Google I/O 2025 brought the biggest change to Google Search in years. On 20 May 2025, Google started rolling out AI Mode to everyone in the US, with no Search Labs sign-up needed. It also moved AI Overviews and AI Mode to a custom version of Gemini 2.5 and showed a list of new AI Mode features that are coming next.
If you run a website or a business, you probably want to know two things. What exactly did Google announce, and do you need to change anything? In this article I go through the Search news from the keynote in plain words, separate what is live from what is only coming, and share what I would do about it right now.
The Short Version: What Google Announced for Search
Here is the core of the Search news from Google I/O 2025:
- AI Mode for everyone in the US. It is rolling out now, without a Labs sign-up. A new AI Mode tab will show up in Search and in the Google app search bar over the coming weeks.
- Gemini 2.5 in Search. A custom version of Gemini 2.5 is coming to both AI Mode and AI Overviews in the US, starting this week.
- AI Overviews at a bigger scale. Google says AI Overviews now reach 1.5 billion monthly users in 200 countries and territories.
- New AI Mode features in Labs. Deep Search, Search Live, agent-style tasks, personal context, custom charts and a new shopping experience are coming to AI Mode, mostly through Search Labs first.
The rest of this article explains each one and what it means for you. In my view, the AI Mode rollout and the Gemini 2.5 upgrade matter most today. The other features are announcements, not launches, so I would watch them rather than react to them.
AI Mode Is Now Open to Everyone in the US
AI Mode is a separate way to search where the main result is an AI-written answer, not a list of ten blue links. You can ask long questions, ask follow-ups, and get links to websites inside and beside the answer.
Google first showed AI Mode as a small Search Labs test on 5 March 2025. I covered that launch in my article on Google’s first AI Mode test in Search Labs. On 1 May, Google removed the waitlist for US Labs users and added product and place cards and a history panel. It also said it would test AI Mode with a small share of people outside Labs.
Now that step is done. Anyone in the US can now use AI Mode, and Google says the AI Mode tab will appear in Search over the coming weeks. That tab is the part I would watch most closely. A tab next to “All”, “Images” and “News” puts AI Mode one tap away for a very large audience.
How AI Mode Finds Answers: Query Fan-Out
Google says AI Mode uses a “query fan-out” technique. In simple words, it breaks your question into smaller sub-topics and runs many searches at the same time. It then puts what it finds together into one answer.
Here is a simple example. Someone asks: “What is the best way to keep a small vegetable garden alive in a hot, dry summer with little time?” AI Mode might look up watering schedules, mulch, shade cloth, heat-tolerant plants and drip irrigation, all at once. A page that answers one of those sub-questions very clearly has a chance to be a source, even if it would never rank for the full question.
This is why I keep telling site owners to cover a topic in depth, not just the main keyword. Each clear section on your page is another possible match for one part of a fanned-out question.
Gemini 2.5 Comes to AI Mode and AI Overviews
Google said it is bringing a custom version of Gemini 2.5, its newest AI model, to both AI Mode and AI Overviews in the US, starting this week.
For site owners, a stronger model mostly means the answers will try to handle more complex questions. That can mean fewer simple clicks for basic facts. But it can also mean more chances to be cited for detailed, expert topics that the model has to research in more depth.
I don’t expect a sudden change in your rankings from the model upgrade alone. What I do expect is that the type of question shown with an AI answer will slowly grow.
AI Overviews Now Reach 1.5 Billion Monthly Users
AI Overviews are the short AI summaries that appear at the top of normal results. Google launched them in the US at I/O 2024. At I/O 2025, Google said they now reach 1.5 billion users every month in 200 countries and territories.
Google also said that in its biggest markets, such as the US and India, AI Overviews have led to an increase of more than 10% in Google usage for the types of queries that show them. In other words, people search more when they get AI answers, according to Google.
That number is about how much people use Google, not about how many clicks websites get. Google did not share click-through data for websites at I/O. So I would not use that figure to guess what happens to your own traffic.
