Driving organic growth through Google AI mode

As a content creator, you know that ranking top ten in Google search is no longer enough to achieve the organic traffic goals you’re after! Now that Google AI Mode is out, your potential clients can get answers directly without clicking on your website. This is one of the most disruptive changes when it comes to SEO and organic growth.

So what does it mean for your business? What does this mean for your content strategy and workflow? Can you use Google AI Mode to your advantage?

If you’re confused, you’re not alone. This feature is still experimental, with many marketers still trying to figure it out. That also means there’s a massive opportunity for early adopters like you.

In this guide, you’ll discover exactly how to drive organic growth with Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and even turn that visibility into traffic and revenue for your website.

Let’s dive in!

Google AI Mode is a search feature designed to answer complex, specific queries. Instead of keywords, users can input more context while asking questions. The result is an in-depth, conversational answer generated with AI and based on reputable website sources (ideally yours).

This feature is powered by the Gemini 2.5 LLM. As for which websites get “featured”, it’s heavily influenced by the Google E-E-A-T Framework:

• Experience: Your content includes first-hand experience dealing with the topic (e.g. product reviews from buyers vs non-users)
• Expertise: Your content is written by an industry expert or it has citations or references from experts (e.g. medical advice given by accredited professionals over enthusiasts)
• Authority: The brand posting the content has a high domain authority or was mentioned on several trusted sites. (e.g. being featured on Forbes)
• Trustworthiness: Basic trust facts such as accurate content, secure websites, consistent brand information across website mentions, no poor user reviews… (e.g. an eCommerce store with a clear returns policy)

Once you optimize all four, your website has a chance of appearing as a reference for AI responses. This means users can click the citation to visit your website.

On the other hand, if you don’t optimize for GEO, your website could lose at least 25% of traffic by 2026, according to Gartner. In fact, AI Overviews already caused a massive drop in search clicks. But why is it so impactful?

Let’s briefly look at how it changes your AI and SEO strategy.

The goal of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to maximize organic traffic in the search engine result pages (SERPs): find high-demand queries you can rank for, write valuable content, optimize keywords, and build up your domain authority.

And if you did it right, you could rank high in the top 10 positions of page one and get the most traffic.

Answer Search Optimization (AEO) is about ranking for “position zero,” AKA SERP features such as answer boxes:

If your content is well-organized and scannable, Google might feature you at the top, even if your website ranked lower, giving you two SERP spots. These boxes were a few lines short, so users still checked your website for more context.

The basics didn’t change much: write in-depth, structure content clearly, get quality backlinks, and you may get featured.

But now, answer boxes are getting replaced by 300-word Google AI Overviews (AIOs).

Users simply don’t click as much as before (at least on informational content), but you can still see the sidebar sources and top 10 SERPs. What happens if you also remove the top 10 list? That’s essentially Google AI Mode, a subset of GEO.

Generative Engine Optimization refers to strategies that maximize your brand visibility on Large Language Models (LLMs) by being included as a source. Unlike traditional SERPs, AI engines are highly dynamic, showing different sources and answers even when given identical search queries. With that said, websites with “strong E-E-A-T” tend to show up more consistently.

Now, there’s one major difference between AEO and GEO.

To win in SEO and AEO, you just needed quality content and a high-authority website. But according to this Ahref study, what happens OUTSIDE your website is far more impactful for GEO. Things like:

• Brand mentions, having your name consistently appear on other platforms (even without links)
• Brand anchors, linking to your site with the brand name
• Brand search volume, having users include your name on search (e.g. Nike running shoes, Joe Rogan favorite supplements…)

More on that later. The point is: you can improve your GEO to show up on Google AI Mode.

But wait, now you know users are less likely to click on websites anyway. So how does that work as a growth strategy?

Google AI Mode can bring more indirect traffic and revenue to your website and it also allows you to reach your ideal customer profile (ICP) through new traffic channels, namely, AI platforms.

To prove it’s not just “stealing organic traffic,” let’s have a closer look. Here’s what could happen when your brand is optimized for Google AI Mode:

When users repeatedly see you show up as a source, they’re more likely to remember and trust you. Even if they never visited your website, they’re getting familiar with your brand and are more likely to convert when they eventually visit.

AI Mode often recommends social media posts, YouTube videos, and forum threads. Provided you have a multi-channel marketing strategy, that means Google might feature you more often and grow your social following, which you can then push to your website.

Besides, if you’re diversified and Google drops an update that slashes your SEO traffic overnight, it’s not so scary anymore.

GEO doesn’t end at Google AI Mode. What about other AI platforms like Claude, ChatGPT, or Grok? There are so many traffic channels you can unlock just for doing the brand work once. Even with different algorithms, it all adds up.

SERP features are competitive: one keyword, one answer box at position 0, one website featured.

In AI Overviews and AI Mode, there are 3-10 sources featured. And if you search the same prompt, the source list will change. You don’t have to wait weeks to “outrank” competitors.

In paid advertising, you get several filters to make sure only the right prospects see your ad. Well, GEO is a lot like that. AI assistants personalize their answers to the user based on their memory and custom instructions.

