--- title: "AI is overtaking Google: news that you should care about" description: "Google is rolling out AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI features in Discover. Here's what it means for your rankings, your ads, and how you track performance." author: "Andrea Tendero" date: "2026-08-17T12:00:00.000Z" url: "https://freshjuice.dev/blog/ai-is-overtaking-google/" --- # AI is overtaking Google: news that you should care about August 17, 2026 • Written by [Andrea Tendero](https://freshjuice.dev/authors/atenlotrad/) It seems like the world has been swept by AI. You go online and see posters made with ChatGPT that look exactly the same, people using it to write their last college assignments or social media captions, and now Google is increasingly putting AI results at the front. But that’s not the only thing Google is doing with AI. These new features are reshaping the search engine, and as marketers, we have to navigate this new way of working. We need to understand how AI is changing the world’s most popular search engine and what it means for how your site appears in it. ## AI features: the new priority for Google Search We recently talked about the [removal of FAQ Rich Results](https://freshjuice.dev/blog/faq-rich-results-gone-keep-faq-schema/) in Google due to the prioritization of AI features, and we think that this is not going to be the only change in the search engine, as we have been seeing different changes since the appearance of AI features within the tool. Right now, Google is rolling out three AI features in its search platform that the big company [started to implement](https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/ai-features-web-content/?utm_source=freshjuice.dev) last year: AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI features in Discover. - **AI Overviews:** This is the AI-generated summary that appears at the top of some search results, providing users with an overview of the information related to their query. These AI summaries are based on information from different sources across the web and can include links to relevant websites, allowing users to explore the topic further. - **AI Mode:** This is the AI-powered search experience used by Google, which can be found within the search engine next to other types of search, such as Images, Videos, or Shopping. The integration of this tool within the search engine allows users to ask more complex questions and have a more conversational interaction with Search (you can even use [voice search](https://freshjuice.dev/blog/voice-search-how-it-works-and-why-marketers-should-care/)), with AI Mode generating responses and providing links to relevant sources that can go on forever. - **AI features in Discover:** Google is also introducing generative AI features within Discover, giving users new ways to explore and interact with content. These features are designed to help users discover (as its name suggests) information based on their interests, making AI another part of the way content is presented and consumed within Google. All three of these features are being prioritized throughout the search experience. As mentioned earlier, you only have to search for something right now to see that one of the first things that can appear is the AI Overview summary of what you’ve been looking for. If you keep using the AI Overview, as Google provides follow-up questions within the feature, you can be redirected to AI Mode. For us, taking this into account can be crucial when checking your analytics, as you might see that click rates are going down, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that your site is not being ranked, as you might be getting more visibility than ever. And, if being able to track performance is what matters to you… ## Generative AI performance reports: the new way to measure AI visibility As we have seen, AI Overview visibility is quite important due to Google’s prioritization, and the company knows that marketers have been asking for metrics, so they have delivered: you can now check in Search Console how your site is performing in these AI features, but this goes beyond that. This report started appearing for UK-based sites in June of this year (2026), and it has been expanded to other countries throughout the year (so, if you aren’t able to access it yet, don’t worry, you will). The report is quite new and, therefore, it’s normal that it’s still quite limited. However, it can give you great insights into how your site is performing with this AI takeover. This report shows you how your content appears within generative AI features, covering different dimensions: impressions, pages, countries, devices, and dates, filling a gap regarding how your site has been performing in relation to the AI features Google has started to implement over the past couple of years. However, it must be said that a clicks report isn’t available yet. This makes a big difference, as we are used to checking performance through interaction, and you might feel that a key point is missing from it. Nevertheless, we have to take into consideration that AI is highly based on visibility and less on clicks, as users might find the summary information through AI Overviews without the need to click and read the full article, for example. It would be nice to see the click rate, of course, but we kind of understand why it hasn’t been provided yet. We hope it will be soon, anyways. Finally, we should add that through the platform (Search Console), Google is offering website owners the option to opt out of AI visibility, but we don’t think this is a wise decision to make. Removing your content from being featured in AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Discover AI features entirely, at a time when Google is heavily prioritizing AI, will have a negative overall effect, as you’re preventing your content from appearing in the primary visibility features Google is prioritizing right now. However, if you’re still interested in opting out, it’s quite easy to do so by using the generative AI control setting inside Google Search Console. You can find all the information on how to do it in [Google Search Help](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/14901683?