Is AI Killing SEO or Just Transforming It? Beyond Clicks to a New Reality

This week in SEOs Diners Club, we dive deep into how Google's AI Mode is reshaping SEO, why Google rewrites your headlines, and the latest developments from the AI world. Time to update your strategy!

Hello everyone,

I hope you're having a fantastic week. The digital marketing world is buzzing again, packed with developments. This week's agenda features the big question on everyone's mind: How is artificial intelligence transforming SEO as we know it? As click-through rates decline with Google's AI Mode, what should we do? No need to panic, because every crisis hides opportunities. In this newsletter, we'll decode the secrets of this new world together.

If you're ready, grab your coffee and let's dive in!

Headline: Is AI Mode Killing SEO or Transforming It?

This week's main topic is Kevin Indig's comprehensive article published in Search Engine Journal, where he analyzes 10 different studies. This meta-analysis brings together all the significant research conducted on AI Mode in 2025, and the findings are truly thought-provoking.

The numbers are crystal clear: AI Mode is dramatically reducing external click-through rates (CTR). According to Semrush's analysis covering approximately 69 million U.S. Google sessions, 92-94% of AI Mode sessions result in zero clicks. The user behavior study conducted with Clickstream Solutions confirms this finding: 77.6% of sessions had no external visits, and the median click count per task was zero. Yes, you heard that right - zero.

But that's not the whole story. iPullRank's UX study shows that users are currently adopting AI Mode very slowly. Across five different tasks, only 2-5% of participants used AI Mode, while 30-47% engaged with AI Overviews. Moreover, according to Similarweb data, over 50% of users tried AI Mode once and bounced. Google's feature hasn't quite achieved product-market fit yet.

So does this mean traffic is completely dead? No, the situation isn't that dire. Shopping queries continue to generate nearly 100% clicks. Propellic's travel industry study reveals an interesting distinction: Users stay in AI Mode for planning tasks, engaging for an average of 104 seconds, but when they're ready to make a decision and book, they click out in approximately 38 seconds. So traffic flow continues for high-intent, transactional queries. The real issue is with informational searches. Here, users get their answers directly from AI and leave the page.

Another important point is that AI Mode shortens search sessions. According to Semrush's findings, AI Mode sessions average 2-3 queries, while traditional search averages around 5. This means not only is the chance for clicks decreasing, but so is the chance for visibility.

So what should we do? The answer lies in fundamentally changing our metrics and perspective. Instead of just chasing clicks and traffic, we need to focus on concepts like brand visibility, user engagement, and influence power. Research shows that users read AI responses, examine citations, and form opinions about brands without clicking. Being featured as a source in AI responses can influence users' purchase decisions without clicks by increasing your brand's authority and credibility.

It's time to fundamentally review our strategy. We need to shift from asking "How do I get traffic?" to "How do I get featured in AI responses and influence my target audience?" We should update our metrics accordingly: instead of CTR, focus on brand mentions, dwell time, and most importantly, conversion rates at high-intent final steps. Considering Google's determination to make AI Mode the default search experience, we need to make this transformation now.

Algorithm & Search Engine Updates

1. Why Does Google Rewrite Your Headlines? Because It Knows Better!

The article in Search Engine Journal examining how and why Google rewrites headlines sheds light on this topic. In summary, Google makes these changes based on factors like semantic content alignment, satisfactory click behavior, and search intent to present the most appropriate headline for the user's current need. So if your headline doesn't perfectly align with your content or doesn't match search intent, Google doesn't hesitate to take the reins.

Action Recommendation: Ensure your headlines are 100% aligned with your content, clear, and fully match search intent. Absolutely avoid clickbait headlines. Remember, Google can now use any text on your page as a headline.

2. Google's Clear Message: If You Have Quality Issues, Links or Technical SEO Won't Save You!

At the Google Search Central Live event in Dubai, Google once again emphasized a very important point: If your site has overall quality issues, neither links, site migrations, nor technical SEO work will save your rankings. The slides shared in presentations by John Mueller and Martin Splitt stated:

• Links / site moves don't solve quality issues

• Technical SEO doesn't fix quality issues (but it's good for other things!)

This message isn't new, actually - Google has said this many times. However, we still see many site owners thinking "Maybe if I get a few more backlinks, do some technical optimization, my rankings will improve." Google's repeated emphasis so clearly shows how important this message is.

Action Recommendation: Focus on your content quality. Take E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) principles seriously. Create deep, unique content that truly adds value to your users. Technical SEO and link building are of course important, but they should be built on a foundation of quality content. If the foundation is rotten, no matter how much plaster you apply, the building won't stand.

3. Google Search Console Data Coming with Delays

You may have noticed last week that Google Search Console performance report data hasn't been updating since October 19. Google confirmed the issue and stated that the data hasn't been lost and will be caught up as soon as possible. Keep this delay in mind when preparing your reports.

AI World Developments

1. OpenAI Challenges Google with Atlas Browser

This week's biggest news was OpenAI's announcement of its own web browser, ChatGPT Atlas. Currently available only on macOS, Atlas comes with ChatGPT integrated into the sidebar, and most interestingly, it appears to use Google rather than Bing as its search engine. This move will definitely heat up competition in the search engine market.

2. ChatGPT Projects Can Now Be Shared!

OpenAI has opened the "Shared Project" feature to all users, which was previously only available on paid plans. Now even free users can share their projects with up to 5 collaborators on up to 5 files. This is a great development for team collaboration and content production processes.

3. Microsoft Copilot Gains Memory

Microsoft is transforming Copilot into a much more personal assistant with updates it's bringing to Copilot. Thanks to the long-term memory feature, Copilot can remember important details from your previous conversations (like preparing for a project). It can also search your files by integrating with services like OneDrive, Gmail, and Google Drive.

Practical SEO Tips

Based on this week's developments, here are a few tips you can immediately apply to your SEO strategy:

•Create Question-Focused Content: AI Mode and AI Overviews love answering direct questions. Filter question-containing queries from your Search Console data and create content that provides clear, comprehensive answers to these questions.

•Atomize Your Content: Break your articles into small, meaningful chunks that AI can easily "parse" and cite. Ensure each subheading answers a question on its own.

•Demonstrate Your Authority: AI loves credible sources. Strengthen your site's E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) signals. About pages, author bios, and quality backlinks from external sources are more important than ever.

Yes, we've reached the end of another SEOs Diners Club. As you can see, artificial intelligence is rewriting the rules of the game. But this isn't an ending, it's a new beginning. Those who understand change, adapt, and shape their strategy according to this new reality will win, as they always have.

If you're wondering how to adapt your company's SEO strategy to this new era and don't want to miss the opportunities brought by the AI world, we'd love to have coffee at Stradiji. Let's discuss how we can maximize your site's potential together.

Have a great week,

Mert Erkal

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