After months of rumors and “is it or isn’t it” speculation, Google has finally made it official: AI Mode is here.
Don’t confuse this with AI Overviews, though it’s definitely in the same ballpark. AI Mode is another sign that Google is completely reimagining how people plan, discover, and book their next trip.
Currently, AI Mode is still being tested. It is only available to users paying for Google One AI Premium, and even these users will have to enable it in the Labs section of Search.
In short, it’s Google’s shot at creating a more conversational, AI-first search experience. Think ChatGPT or Perplexity, but fully integrated into the Google ecosystem. The premise behind AI Mode is that many people searching on Google would prefer to have their results be primarily AI-generated.
Once turned on, it lives in its own tab (like “Images” or “News”), and gives users direct AI-generated answers based on Google’s entire index. You enter a question, for example, “best multi-day hiking tours in Patagonia”, and instead of ten blue links, you get one clean, detailed response, supported by helpful links throughout.
The tech behind it? A little thing called query fan-out, that breaks down your question into a bunch of sub-questions, pulls data from across the web, and then pieces together a fully-formed answer.
It works with text, voice, or images, and because it taps into Google’s real-time data, the idea is that it can give richer, more accurate answers than other AI search engines.
On desktop (see screengrab below), it’s clean and familiar; search bar up top, and a fully written-out answer below, peppered with source links.
First impressions from users? Fast, easy to scan, and decent quality. But it’s not without a few hiccups.
Let’s start with commercial / shopping-based searches. Say someone searches for “best whitewater rafting trips in Colorado”. AI Mode seems to be pulling its info from high-authority third-party sites such as travel blogs, but not necessarily from the tour site itself.
Additionally, it’s not yet giving users a “book now” button or linking directly to operator websites, which seems almost confusing, taking into consideration all of the information Google has at its fingertips. Instead, it seems to be linking to content-rich sites with strong organic authority.
Local data is another blind spot. Searching for “zipline tours near Queenstown” in AI Mode doesn’t trigger a local pack or map view, but rather it just returns a summary-style answer, without local business listings or Google Maps integration.
But, this is really nothing to worry about just yet, it is just interesting to understand what first-time users of the AI Mode are experiencing. AI Mode is still incredibly new, and Google is probably already working on it.
Some folks might think AI Mode is Google’s way of fending off competitors like ChatGPT or Perplexity. But what about the data?
In 2024, Google handled 373x more searches than ChatGPT. Their market share in 2024 was a massive 93.57%, with ChatGPT sitting at a tiny 0.25%, which is less than Microsoft Bing (4.10%), Yahoo (1.35%), and DuckDuckGo (0.73%).
Even more impressive? Google’s total search volume grew by 21.64% in 2024 compared to the year before.
But there’s a plot twist: A big chunk of that growth came from the development of AI Overviews, and an estimated 60% of Google searches now end without a click. In essence, people are getting their answers right from AI Overviews, rather than going to websites.
AI Mode is just another sign that search is evolving fast, and the travel space is right in the thick of it.
Yes, traditional SEO still matters (remember, AI Mode pulls from top-ranking content). But if your tour or destination content isn’t showing up in the sources AI Mode prefers, you’re invisible.
Therefore, it’s important to develop a hybrid marketing strategy. One that sticks to the traditional SEO practices, but also one that overlays this traditional strategy with strategies to rank in the AI Mode. An example for now could be getting featured in third-party “best of” lists that AI Mode might cite.
Smart travel brands and tour operators won’t sit back and wait. They’ll adapt, diversify their content, and make sure they’re showing up wherever travelers are searching, even when those travelers never leave the search page.
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