Google has entered a new era of search. The changes announced at Google I/O aren’t small tweaks. They change how people find information online, and if your business relies on being found in search, it’s worth understanding them.
What’s changing?
The big one is AI Overviews: AI-written answers that appear right at the top of the search results. Instead of a list of links, Google summarises the answer for you. People get what they need faster, and often don’t need to click through to a website at all.
For users, that’s better. Search becomes more conversational and handles complicated questions much more easily. For businesses, it’s a lot more complicated.
The catch for NZ businesses
If Google answers the question on its own results page, fewer people visit your website. That’s a big change to how website traffic has worked for the last twenty years. Old-school SEO, chasing rankings and clicks, isn’t enough on its own any more. The new question is: will Google pick your content as the source it summarises?
What else is new
Multimodal search. People can now mix text, images and video in one search. Upload a photo, ask a question about it and refine the results in conversation. That raises the bar for how relevant your content needs to be.
Gemini everywhere. With Google’s Gemini AI built into its products, search understands intent and context far better than keywords alone. Content that’s genuinely helpful and well structured is more likely to be shown. Thin, generic content increasingly won’t make the cut.
What to do now
- Invest in quality, expert content. AI rewards clear, accurate, useful information. Generic content will struggle.
- Write for questions, not just keywords. Think about what your customers actually ask, and answer it directly, with clear headings and short answers.
- Build your authority. As AI summaries take over, being a recognised, trusted source matters more than ever. Consistent messages, credible content and a strong online presence all help.
- Measure more than clicks. Brand visibility, engagement and assisted conversions will tell you more in an AI-driven search world.
The upside
It’s disruptive, no doubt. But it rewards businesses that genuinely help their audience. If your content is useful, accurate and authoritative, Google’s AI is more likely to show it, not less.
Wondering how your website will cope with AI search? Book a free health check, or call us on 0800 688 768.