Search is changing. Again.
If you’ve searched Google recently, you may have noticed that sometimes you have to travel quite a long way down the page before reaching what we used to think of as the actual search results.
AI-generated answers can now occupy a substantial part of the search results page, answering a question, suggesting further areas to explore and linking to selected sources before the familiar list of organic results appears.
Google now has both AI Overviews, which appear within conventional search results when Google considers them useful, and AI Mode, its more conversational search experience where users can ask complex questions and continue with follow-up questions.
And Google isn’t the only place people are searching.
ChatGPT can search the live web and cite sources directly within its answers, while Bing has developed Copilot Search as a combination of traditional and generative search.
So does this mean everything we’ve spent years learning about SEO is suddenly obsolete?
Not remotely.
Welcome to the first Built for AI, Not by AI, my quarterly look at what’s genuinely changing in AI search, what businesses should be paying attention to and what might simply be the latest round of digital marketing noise.
What has actually changed?
The biggest change isn’t that search engines suddenly want completely different websites.
It’s that the answer can now come before the list of websites.
Traditional search broadly worked like this:
You asked Google a question. Google presented a selection of links. You chose one and visited the website to find the answer.
AI search can insert another stage.
You ask the question. The search engine interprets it, gathers information and presents a synthesised answer, potentially using several sources. You may then choose whether you need to visit any of them.
Google describes AI Overviews as snapshots of information with links for further exploration. AI Mode goes further, breaking more complex questions into subtopics and searching across them before producing an answer.
That is a significant change for businesses.
And this is no longer a niche way of searching. AI-generated search experiences are now being used at enormous scale, and Google is beginning to give website owners dedicated data about how their content performs within them. AI search has moved beyond the experimental stage and into something businesses should be actively paying attention to.
Being number one in the conventional organic results is still valuable. But there is now another opportunity above and around those results:
Can the search engine understand your information well enough to use or reference it in the answer?
Look at how much of Google has changed
This is worth trying yourself.
Search Google for a reasonably detailed question connected with your business, particularly something informational rather than simply a company or product name.
On searches that trigger an AI Overview, look at how much of your screen can be occupied by the generated response, supporting links and additional features before you reach the conventional organic listings.
There isn’t a standard height. It changes according to the query, device and result.
But that’s precisely the point.
The old idea of competing for one of ten blue links on page one no longer describes the whole search landscape.
Google has continued changing the way sources appear inside its generative results during 2026, including more contextual links and features intended to help users discover original web content from within AI responses.
Visibility increasingly means more than simply “Where do I rank?”
What about ChatGPT?
This is where the definition of search gets even broader.
People increasingly ask conversational questions rather than constructing short search phrases:
“What’s the best way to improve local SEO for a small business?”
“What should I look for when choosing someone to rebuild my website?”
“Should I use Shopify or WooCommerce?”
ChatGPT Search can search current web sources and include citations and links within its responses. OpenAI also says public websites can appear in ChatGPT Search and provides specific guidance for allowing its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, to access website content.
For businesses, that creates another kind of visibility to consider.
The question is no longer only:
Can Google find me?
It is increasingly:
Can search and AI systems understand who I am, what I know and when my business is relevant?
So do we all need “AI SEO” now?
This is where I’d apply the brakes.
There’s already an expanding vocabulary around GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation), AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation), AI SEO and assorted new services promising to make businesses visible to artificial intelligence.
Some of that work is valuable.
But much of the advice sounds remarkably familiar.
Create genuinely useful content.
Answer real customer questions.
Use clear page titles and headings.
Structure information logically.
Make it clear who produced the content.
Demonstrate genuine knowledge and experience.
Keep information accurate and current.
Build a technically sound website that crawlers can access.
Connect related content properly.
Make your business and its areas of expertise easy to understand.
If you’ve worked with me on SEO before, you may recognise a few of those.
They were good ideas before generative AI arrived.
Clear answers matter more
One area where I do think businesses should reconsider their content is clarity.
We have spent years watching websites bury perfectly useful information beneath marketing language written primarily to accommodate keywords.
AI search gives us another reason to stop doing that.
If somebody asks a straightforward question, give them a straightforward answer.
That doesn’t mean every page needs a prescribed 50-word paragraph designed to be swallowed whole by an AI engine.
It means organising content so humans and machines can understand what you’re saying.
Good headings help. Concise explanations help. Relevant examples help. Original knowledge helps.
Conveniently, these things also make websites nicer for humans to use.
Don’t abandon traditional SEO
AI search hasn’t made conventional search disappear.
People still search for products, services, businesses, locations and answers and click through to websites. Google itself continues to connect its AI experiences to web sources, and Bing describes maintaining visibility for credible web content as important within AI-powered search.
Technical SEO, local SEO, good content, links, site structure, performance and authority therefore haven’t suddenly become irrelevant.
They are part of the foundation AI systems have inherited.
What has changed is that we need to think beyond rankings as the only measure of search visibility.
Built for AI, not by AI
This is the distinction I think matters.
AI can be extraordinarily useful for researching, organising ideas, analysing information and assisting with content.
But publishing hundreds of generic AI-written pages in the hope that AI search engines will reward them rather misses the point.
Your advantage is the information that belongs specifically to your business:
your experience, opinions, expertise, examples, products, services and answers to the questions your customers genuinely ask.
AI can help you communicate that.
It shouldn’t replace it.
The objective isn’t to make your website look as though an AI built it.
It’s to build a useful, authoritative website whose information is clear enough for people, search engines and AI systems to understand.
What should businesses do in Q3 2026?
For now, I wouldn’t recommend ripping up your SEO strategy and starting again.
Instead, look at what you already have.
Is your website clear about what your business does? Does it answer useful questions? Is important information buried? Is your content current? Can search engines crawl it properly? Is your expertise evident? Are related pages connected logically?
And start paying attention to where your business appears, not simply where it ranks.
There is also more data becoming available. In June 2026, Google began rolling out dedicated Generative AI performance reporting in Search Console, allowing some website owners to see which pages are appearing within AI features and how often. If it is available in your Search Console account, it is worth adding to the information you monitor alongside conventional search performance.
Search for the questions your customers ask. Look at AI Overviews. Experiment with AI Mode. Ask ChatGPT relevant questions and examine the sources it uses.
The search landscape is changing quickly enough that there will undoubtedly be something new to discuss next quarter.
That’s why Built for AI, Not by AI will be back in Q4.
Sources & Further Reading
Built for AI, Not by AI is reviewed quarterly to reflect changes in search and AI discovery. Sources are checked at the time of publication.
Google Search Central — AI Features and Your Website
Google’s guidance for website owners on AI Overviews and AI Mode, including the rather important confirmation that existing SEO fundamentals still apply and there are no special technical requirements for appearing in Google’s AI features.
Google — New Opportunities, Control and Insights for Website Owners
A June 2026 update specifically about how website owners can respond to the growth of generative AI in Search, including new Search Console information and Google’s latest guidance.
Google — 5 New Ways to Explore the Web with Generative AI in Search
Google’s May 2026 update covering changes to AI Mode and AI Overviews designed to surface websites, original content and sources more prominently.
OpenAI — Publishers and Developers FAQ
Current guidance on how websites can appear in ChatGPT Search, including access for OAI-SearchBot and how content can be surfaced and cited.
Microsoft Bing — Introducing Copilot Search
Microsoft’s explanation of how Copilot Search combines generative answers with traditional web search and cited sources.