The largest changes influencing the SERP landscape are examined in this month’s search roundup. From a range of new experiments about AI Overviews and AI Mode, to practical updates for ecommerce and local SEO, we’ll discuss it all below.
Marketers and brands now have a free tool to track keywords, brand mentions and discussion, Reddit Pro Trends. This tool provides real-time insights into emerging conversations and trends across Reddit, helping businesses stay ahead of the curve and engage more effectively with their target audiences.
In other news, Google has been testing a wide range of changes for AI Overview, which is now available in more than 200 countries. There is a new appearance of the Query Expansion and AI Shuffle button within the AIO results. Within AI Mode in the US, Google has added several new features like Product Cards, Place Cards and History cards.
Finally, OpenAI has introduced a new shopping feature in ChatGPT that detects user intent and displays product carousels, including images, prices, star ratings, and AI-generated tags and review summaries, without relying on paid placements.
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 major changes that will need you to take action, whereas amber updates may make you think and are definitely 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.
Keen to know more about any of these changes and what they mean for your SEO? Get in touch or visit our SEO agency page to find out how we can help.
- Google AI Mode announces expansion of new features and access
- New features introduced to AI Mode
- Google Search Console to show AI Mode performance, but you won’t be able to break it out
- How ChatGPT search ranks products and merchants
- How will products appear?
- How products are chosen for ChatGPT
- News about AI Overviews
- AI Overviews are now available in over 200 countries and territories, and more than 40 languages
- New Google AI Overviews data: Search clicks fell 30% in last year
- There is a growing spam problem in Google AI Overviews
- Google AI Overviews Tests Query Expansion Tabs
- Google Search AI Shuffle Button
- Reddit Trends - A new tool to track keyword or brand mentions
- Google Business Profiles launches ‘What’s Happening’
Back in March, we reported on the announcement of the new Google AI mode. Initially rolled out as a Google search labs experiment, it now appears that Google has been testing AI mode with an expansion of new features and access.
A limited number of users in the US are now seeing AI Mode appear directly in their search interface, without having to opt in via Search Labs. Instead, it appears that the waitlist for AI Mode has been completely removed, and anyone in the U.S. who is 18 or older can now opt in immediately.
New features introduced to AI Mode
In addition to its rollout to some users in the US, Google has also added several new features to the platform. These include:
- Product Cards: Powered by the Google Shopping Graph, showing real-time prices, images, promotions, shipping details, and inventory.
- Place Cards: Pulled from Google Business Profiles, showing local listings like restaurants and stores, including reviews, ratings, hours, and live busyness.
- History Tab: Let users revisit past AI Mode search interactions.
Google has also announced that it will be testing ads in its AI Mode platform and AI Overviews.
Google has confirmed that performance data from its new AI Mode will soon be available in Search Console. However, similarly to AI Overviews, users won’t be able to view this data separately from other types of Google search traffic. Instead, the AI Mode metrics will be grouped under the general “Web” search type within the Performance report.
During testing in the Google Labs, its data had not been reported in Search Console. Google’s John Mueller confirmed this on LinkedIn, stating that while AI Mode data is coming, there are no plans to introduce separate reporting or changes to the Search Console API.
This lack of segmentation has led many marketers and SEOs to voice their frustration due to limitations of being able to clearly see how AI mode is performing separately from other search types. The concern is that, without proper data tracking, website owners and marketers are left in the dark about how this new search experience affects their traffic and visibility.
In May, ChatGPT introduced shopping capabilities in its platform, which now allows users to discover products directly within conversations. This e-commerce update marks a pivotal point in the platform moving beyond being a Q&A assistant into a product discovery tool with real influence on consumer decisions.
OpenAI has also clarified that these product suggestions are not ads, and not all suitable items may appear. They have also assured users that safety standards will also apply, which will exclude inappropriate or unsafe products from appearing in the results.
How will products appear?
These new product listings are displayed in visual carousels, each showing an image, simplified title and description, price from the first listed merchant, and a link to the product.
Other notable features include AI-generated labels like “Budget-friendly” or “Most popular,” though these aren’t verified and are instead generated based on available data such as reviews and pricing mentions. Ratings and review summaries are included where available, often aggregated from third-party sources.
How products are chosen for ChatGPT
Products featured on the platform will be selected using product and merchant data sourced from third-party providers, rather than through direct retailer submissions. Additionally, merchant rankings are determined solely by this independent data and are not influenced by factors such as price, shipping, or return policies. It has also been stated that displayed prices will correspond to the first listed offer and may not represent the lowest or most up-to-date pricing available.
