Google AI mode lands in Australia. Now's not the time throw out your search engine optimisation playbook. You can tweak it to show up in this new era and focus on creating and optimising content that's specific, personal and does not beat around the bush. It's how you win the new target visibility, and encourage people to still click to your website.
Key topics
Google AI Mode lands in Australia: what it means for your SEO strategy (and what to do this quarter).
Australia, it’s our turn. Google AI Mode has arrived, and search is becoming a two‑way conversation with artificial intelligence. This isn’t a revolution; it’s an evolution.
Your playbook to be seen online should evolve, too, without throwing out what already works.
Key takeaway: focus on helpful, intent‑driven content and adopt a test, learn, iterate mindset.
In this guide:
What Google AI Mode is (in plain English)
What changes and what doesn’t for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Exactly how to update your content, structure and tracking
A practical 90‑day plan you can start today
What is Google AI Mode, simply?
Think of Google AI Mode as an assistant that summarises answers, suggests next steps, and lets people ask follow‑up questions right on the search page. It’s conversational. It can pull in text, images, and video. And it often shows sources beneath its answer, which is where your business can still be discovered and clicked.
Translation: people will still search, but they may get more answers before they ever reach your website. Your job is to be the brand Google feels confident citing, and the one humans still want to click.
Example:
Traditional search: Find me a local dentist
Google AI mode: Find me a local dentist that offers no gap cover in my health fund and is a family-friendly space
Difference: Higher intent, more niche and specific on what the user wants.
What changes and what doesn’t in AI SEO?
What’s changing
More answers on the search page: People may get summaries before they click. Short, clear answers win attention.
Follow‑up questions: Users can ask “What next?” in the moment. Content that anticipates these follow‑ups has the edge.
Multi‑modal discovery: Images, video, and voice matter more. Your content should work beyond text.
New referral sources: Some visitors will arrive via AI surfaces or assistants (e.g., AI Overviews, Perplexity, ChatGPT with browsing).
What’s not changing
Helpful content still wins: Clear, useful pages that answer real questions will continue to perform well.
The SEO basics still matter: Fast pages, good titles and headings, internal links, and a mobile-friendly layout.
Trust signals count: Show Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E‑E‑A‑T) with bios, case studies, and clear contact details.
Now: Ask, skim a summary, ask or clarify with follow-ups, then click on the best source if you need more information.
Content format
Before: Long article
Now: Direct answers first, depth, add visuals and get into each step.
What wins website traffic (clicks)
Before: Catchy title and meta description to reel them in
Now: Clear, credible answers and action steps
Opportunity for your business
Before: Rank in the #1 spot or top 10 results to get the click.
Now: Get cited by AI tools to show your content summaries and build trust quickly to encourage brand views and maybe clicks.
How to evolve your content (without scrapping your strategy)
1) Create and optimise answers to real questions
Start with your customers’ actual follow‑ups: “How does it work?”, “What’s included?”, “How long?”, “How much?”, “Who is it for/not for?”
Add a simple “In a hurry?” box at the top with a 2–4 sentence answer.
Add a short FAQ section at the bottom with the next questions people usually ask.
Use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to brainstorm angles, then validate with real customers and support inbox questions.
2) Get to the point
Lead with the answer. Then explain the why/how.
Swap fluffy intros for bullet points, sub‑headings and examples.
Use plain English. Short sentences. Active voice.
3) Keep your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) basics tight
Page titles and H1 headings: say exactly what the page covers.
Internal links: point people to the next helpful page.
Page speed and mobile experience: quick to load, easy to scan.
Local signals: keep your Google Business Profile updated; ask for reviews.
4) Go multi‑modal (text + images + video + voice)
Add original images with descriptive ALT (alternative text).
Record a 60–90 second explainer video and embed it from YouTube (with a one‑paragraph summary).
Turn checklists into downloadable PDFs. Add captions/transcripts for any audio or video.
5) Add simple structure (so machines and humans “get it”)
Use clear headings (H2/H3), short paragraphs and numbered steps.
Consider basic schema markup (e.g., FAQPage, HowTo, Product, Local Business) to help search engines better understand your content. You don’t need to be a developer to start, many website builders and plugins can help.
Don’t overdo it. Structure supports your content; it doesn’t replace it.