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&utm_source=freshjuice.dev#zippy=%2Chow-to-control-your-data), but remember how Google is tracing their strategy regarding the use of AI in their platform before making any decisions. ## AI in Google Ads: the tool and the new placement The last change towards AI made by Google doesn’t affect everyone, but it’s interesting to learn about it, as it will affect the search results. If you are working with Google Ads, you have probably heard about this and you might even be working with it, but for those who don’t know: besides using AI to improve the organic results and rankings, Google has been implementing AI in its ads platform. In May 2026, [Google announced that they were testing new ad formats](http://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/google-marketing-live-search-ads/?utm_source=freshjuice.dev) in other placements, and one of those placements was AI features like AI Mode. This news might be a bummer for users who won’t find as many ad-free places on the internet, but it has amazing potential for marketers who are seeing an increase in the use of AI tools like Gemini instead of the search engine itself and, therefore, finding a great opportunity to advertise their products. ### AI as a tool for Google Ads First, the company introduced AI as a tool, just like an algorithm, that helps users make their ads more precise and optimizable, with suggestions and automated adjustments that can improve campaign performance. The company called this type of optimization [AI Max](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/15910187?hl=en&utm_source=freshjuice.dev), and it works as an AI-powered layer within Search campaigns, helping advertisers optimize targeting and creatives in real time. But, if we think about “the recent use of AI in Google Ads”, this isn’t truly new, as Google Ads has been using AI for a long time. For example, Smart Bidding was introduced in 2016, and it’s basically a system that uses AI to help you decide how much you should bid for each search, taking into consideration different signals and the likelihood of getting a conversion. Same thing with Performance Max campaigns, which use AI to manage and distribute creative assets across different channels (Search, YouTube, Display, and Gmail) from a single campaign based on different signals, including real-time user intent. So, even though this might seem like a new feature, it has been around for a long time but not [marketed as it is now](https://business.google.com/uk/resources/articles/5-tips-for-more-effective-advertising-with-google-ai/?utm_source=freshjuice.dev). ### Ads within Google’s AI features Besides AI Max, Google has recently launched (this for real) another AI-related feature, as this year the company introduced ads within its AI features. What does this mean? Well, it means that you now have the opportunity to appear as a sponsored result within Google’s AI features. This new opportunity comes after seeing that users are increasingly turning to AI tools like Gemini instead of using the search engine in the traditional way. At the same time, Google is prioritizing AI across its own products, including AI Mode and other generative AI features. So, it makes sense that the company is also looking for ways to bring advertising into these new search experiences. In May 2026, Google announced that it was testing new ad formats and placements, including ads within AI-powered experiences like AI Mode. This means that, instead of only appearing in the traditional search results, advertisers can now have the opportunity to reach users while they are interacting with Google’s AI features. For marketers, this opens up a completely new placement to consider. Users might be asking more complex questions, exploring products, or looking for recommendations directly through AI features, and ads can become part of that experience. At the same time, it is another sign that the way users search for information is changing and that advertising is starting to follow that change. So, while the introduction of AI into Google Ads might sound like something completely new, AI has actually been part of the platform for years. What is new is the way Google is positioning AI, and now, the possibility of using these AI-driven search experiences as another place for advertisers to reach potential customers. ## What does this mean in terms of how we rank on Google? This AI takeover in Google can sound like a sh\*tty thing, especially for those who have worked their asses off for organic rankings and now feel like they are getting behind because of AI. Yes, AI Overviews are taking a prominent position in the search results and Google is clearly prioritizing AI features, but we also have to consider that users don’t look for information in the same way they did before. Those who are looking for a quick answer are going to benefit from AI Overviews and can keep asking questions in AI Mode, but users who want to read long articles or are looking for specific brand websites are still going to click on your site. And we should keep in mind that AI visibility and traditional organic visibility are still two different things. Right now, you shouldn’t neglect one for the other, as both are useful in their own ways and, if we look at how Google’s AI features work with content, many of the same SEO fundamentals still apply. You have to create good content, have a healthy and structured site that is understandable for both search engines and AI systems, and keep doing the things you have been doing to appear both in organic search and AI features. This is the same principle behind [AI answer engine optimization](https://freshjuice.dev/blog/ai-answer-engine-optimization-aeo-future-of-seo/): the fundamentals that worked for traditional SEO still matter, but you now need to think about how AI systems interpret and surface your content. The difference is that you now also have to think about how your content can be understood and surfaced by AI. This means making your content clear, well-structured, and easy to understand, rather than relying on tricks or trying to create content specifically for AI. There is currently no need to add an [llms.txt](https://freshjuice.dev/tools/llmstxt-generator/) file to appear in Google’s AI features, but you should pay attention to the ways Google is using your content and avoid opting out of AI visibility if your goal is to have your content surfaced in these experiences. Anyway, what do we recommend regarding all this AI prioritization? As mentioned before, keep taking care of your site as you were: writing high-quality content and fixing any technical issues you find and, maybe, keep yourself posted about how AI features and algorithms work, just as you have been doing with Google’s algorithm since you started with digital marketing. If right now you must write content that answers users’ questions quickly to have a chance of being featured in AI Overviews and organic search, review your site’s content and adapt it to keep your rankings up. That’s our tip, a no-brainer, nothing different from what you have been doing, but it actually works. If we have learned something from SEO after all these years, it’s that “doing the right thing” is what makes you succeed. ## Related - [FAQ rich results are gone but you should keep your FAQ schema](https://freshjuice.dev/blog/faq-rich-results-gone-keep-faq-schema/) - [AI answer engine optimization: the future of SEO](https://freshjuice.dev/blog/ai-answer-engine-optimization-aeo-future-of-seo/) - [How to do SEO for Gemini](https://freshjuice.dev/blog/how-to-do-seo-for-gemini/) - [#AI](https://freshjuice.dev/tags/ai/), - [#AISearch](https://freshjuice.dev/tags/ai-search/), - [#Google](https://freshjuice.dev/tags/google/), - [#SEO](https://freshjuice.dev/tags/seo/)