When a query shows shopping intent, ChatGPT will select and rank products using signals such as:
- Query context
- User preferences
- Saved memory
- Structured product data
- Internal reasoning to prioritise factors like price or popularity
Users can then refine the results with more specific prompts, as some relevant items may be missed.
News about AI Overviews
AI Overviews are now available in over 200 countries and territories, and more than 40 languages
Google has recently announced the global rollout of AI Overviews in Search, now available in over 200 countries and 40+ languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Malay, and Urdu.
AI Overviews help users ask more complex questions, find answers faster, and explore relevant web content, delivering the fastest AI responses in the industry. In markets like the U.S. and India, they’ve driven a 10%+ increase in search usage for eligible queries.
Starting this week, a custom version of Gemini 2.5 is powering AI Overviews in the U.S., enabling even more advanced answers.
New Google AI Overviews data: Search clicks fell 30% in last year
AI Overviews is evolving, with a lot of testing and changes across searches. New research about the impact of AIO on sites’ clicks and impressions has revealed that:
- Long, complex queries are growing: 7x increase in searches with 8+ words.
- 89% of AI Overview citations come from beyond the top 100 organic results.
- Healthcare, education, B2B tech, insurance, and entertainment saw major increases in AI Overview coverage.
- Ecommerce saw a sharp drop in AI Overview visibility (from 29% to 4%).
Readers can read more at AI Overview One Year Report.
There is a growing spam problem in Google AI Overviews
A spamming problem in AIO responses has raised serious concerns about accuracy, manipulation, and the elevation of low-quality content. It is reported that:
- AI Overviews can hallucinate or repeat false information, even contradicting Google’s own data sources like Business Profiles.
- Spammers are gaming the system with self-promotional listicles and content falsely claiming to be “the best,” which Google’s AI sometimes cites as fact.
- Duplicate and low-quality AI-generated content is being surfaced, undermining original, trustworthy sources.
As AIO is claimed to be the core part of Google’s search landscape, improvements from Google are necessary to keep the quality and trustworthiness of these search results.
For brands, it is still important to produce content that is authentic and informative, and aligns with the EEAT guideline.
Google AI Overviews Tests Query Expansion Tabs
Google AI Overviews is testing query expansion tabs at the top of the AI Overviews. These tabs are believed to encourage users to stay longer in Google’s ecosystem, clicking through follow-up queries without leaving the search results page.
However, it is noted that, with more answers provided directly in AI Overviews and more paths to keep searching within Google, the likelihood of users clicking through to external sites continues to drop.
Google Search AI Shuffle Button
Google is testing a “Shuffle” button in AI Overviews, allowing users to refresh the AI-generated answer for a new variation.
This feature is especially helpful for queries like “things to do”, where users may want more suggestions beyond the initial results. It gives users more control and variety if the first answer doesn’t hit the mark.
This button makes AI Overviews feel less static and more conversational, closer to a chat interface where users can refine or regenerate answers. But it also implies that users may spend more time interacting with AI-generated content instead of clicking through to websites.
Reddit Trends – A new tool to track keyword or brand mentions
The new tool Trend from Reddit can track keyword and brand mentions over time. Users can also see the most discussed topics related to the keywords or the communities where they are being discussed.
Marketers and brands can gain more organic insights into emerging topics, interests, and sentiment shifts than on more mainstream platforms. This is also particularly important to the gaining of user reviews and discussion, the key to user-generated content.
In addition, brands can use the tool to identify new product ideas, pain points or viral content opportunities based on real needs and behaviours.
Tracking Reddit can help monitor brand mentions, competitor discussions, and industry shifts in real time.
Google Business Profiles launches ‘What’s Happening’
Google is introducing a new “What’s Happening” feature for Business Profiles, designed to spotlight timely updates like events, specials, and deals—especially for restaurants and bars.
According to Google, this feature puts updates like “Today’s Special” or “Live Music on Saturday” front and centre, helping drive immediate engagement. These updates may appear in Google Search and possibly Google Maps.
How to make this appear for your business: Share What’s Happening at your business via Google Posts or connect your Facebook, Instagram and/ or X profiles to your Google Business Profiles for automatic syncing.
Note: This is an initial launch for Food and Drink businesses in the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