6) Map the buyer journey: Create content for each stage
Awareness: “What is…?”, “Pros and cons”, “Common mistakes”
Consideration: Comparisons, pricing explainers, feature deep dives
Decision: Case studies, testimonials, FAQs, guarantees, process pages
7) Update the pages that already perform
Use Google Search Console to find top pages and queries you already show up for.
Strengthen those pages first: add the direct answer box, visuals, and FAQs.
Create spin‑off pages for high‑intent follow‑up questions people are asking now.
Formatting tips that help you get cited (and clicked)
Answer first, details second.
Use numbers, steps and checklists.
Include a clear “Who it’s for / not for”.
Show proof: examples, screenshots, case studies, customer quotes.
Make the next step obvious: book a call, get a quote, download a checklist.
How to measure impact (without drowning in dashboards)
Start with a simple scorecard
Impressions (views) and clicks in Google Search Console (by page and query)
Click‑through rate (how often a view becomes a click)
Engagement signals: engaged sessions, time on page, scroll depth
Brand searches: is your name being searched more often?
Track the AI surfaces you can see today
In GA4: Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition, then check Session source/medium. Keep an eye out for referrals like chat.openai.com, perplexity.ai, and other AI assistants. Add a comparison to see how these visitors behave vs everyone else.
In Google Search Console: you can’t entirely separate AI Overviews from regular results yet, but you can watch for shifts in impressions and clicks on question‑style queries and your top pages. Annotate the date AI Mode rolled out so you can compare before/after.
Pro tip: create a simple “AI discovery” segment in GA4
Add a comparison where Session source contains “perplexity”, “chatgpt.com”, or similar.
Save a custom report so you can check it weekly in seconds.
Expect small numbers at first — the trend over time is what matters.
A practical 90‑day plan for Google AI mode in Australia
Weeks 1–2: Baseline and quick wins
Benchmark your top 20 pages in Google Search Console and GA4.
Add a two‑sentence “In a hurry?” summary to the top 10 pages.
Fix obvious speed and mobile issues.
Weeks 3–6: Upgrade and diversify
Add FAQs and a short video or image set to each top-performing page.
Publish 3–4 new “follow‑up question” posts that naturally extend your best pages.
Add basic schema markup (FAQ/HowTo/Product/LocalBusiness) where relevant.
Weeks 7–9: Authority and trust
Add author bios, your process page, and at least one new case study.
Refresh Google Business Profile and collect 3–5 fresh reviews.
Build 3 internal links to every new page from relevant older pages.
Weeks 10–12: Review and iterate
Compare your benchmarks to now. What moved? What stalled?
Double down on topics gaining impressions and clicks.
Trim or merge thin, overlapping pages into stronger pillar pages.
AI SEO Myths to ignore (and what to do instead)
“SEO is dead.” No. It’s changing shape. Keep doing what works and adapt format and structure.
“Rewrite everything for AI.” Don’t. Update your high‑impact pages first.
“Long posts don’t work anymore.” Long or short can work — clarity wins. Lead with the answer, then go deep for people who need detail.
“Only big brands will win.” Small businesses with specific expertise, local trust, and clear answers have a real edge.
What this means for small and medium businesses in Australia
Helpful beats hype: Clear, valuable content that respects people’s time will stand out and get cited.
Local matters more: Proximity, service area clarity, and reviews help you appear when nearby customers ask AI for recommendations.
Be findable in any format: Some people will read, some will watch, some will ask their phone. Meet them where they are.
Own your measurement: Even if AI referrals are small today, set up tracking so you can see the trend as it grows.
Want help seeing your AI‑referred traffic clearly?
If you’d like AI‑related visits grouped into their own channel in GA4 (instead of hiding in “Referral” or “Direct”), we can set it up so you can measure performance at a glance.
Tracks conversions from AI‑assisted discovery over time
You’ll know exactly how these new surfaces are contributing to enquiries and sales without having to dig through reports.
This currently supports Google Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Deepseek and more.
Wrapping up
Google AI Mode is here, and yes, search is getting more conversational. The winners will be the businesses that:
Answer real questions clearly
Structure content for humans first (and machines second)
Keep the SEO fundamentals humming
Measure what matters, experiment and iterate
No panic. No massive rewrite. Just innovative, steady improvements, starting with the pages your customers already love.
Want more AI SEO goodness?
If you’d like a checklist version of this post or a quick audit of your top pages for AI Mode, subscribe to my newsletter below and keep an eye out in your inbox for something extra enticing!
