How AI Mode currently impacts clicks and impressions.
05.11.2025
STUDY: Will you stay visible in AI search?
Empirical analysis of Google AI Mode (AIM) – with concrete strategies for your content success in 2026.
Google AI Mode: New study shares tips for optimized AI content.
Google Search has radically changed. Discover in our latest study how AI Mode (AIM) truly affects your traffic, content strategy, and marketing teams.
Download the study now
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Of the URLs linked in Google AI Mode, 21.97% are found in the top 10 of organic Google Search.
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SHOCKING RESULT: Over 60% of AIM links are NOT found in Google’s top 50!
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Brand websites, e-commerce shops, and comparison portals together account for more than 75% of linked URLs in transactional prompts.
WHAT YOU NEED NOW: Your concrete takeaways from the analysis
Why only content with demonstrable brand authority gets cited (and what you must do).
Which formats actually get linked (blog posts vs. category pages vs. listicles).
How to measure success in AI Mode (spoiler: it is not just clicks!)
Empirical analysis of Google AI Mode
Strategic bonus ideas & critical perspectives for 2026
1. Content structure is the new code +
- Relevance is driven less by the top position and more by AI Mode’s ability to understand and cite content.
- Entity and relationship analysis tools should be integrated into the editorial workflow to maximize semantic precision.
2. Brand authority as the ultimate AI factor +
- Trust beats ranking: AI Mode favors trustworthy sources with demonstrable expertise (E-E-A-T).
- The brand entity must be reinforced. Invest in content excellence, generate industry citations (off-page), and leverage community engagement to signal brand authority.
3. New KPIs to measure AI success +
- Visibility 2.0: AI Mode creates new top positions ("citations") but makes new KPIs essential for measuring success.
4. Smart use of long-tail intents +
- AI Mode rewards concrete, comprehensive, and helpfully structured answers that fully solve complex questions.
- Combine long-tail intents with building topical authority. Focus on complete topic clusters rather than single keywords.
5. Classic standards as the foundation +
- Hybrid SEO is a must. AI Mode still shows classic organic links. SEO is transformed, not dead.
6. The critical AI challenges: cost, measurability, and reliability +
- Measurement dilemma: AI visibility (citations) must be decoupled from website clicks and captured with new, dedicated metrics.
- Cost factor of AI optimization: structural optimization is complex. SMEs need targeted tools for efficient execution.
- Local SEO opportunity: the role of AI Mode in local SEO is still evolving but offers a huge opportunity for local providers to appear prominently through precise data.
CONCLUSION & ACTION ITEMS
Google Search is becoming an answer engine. To stay relevant in this new ecosystem, you must master these three strategies NOW to avoid being overtaken:
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1. Technical optimization (the new code): Content must be machine-readable and modularly structured so AI Mode can precisely understand and cite it.
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2. Brand authority (the ultimate AI factor): Focus on demonstrable user value and brand authority (E-E-A-T), since AI Mode primarily favors trusted sources cited in the industry.
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3. Strategic measurability: Develop a hybrid SEO strategy and measure success with new KPIs (keyword citations) to deeply understand how AI weights and surfaces your content.