What Is Google’s AI Mode Search and How Will This Impact SEO?

Entry Date: May 26, 2026

On May 19th, Google unveiled their biggest change ever to what they do they best, internet search. With AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Perplexity competing with each other, and with Google, for their own shares of the search market, Google announced a revolutionary way for users to search for and discover information. Google is calling this new process “AI Mode Search.”

AI Mode Search is a unique hybrid model that blends classic search and artificial intelligence. Users of Google can still perform basic search as before, like searching for “auto repair near me” that will yield a list of local auto repair shops. However, the artificial intelligence component seamlessly ingests long-form detailed questions and conversational inputs. For example, asking Google,“How can I prevent my rose bushes from drying out in the Summer?” will yield an AI summary of advice pulled from a variety of online sources, with the ability for users to ask follow-up questions. Beneath the “Ask Anything” box is a list of YouTube videos for visual guidance and below that a list of familiar blue links to websites on gardening. From this same results page, at the very top, you can switch to AI Mode which is fundamentally a pure play AI interface reminiscent of Gemini, where users can engage Google’s artificial intelligence without any web search results. These UI functions have been available for some time. So, what is the really big news from Google?

This new evolution of global AI Mode Search didn’t arrive without a cosmetic change. After 25 years of never altering its UI or iconic search bar, Google rolled out a fresh new interface, and search bar with built-in AI functionality. Behind the new search bar, Gemini 3.5 Flash is ready to ingest queries, run a deep internet search, process the query results through artificial intelligence reasoning, and produce a detailed summary in a natural language format.

On the left side of the desktop search bar, Google has added a plus (+) that when clicked will provide a drop-down menu. This drop-down menu begins with suggested search prompts, informed by recently viewed open tabs in Chrome. The next option under the (+) provides the ability upload images or PDF files as supporting documentation for AI processing. The third option is a section called “Tools” which has the option to either create an AI image or use Canvas, each one with example prompts to get you started. Google Canvas is a new service that generates a visual itinerary based on restaurant or travel prompts, for example, and includes agentic booking capabilities.

On the right side of the desktop search bar, Google has added (next to its voice to text search function), a feature called Google Lens, which initiates an internet search via uploading a photo or by pasting an image url. Next to Google Lens is a button signified by a magnifying glass called “AI Mode.” Clicking on AI Mode drops down the search bar for users to enter a more detailed question like “How can I make tiramisu?” which takes you to a link-free AI environment with a list of ingredients and steps to prepare the dessert, and web sourcing displayed on the right, like old school ad banners.

For those of us who have been using Gemini from the start, this integration will feel natural, as it brings together the power and usability of the tool, and blends it with standard internet search with some minor adaptation to toggle between standard browsing or AI Mode Search within in the same UI.

One of the coolest features is coming this Summer, when you will be able to setup Google AI Search Agents to keep you informed of specific topics. These AI Search Agents will continuously scour the web, based on the parameters it has been given, and send push notifications on any updates it finds that fits the original prompts. These AI Search Agents, in a sense, will work like Google News Alerts, whereby breaking information is immediately served up to you.

So, what do all these changes from Google mean for internet search and SEO? As we’ve seen in the previous example of “auto repair near me,” local business search and listings are unaffected. Ultimately, what this means is that keywords are still very much in play for standard traditional querying, albeit the real estate at the top of page one will appear different based on the keywords or long form prompts the search bar receives.

For AI search and summaries, there is a nuance arising from longer, more thoughtful search intent, with dependencies stemming from website content that is structured to be included within AI results. Since NOBLE SEO has been studying Google’s algorithm, using its tools, and closely watching its AI evolution in real time, we have previously published posts in our Knowledge Base section, covering topics to help you prepare for this migration. Please refer to last year’s Knowledge Base entries for more information, to help guide your website planning and design for AI readiness:

“What is GEO and How Can I Prepare My Site for AI?”

“What are AIO, AI Search & AI Overviews?”

“How Do I Optimize My Website for AI?”

“What is Google EEAT and Why Does It Matter for SEO?”

In short: subject matter authority, website trust, and useful structured content coupled with your website’s technical performance and agility still matter, and are now more important than ever for indexing and extraction for AI summaries and organic search results.