What happens when you consistently describe your buyer persona in your content? When that type of person asks related prompts in an AI assistant, you’re more likely to be “matched” as the top source.

Lastly, Google AI Mode can help with your website traffic if it’s specifically bottom-of-funnel content (BOFU). Things like buyer guides, comparison posts, in-depth product reviews, anything that helps users with nuanced decisions.

While informational posts get fewer clicks, BOFU content outperforms for two reasons:

• Some users want all the data they can get to make an informed decision, not just the answer.
• BOFU posts are often aligned with E-E-A-T, with unique information that AIs can’t find or generate themselves.

So how do you optimize for Google AI Mode without remaking your entire marketing workflow? Start with these five.

What it means: Your content is consistent in its format, values, message, and the target buyer it refers to.

Why it works: AI assistants are personalized to the user’s identity. If the AI begins to associate you with an identity that matches that user, not only are you more likely to show up on their search results, but they’re also more compelled to buy.

How to do it: Create crystal-clear brand messaging guidelines and customer profiles.

Let’s say you have a web page that perfectly captures your brand identity. You can upload it to Frase and it will analyze your tone. This “governance layer” allows you to skip all the prompt-testing and get brand-aligned content from the start:

For even better results, you get tools such as the tone sliders above or specific term rules as shown below:

Want to test it for your content right now? You can try Frase for free here (no credit card required).

What it means: Don’t “say” something when you can prove or show it instead.

Don’t say “this AI tool can help you write faster.” Instead, show: “this AI tool saved his company 30h/week”. Don’t say “we have hundreds of happy customers”. Instead, show the reviews.

Why it works: Other than helping your credibility, it is backed by experience, which is very valuable for AI engines. The same goes for the content itself. If you can “show” a concept with images/examples/tables/tests instead of one paragraph, as obvious as it might be, suddenly your content is more original and trusted.

How to do it: Compile a brand “database” with all the information needed to back up claims down the line. Ideally, you also work with an AI tool that supports multi-source research, so you can easily reference other experts as well.

Luckily, Frase has both features built in, starting with the Reference Documents:

You get unlimited documents of up to 6,000 words each in any format—more than enough for teams managing multiple brands at once. You can easily reference the files in the in-line AI editor:

As shown above, the prompt references the “@sample” document.

The second feature is the Web Search (bottom left). When enabled, the Frase AI will go to the SERPs and scan all competitor pages for that keyword (in this case, “what is seo”). Not only does this get you proven content strategies but also reputable stats to back your claims (show, don’t tell).

Below is a quick example of the research Frase does for you:

What it means: Organize your content in easily-digestible chunks (<250 words). The text itself should be easy to read and answer the question early in the section. Answer first, explain later.

Why it works: Google AI Mode looks for the most efficient way to meet the user’s search intent. That means concise, complete, and clear.

Another way to add clarity is to reformat the answer with tables, pictures, and examples. Instead of writing the same answer as everyone, now you have a unique viewpoint, which Google rewards.

How to do it: Create content guidelines that prioritize scanability and conciseness.

Again, this is solved by default on Frase with the outline explorer.

Enter a keyword > discover competitor outlines > generate AI outline (or edit after if needed). The Frase AI writing itself often includes tables and lists, which also help you show up on Google AI Mode.

What it means: Diversify your organic growth. Repurpose existing content to expose your brand to more platforms.

Why it works: Google AI Mode likes to reference videos and threads, which are easier to rank for than traditional articles. There are YouTube videos from 7 years ago with barely any views that are getting featured as sources for high-demand keywords. The “domain authority” is already done for you, and every platform you grow is one more chance to be featured.

How to do it: Repurpose quality content into social media formats. Or if you want to go further, design an AI engine with brand knowledge that accurately answers comments and threads.

This can be daunting if social media isn’t a big part of your marketing strategy. But with the right tools, it can be effortless.

Frase comes with all these social media AI tools built in. You just choose a content piece to repurpose, load one of these tools in the editor, and it’s done.

What it means: Leverage the credibility of your brand to collaborate with more established names. Offer guest posts, interviews, ask for citations… You could even get brand mentions by buying a service and leaving a testimonial with your brand name.

Why it works: The Ahrefs study proves that brand mentions are by far the most impactful metric for GEO, with 0.664 correlation (followed by linked brand names with 0.527).

How to do it: Contact high-authority brands while testing different incentives.

Easier said than done, right? Well, there’s a tool for that:

Frase is versatile both for long and short form content, meaning it can also write outreach messages that maximize responses. Your team just puts in the data, and it does the heavy lifting. PR is no longer the bottleneck.

Google AI Mode is changing the organic growth game fast. We’ve seen how old SEO tactics alone just don’t cut it anymore—you need to combine them with GEO, authority, and multi-channel presence to set your content apart.

The goal is both to rank high in search results—and to get referenced in generative search.

What’s next? AI agents that buy products for us? Traditional SERPs fading away entirely? One thing’s for sure: those who adapt first always win big.