits |
Run a technical audit: indexing, robots.txt (without blocking Googlebot), sitemap and Core Web Vitals.
List the 20 to 50 questions your customers ask and check what answers Google and AI assistants give today.
Update your key pages with a quick answer at the top, question-style subheadings, tables and sourced data.
Strengthen E-E-A-T signals: named authors, real case studies and consistent company information on every channel.
Merge or remove thin, duplicate or outdated content, with 301 redirects.
Measure impressions, clicks, citations in AI answers and conversions every month, and adjust the plan.
If you need a timeline, our 7-week SEO plan organises these steps week by week.
No. AI Overviews and AI Mode use indexed pages as sources, and Google says SEO best practices still apply. What changes is measurement: some informational searches will bring fewer clicks, and visibility also means being cited.
No. GEO is built on SEO: a page that is not indexed or not trusted is unlikely to be cited. GEO and AEO are extra layers on top of solid technical and content work.
Not because it was written with AI. Google assesses quality and helpfulness. What gets penalised is publishing low-value content at scale to manipulate rankings.
Not for Google. Its documentation says you do not need special AI files or additional markup to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. You can create one, but it should not be a priority.
Make a list of questions relevant to your business, test them every month in AI Mode, ChatGPT and Perplexity, and record whether your brand is mentioned or cited. In GA4, track visits that come from these assistants.
Ahrefs (2026): AI Overviews and click-through rates, updated study
Google (2025): AI Overviews expand to more countries in Europe
Google (2025): AI Mode expands to new languages and locations
Aggarwal et al. (2024): GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, KDD 2024
Google (2024): March 2024 Search update and new spam policies
Google Search Central (2023): guidance about AI-generated content
Google Search Central (2023): changes to HowTo and FAQ rich results
Search Engine Roundtable (2026): March 2026 core update complete
Search Engine Journal (2026): May 2026 core update and Google I/O announcements
At Link37, we work on technical SEO, AEO and GEO for brands in Portugal, Spain and the UK: audits, content, Core Web Vitals and tracking your presence in AI answers.
Want to know how your website shows up today on Google and in AI assistants? Fill in the form at the end of this page and we will set up a call.
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