AI Mode Is Live in the UK: What UK Brands Need to Know about MCP and AI Discovery

TL;DR: Google's AI Mode in the UK is now prioritizing AI-generated answers over traditional search links. To stay visible in AI Mode, UK marketers must adopt structured data strategies like Model Context Protocol (MCP), which directly feeds approved information to AI systems. Yext's Knowledge Graph is ideally positioned to implement MCP and help brands maintain discoverability across AI platforms.

Conversational search and direct answers are here to stay

With the rollout of AI Mode, AI-generated answers are here to stay in the UK. AI Mode is a new experience from Google that prioritises direct, conversational responses over traditional blue links.

This change in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) marks a significant shift in how customers find and engage with brand information. It also introduces a new acronym we expect UK marketers to hear more and more: MCP, or Model Context Protocol.

Here's what UK brands need to know about AI Mode, MCP, and how to stay discoverable in this new AI-driven search environment.

What is Google AI Mode — and what's changing?

Google AI Mode transforms how users in the UK interact with Google search results. Instead of browsing a list of blue links, customers now see instant answers generated by Google's large language models (LLM), Gemini, right at the top of the page.

Here's the key change:

AI platforms like Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, or Perplexity aren't just pulling data from public websites anymore. Increasingly, they're sourcing trusted, structured data fed to them directly by brands.

That's where MCP can help to assist AI models in understanding your brand.

What is MCP (Model Context Protocol)?

The web is quickly becoming three internets. As AI continues to gain functionality and tackle larger tasks, websites will need to serve both humans and AI systems. So a new challenge emerges for brands: how can you make sure AI systems respond with the most accurate, brand-approved information?

One emerging solution is the Model Context Protocol (MCP), developed by Anthropic.

MCP is a new protocol to help standardize how AI models interact with your website and its functionalities. Think of it as a direct pipeline of high-quality information (business rules, store hours, location info, product details, customer loyalty data, even real-time data) delivered straight to the AI so it doesn't have to guess or crawl the web.

For UK brands, AI-generated answers can now reflect your actual data, direct from a trusted source — not outdated third-party sources or hallucinated summaries.

However, MCP isn't a product you buy:

MCP is a methodology for structuring interactions with LLMs. Brands will be able to create machine-readable endpoints and register them with the LLMs they want to feed.

It's early days — but this shift is big, and it's only accelerating.

Still, it's not a light lift. Implementing MCP involves technical setup and cross-system integration, but it's where search is headed.

Why this matters for UK marketers

As Google AI Mode rolls out and conversational search becomes the norm, UK brands need to rethink how they deliver information online. AI isn't just scanning your website — it's interpreting available data to generate real-time responses.

While the exact signals AI tools prioritise are still evolving, giving them the right inputs increases the likelihood that your brand shows up accurately in search results.

Here's what that means for your brand:

1. AI will prioritise structured, source-verified data

If your business data (like store hours, service offerings, or product details) isn't structured and easily accessible, AI may ignore it— or worse, fill in the blanks with inaccurate information.

2. MCP layers will become table stakes for enterprise brands

MCP allows brands to expose the most relevant data (like CMS content, product catalogs, CRM insights, and knowledge graph entries) directly to AI systems via APIs. The brands that implement this will shape the answers AI delivers.

3. The Yext Knowledge Graph can feed directly into MCP

For Yext customers, this shift is an opportunity. Your Knowledge Graph already structures your brand data and can serve as a critical input for MCP. In some cases, it may become the primary data source feeding your AI endpoints.

How Yext can help UK brands show up in AI search

Yext helps brands structure their data for discoverability across traditional search and emerging AI experiences. With the Yext Knowledge Graph, you can:

• Organise and centralise data from listings, CMS, product feeds, and more

• Create multiple structured data entities, such as Locations, FAQs, Jobs, Events, Articles, Products, Services, etc.

• Expose structured entity data via APIs in machine-readable formats

• Maintain accuracy and control over what AI tools are consuming; influence what they share

Whether you're just starting to explore MCP or already planning technical implementation, Yext helps make sure your brand is discoverable, trustworthy, and ready for the AI era.

Explore the Yext Knowledge Graph Collection and learn how knowledge graphs boost brand visibility in AI search: Knowledge Graph Collection