This month, we bring you some exciting developments and updates from the world of search, including new studies and industry developments.
Google is now showing the AI Mode button on the Home Page search box, increasing exposure to its newest feature. This is a significant step in pushing its AI-powered search experience to a broader audience. Plus, Google has started to launch Google Trends API, available only to a “very limited number of testers,” which provides a new way to use the trending data in a scalable way.
There have been a couple of profound studies and observations across the industry, and one worth noting is a study from BrightEdge on the difference between ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews. On the other hand, it is reported that the People Also Ask section now includes more Google AI Overviews answers instead of just pulling from the Featured Snippet.
In other news, Google has been testing a ‘Posts on Reddit’ section, potentially in addition to or replacing the ‘Discussions and Forums’ section, which highlights a few key things about their approach to search and content.
Allow our traffic light system to guide you to the articles that need your attention, so watch out for Red light updates, as they’re significant changes that will require you to take action. In contrast, amber updates may make you think and are worth knowing, but aren’t urgent. And finally, green light updates, which are great for your SEO and site knowledge, but are less significant than others.
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In this post, we’ll explore:
- Google AI Mode button now on home page search box
- Google has launched a Google Trends API
- Google Search Console adds 24-hour comparison views to performance reports
- Google search posts on Reddit section replacing discussion and forums?
- Research shows differences in ChatGPT and Google AIO answers
- Over 12% of people also ask results are Google AI Overviews
Google is rolling out a new AI Mode button on its homepage search box. This comes after the launch of AI mode in the UK at the end of July. The button is appearing across various browsers, including Chrome, Safari and Edge, and is also being integrated into the new tab page in Chrome, signalling a major strategic shift in how Google is presenting its search capabilities to users.
This move, which has been confirmed by a Google representative, positions AI Mode as a central feature of the search experience.
Google has announced an early release of the Google Trends API. The limited Alpha release provides developers, researchers, and businesses with programmatic access to search trends data. The data is a rolling five-year window, whereas a lot of Trends usage is around the last 12 months. This new tool also offers aggregations by day, week, month, and year.
Google Trends already offers a wide range of data that can be used for content writing; this new API could make it easier and more accessible for writers and site owners to access and leverage this data.
Google Search Console has introduced two new 24-hour comparison views to its performance reports. This updated feature allows users to compare a website’s performance data from the last 24 hours to either the previous 24 hours or the same 24-hour period of the previous week.
It can be found under the ‘more’ menu in the performance report:
This feature will come in handy for monitoring real-time performance, issues and performance improvements.
Google is now testing a new section, ‘Posts on Reddit’ instead of the common ‘Discussions and forums’. There are some similar sections, but for other forums, such as Quora and Facebook.
Based on some of the test queries, the ‘Posts on Reddit’ unit can also display in search results alongside the ‘Discussions and forums’ unit. It is a clear signal that Google is giving preference to Reddit over others.
As users now prefer authentic, firsthand experiences, opinions, and discussions from real people, rather than just polished, commercial content, this will push brands to take the time and effort to engage with Redditors genuinely.
This is also further supported by a partnership between Google and Reddit, where Google gained access to Reddit’s data to improve its products and services.
New research from BrightEdge reveals a key difference in how Google and ChatGPT respond to user queries, a finding with significant implications for marketers and content creators. The study found that:
“In task-oriented prompts, ChatGPT overwhelmingly suggests tools and apps directly, while Google continues to link to informational content. While Google thrives as a research assistant, ChatGPT acts like a trusted coach for decision making, and that difference shapes which tool users instinctively choose for different needs.”
This divergence is most pronounced in action-oriented queries. For example, a query like “how to create a budget” leads Google to offer informational articles and tutorials. In contrast, ChatGPT responds by suggesting financial tools and calculators. This pattern holds across various industries, although the degree of difference varies.
The highest divergence was found in the Healthcare sector, where a search for “how to find a doctor” leads ChatGPT to recommend a tool like Zocdoc, while Google points to hospital directories. The B2B technology and education sectors also show a significant split, with ChatGPT prioritising tools and Google favouring informational content hubs like Stack Overflow and GitHub. The least amount of divergence was found in Finance.
Overall, the research highlights a fundamental shift in how these platforms interpret user intent. This means that to stay relevant, marketers and content creators must adapt their strategies, consider creating actionable, tool-based content that can be found on ChatGPT, and continue to produce authoritative, informational content for Google.
It is reported that 12.6% of the People Also Ask results are AI Overviews, and the rest are featured snippets. This change highlights Google’s increasing reliance on generative AI to answer user questions on the search results page directly.In addition, the integration of AI Overviews into PAA boxes contributes to the growing trend of “no-click” searches. Users may get their answer directly from the AI-generated summary without needing to click through to a website, which can impact a site’s organic traffic.
Read our blog Writing high-quality content for long tail keywords to know the way to gain unparalleled exposure in the SERPS.
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