New AI Mode Features Coming to Search Labs
Most of the new features Google showed are not live for everyone yet. Google says they will reach AI Mode users in Search Labs first, over the coming weeks and months. Here is what each one does.
Deep Search
Deep Search is a stronger version of query fan-out. Google says it can run hundreds of searches, reason across different sources, and build a full report with citations in a few minutes. It is aimed at research tasks that would usually take hours.
If you publish detailed guides, research or comparisons, this is the feature I would watch. A report with many citations may link to more sources than a short answer does.
Search Live
Search Live is built on Project Astra, Google’s research project for a real-time AI assistant. You point your phone camera at something and talk to Search about what it sees, back and forth. You will find it through a “Live” icon in AI Mode or in Google Lens. Google says it is coming this summer.
Think of a person pointing their camera at a broken tap and asking how to fix it. For local service businesses and product brands, this makes clear product names, images and help content more useful.
Agent-Style Tasks
Google is bringing abilities from Project Mariner to AI Mode. These let AI Mode do tasks for you, not just answer questions. Google says it will start with event tickets, restaurant bookings and local appointments, working with partners such as Ticketmaster, StubHub, Resy and Vagaro.
In Google’s example, AI Mode looks through many ticket options with live prices and fills in forms. The person then chooses an option and finishes the purchase on the site they prefer. So the click to the final website is still there, at least in this first version.
Personal Context
AI Mode will be able to give suggestions based on your past searches. You can also choose to connect other Google apps, starting with Gmail. Google’s example was restaurant and event ideas for a trip, based on flight and hotel bookings in your email.
Google says this is opt-in, you will see when personal context is being used, and you can turn it off at any time. For businesses, it means two people may see different answers to the same question.
Custom Charts and Graphs
For some questions, AI Mode will be able to analyse complex data and make an interactive chart. Google says it will start with sports and finance questions.
Shopping in AI Mode
Google showed a new shopping experience in AI Mode that combines Gemini with the Shopping Graph, Google’s large dataset of products, sellers, prices and reviews. It has three main parts:
- Browsing help. AI Mode shows product ideas and filters based on what you describe, such as the use, the size and the budget.
- Virtual try-on. You upload a photo of yourself and see how clothes may look on you. Google started rolling this out as a Search Labs experiment in the US.
- Agentic checkout. You track a product, set the price you want to pay, and Google can buy it for you with Google Pay when the price drops, with your approval.
Google says these shopping features are coming to AI Mode in the US in the coming months. If you sell online, your product data in Google Merchant Center becomes even more important. I compared this with OpenAI’s approach in my article on how ChatGPT shopping results show products.
What Is Live Now and What Is Coming Later
A lot of the I/O news was about plans. This table sums up the status of each Search feature on the day after the keynote, based on Google’s own wording.
| Feature | Status after I/O | Where |
|---|---|---|
| AI Mode (no Labs sign-up) | Rolling out now | US |
| AI Mode tab in Search | Over the coming weeks | US |
| Gemini 2.5 in AI Mode and AI Overviews | Starting this week | US |
| AI Overviews | Live, 1.5 billion monthly users | 200 countries and territories |
| Deep Search | Coming to Labs | Labs users |
| Search Live | Coming this summer | Labs users |
| Agent-style tasks | Coming to Labs | Labs users |
| Personal context | Coming to Labs, opt-in | Labs users |
| Custom charts | Coming to Labs | Labs users |
| Virtual try-on | Rolling out as a Labs experiment | US Labs users |
| Agentic checkout | In the coming months | US |
My rule of thumb is simple. I plan around what is live, and I keep a short watch list for what is coming.
What Google I/O 2025 Means for Your SEO
The honest answer is that nobody outside Google knows yet how much traffic will change. Google did not share any click data for AI Mode at I/O. But the direction is clear, and some things are worth doing now.
