In my role as a Digital Marketing Manager, I’ve had multiple conversations with clients and fellow marketers about how the changes to search are impacting how people discover information online, and what this means for both your SEO strategy and paid media activities.
Google’s AI-driven Search Generative Experience (SGE) and new Google AI Mode are changing how traffic flows to websites, and this shift means businesses must rethink how they measure success.
How is search behaviour changing on Google?
On Google, SGE now delivers AI-generated overviews directly in the results page. This means many user queries are answered on the results page, without needing to click through to a website. These zero-click searches are growing, particularly for informational queries.
And SGE is just the start. Google’s new AI Mode is a dedicated tab offering ChatGPT-style answers and is a continuation of the move towards AI-generated search results and zero-click searches.
In this environment, visibility, discoverability and engagement depend increasingly on:
- How well your site is structured including use of schema data
- How clearly it signals Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (EEAT)
- How effectively it is optimised for modern user behaviour
What do SGE and AI Mode mean for your SEO strategy in 2025?
Your SEO strategy should still be about discoverability but in an AI-first landscape, your brand visibility may happen inside AI responses, not just on your own website. Therefore, appearing in these AI results should be embedded in your strategy, and your on-site KPI metrics will also need to adjust to this new user behaviour.
What KPIs should you be using for SEO?
With these shifts in the search landscape, key metrics for success on your website revolve less around the volume of website visitors and more around how many visitors take meaningful action that aligns with your business goals once they find you.
Relying on KPIs for website traffic and sessions will not give a clear enough picture of success. It is important you are measuring engagement and conversion data within your KPIs.
KPI metrics to measure:
- Engagement rate
- Bounce rate
- Average engagement time
- Organic conversions (downloads, leads, sign-ups, purchases)
This allows you to measure if your SEO strategy is working for your business and marketing goals. Additionally, while you can’t currently track AI Mode or AI Overview data in Google Search Console, when this (hopefully) launches, this will become very useful data to inform your strategy and KPIs.
To stay competitive, you should:
- Connect every initiative to a wider business goal or audience need.
- Prioritise quality engagement over volume.
- Create structured, authoritative content to increase AI-driven visibility.
- Track and measure the actions that truly matter to your organisation.
If you’d like to review your KPIs and ensure your digital strategy reflects today’s search reality, get in touch with us via the form below!