Ask Yext: Marketer’s Top Google AI Questions, Answered

TL;DR: Google’s AI updates — Gemini, AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI‑organized Search Results — are changing how customers find brand information. This post breaks down what each feature does, how it impacts search visibility, and what steps marketers can take to stay competitive.

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Welcome to Ask Yext

— a blog series where Yext-perts break down the most pressing questions brands are asking about search right now.

Today’s topic: Google’s AI features

If you’ve searched on Google lately, you’ve probably noticed some big changes. From AI-powered summaries appearing at the top of results pages to entire queries grouped into clickable topics, search is starting to look a lot different.

Exciting? Absolutely. Confusing? You betchya.

With so many updates rolling out — Gemini, AI Overviews, AI-organized results, and more — it’s tough to keep track of what each one does and how it impacts your brand.

In this post, we’ll break down the primary differences between each core Google AI feature and answer the most common questions we’re hearing from marketers today, including:

• What is Google Gemini? How does it impact my brand? And how do I optimize for it?
• What are Google AI Overviews? How do they impact my brand? And how do I optimize so I can increase my odds of showing up?
• What’s the difference between Google AI Mode and regular search? How does it impact my brand? How do I optimize for it?
• Why am I seeing Google search results grouped by category? How do I show up in AI-organized search results?
• How do I know if my brand shows up in AI Overviews and AI-organized search results?

Let’s dive in.

What is Google Gemini?

Gemini is Google’s cutting-edge AI model. It can understand text and interpret images, audio, and video. So no matter how customers search, Gemini is ready to deliver rich, accurate answers.

Gemini powers Google’s other AI tools and features, including AI Overviews, AI Mode, and AI-organized search results. We’ll go into more detail on each of these soon.

How is Google Gemini impacting brand visibility?

• Organic traffic is dropping: After the launch of AI Overviews (powered by Gemini), some sites saw organic traffic fall between 15% and 64%, depending on search type and vertical.
• Marketers have less control: AI chooses what content shows up in summaries. But unlike traditional SEO, where you could optimize page titles or meta descriptions, Gemini chooses what to surface and offers little transparency into why.

Google Gemini optimization strategies:

• Focus on context-rich, specific content: Google says responses aim to be “broadly helpful,” but user personalization still plays a role for those logged into a Google account.
• Publish relevant, detailed content that targets high-intent, long-tail queries to improve your chances of being included.
• Invest in multimodal content: Gemini can surface charts, images, and video — not just text. Add supporting visuals and videos to your landing pages and posts to help your content stand out.

What are Google AI Overviews (AIO)?

AI Overviews are quick-scan summaries that sometimes appear at the very top of Google search results, often in a box or carousel.

Overviews summarize information pulled from various high-authority sources, giving readers quick, digestible answers — like "steps to building an effective business plan" or “common features of a high-converting landing page.” This feature is rolling out globally across 200+ countries and more than 40 languages.

How Google AIO is impacting brands and brand visibility:

• Inclusion signals credibility: Getting surfaced in AIOs means Google sees your content as trustworthy, high-quality, and helpful.
• Data quality is critical: Google's AI pulls from structured and unstructured data sources. Inconsistent data can hurt your chances of being featured, so be intentional when you categorize content and add metadata.

Google AIO optimization strategies:

• Publish answer-focused content: Use clear headers like “What causes X?” and direct answers to commonly searched questions.
• Structure content for AI parsing: Use FAQs, Q&A formats, and summary boxes to help AIO easily detect, interpret, and extract relevant content.

What is Google AI Mode?

Google AI Mode is an experimental chat-like layer built into Google Search that’s powered by Gemini 2.5 that’s currently only available to select subscribers.

Instead of scrolling, users can ask follow-up questions and get immediate answers, much like they would when using Gemini, ChatGPT, or CoPilot. Rather than a search, customers have a conversational exchange within Google and are asked built-in follow-up questions powered by Gemini.

For example, a customer might ask, “What coffee shops near me are open now?” at 4pm on a Tuesday and AI mode will respond conversationally — walking them through options, and letting them ask follow-up questions about prices or hours.

How does Google AI mode impact brands and brand visibility?

• Brands that think like customers win: Long, detailed queries are common in AI Mode. Including specifics like “evening hours,” “covered by Cigna,” or “pediatric specialist” improves your chances of showing up in local intent searches.
• Content + context + freshness = visibility: Gemini considers structured data, site authority, and recency when prioritizing responses.

Google AI Mode optimization strategies:

• Keep local listings updated: Make sure services, hours, availability, and other key info are current on your Google Business Profile and listings.
• *Write like your customers talk:* Use phrasing like “How do I book a telehealth consult?” to align with natural customer language in chat-based queries.

What are Google AI-organized search results?

This feature groups search results into AI-generated categories, making it easier for customers to explore related topics. Right now, these 'buckets' primarily show up in response to local searches, like "laptop friendly cafe near me”.

Results are grouped by category and served up in an AI-generated mini-menu that pulls related results together.

To give another example, if you search for “physical therapy near me,” Google may show you smart sections like:

• “Best for sports injuries”
• “Most kid-friendly,” or
• “Telehealth available.”

This feature is currently visible on mobile English searches in the U.S.

How are AI-organized search results impacting brands and brand visibility?

• Specificity boosts visibility: Adding nuanced details (e.g., “specializes in post-op recovery” or “evening appointments”) helps your brand show up in the most relevant AI-generated categories.
• Advice is subject to change: Nailing down the best strategies for ranking in AI search results is hard right now because it's a constantly moving target. Every AI search tool ranks content differently, and brands that rank well in traditional search may miss out on visibility in category-based layouts. For best results, focus on the new version of SEO: Search Everywhere Optimization.

How to optimize for AI-organized search results:

• Double-down on structured data: Schema markup, category tagging, and strong content hierarchies help your content land in the right “buckets.”
• Cover all relevant categories: Include descriptors like “family-friendly,” “offers telehealth,” or “emergency services” across your listings, web copy, and metadata.

How can brands stay visible on Google as AI search evolves?

AI is changing fast, and the best way to stay visible is subject to change.

But these three things are persistently true:

• Your data strategy is your AI strategy. Make sure it’s a good one.
• Details matter. Specificity helps you connect with high-intent customers.
• Every channel has an impact. AI doesn’t just pull information from your website — it pulls from listings, social, reviews, and third-party platforms.

Proactively managing your messaging everwhere you show up online will help you influence the way AI percieves and describes your brand.

Baking these foundational principles into your optimization strategy will give you the best chance of showing up everywhere your customers are searching.

How do I know if my brand is even showing up in AI search?

Great question! Yext Scout can help you monitor your brand’s presence across AI-powered search experiences like Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and more.

Run a business scan now to see how traditional AI search perceives and describes your brand.