Traffic From AI Mode Is Hard to See
Google has not given AI Mode its own filter or report in Search Console. That means you can’t simply look up “AI Mode clicks” today. If your traffic moves in the coming weeks, it will be hard to say how much is AI Mode and how much is normal change.
That is why I always mark big Google changes in my reports. Add 20 May 2025 as a note in GA4 so you can look back later. My guide on GA4 annotations shows how.
The Basics Still Decide Who Gets Cited
AI Mode and AI Overviews are built on Google Search. They use Google’s index and its quality and ranking systems, which Google also said when it first launched AI Mode. A page that is not crawled, indexed and trusted is very unlikely to be used as a source.
So the basics have not changed. In my experience, sites that struggle in AI answers usually have the same problems they have in normal search: thin pages, unclear structure or slow, broken pages.
Clear Answers Beat Long Introductions
With query fan-out, Google looks for clear answers to many small questions. Pages that hide the answer under a long story are harder to use. I write the direct answer in the first one or two sentences of each section, then add the detail.
Use headings that match real questions, short paragraphs, lists for steps and tables for comparisons. These help readers, and they make it easier for any system to find the right part of your page.
Your Brand and Business Facts Matter More
Features like personal context, agent-style bookings and shopping all depend on facts Google can trust: your business name, location, hours, services, products and prices. If these are wrong or mixed up across the web, AI answers can repeat the mistake.
This is where entity SEO helps. It means making it easy for Google to understand who you are and what you offer. I explain the steps in my article on entity SEO. For local businesses, I would also check that your Google Business Profile is complete and up to date.
How to Prepare Your Site for AI Mode
You don’t need a new strategy because of I/O. You need to tighten the one you have. Here is the order I would work in:
- Add a note for 20 May 2025 in your analytics. Mark the AI Mode rollout in GA4 and your own reports, so you can compare traffic before and after.
- Test your key questions in AI Mode. If you can use AI Mode, type five to ten real customer questions as full sentences. Write down which sites are linked and whether yours is one of them.
- Check that your key pages are indexed. Use Search Console to confirm your most important pages are crawled and indexed. Fix any blocked or broken pages first.
- Put clear answers at the top of each section. Rewrite openings so each section answers its heading in one or two sentences, then gives the detail.
- Fill the gaps you found. If AI Mode covered sub-topics your page skips, add short, useful sections that answer them.
- Clean up your business and product facts. Make names, prices, hours and product details match across your site, Google Business Profile and Merchant Center.
I’d do steps 1 to 3 this week. They are quick, and they give you a baseline before the AI Mode tab reaches everyone.
What I Would Not Do Yet
Here are a few things I would hold off on:
- Don’t block Google to “protect” your content. AI Mode is part of Google Search. Blocking Googlebot would also remove you from normal results.
- Don’t rewrite your whole site for AI. Most of the new features are not live yet. Good, clear pages already work for both normal search and AI answers.
- Don’t buy “AI Mode ranking” services. Google has not shared any special AI Mode ranking factors. Anyone selling a secret method is guessing.
- Don’t judge from one week of data. The tab is rolling out slowly. Wait for a few weeks of numbers before you draw conclusions.
When Will AI Mode Come to Other Countries?
At I/O, Google only confirmed the AI Mode rollout for the US. It did not give dates for other countries or languages. AI Overviews, on the other hand, are already in 200 countries and territories.
If your audience is outside the US, I would still prepare. US features often reach other markets later, and the same good habits help with AI Overviews where you are today.
Final Thoughts on Google I/O 2025
Google I/O 2025 made AI Mode a real part of Google Search in the US, not just a test. Add Gemini 2.5 and AI Overviews at 1.5 billion monthly users, and AI answers are now a normal part of how people search.
For you, the job stays the same: be the clearest, most trusted answer on your topic. Start by marking the date in your reports and testing your main questions in AI Mode. If you want to go back to Google’s own first description of AI Mode, read its original AI Mode announcement from March.
