Google tells website owners nothing has changed for AI search

Google Search Relations workforce members John Mueller and Danny Sullivan instructed web site creators on December 17, 2025, that optimizing for synthetic intelligence-powered search requires no elementary adjustments from conventional search engine marketing practices. The message straight contradicts months of business claims that new acronyms like GEO, AEO, and LMEO symbolize distinct optimization disciplines requiring specialised methods.

“Every part we do and all of the issues that we tailor and all of the issues that we attempt to enhance, it is all about how can we reward content material that human beings discover satisfying,” Sullivan said throughout the Search Off the Document podcast episode. The former Google Search Liaison emphasised that rating methods prioritize content material written for individuals fairly than algorithms or giant language fashions.

The December 17 podcast arrives amid widespread confusion inside the digital advertising and marketing group about whether or not AI-powered search options demand new optimization approaches. Sullivan acknowledged the pure response amongst professionals seeing format adjustments. “It is comprehensible. I feel individuals actually see stuff they usually suppose they wish to be doing one thing completely different,” he mentioned.

The steerage conflicts with prevailing industry narratives that have promoted AI search optimization as a definite apply requiring specialised information. A number of phrases have emerged all through 2025 making an attempt to model AI search optimization as essentially completely different from search engine marketing, together with Generative Engine Optimization, Reply Engine Optimization, and AI Optimization.

Sullivan expressed reduction at not needing to trace the proliferation of recent acronyms. “My favourite factor is that we must be calling it LMEO as a result of there’s simply so many acronyms for it,” he mentioned. “Is it GEO for generative engine optimization or AEO for reply engine optimization and AIO? I do not know. There’s so many alternative names for it.”

The Search Relations workforce printed steerage in Might 2025 after receiving repeated questions on what web site house owners ought to do in another way for AI search. In keeping with Sullivan, the workforce consulted with engineers earlier than reaching a conclusion. “We got here up with nothing actually that completely different,” he mentioned. “That was form of difficult.”

The problem stems from what Sullivan described as a “north star” precept underlying Google’s rating methods. All methods align towards rewarding content material created primarily for human profit fairly than algorithmic manipulation. “The extra you are making an attempt to optimize or GEO or no matter you suppose it’s for a selected form of system, the extra you are probably going to get away from the principle objective,” Sullivan defined.

Conventional search engine marketing ways centered on gaming particular methods are likely to fail as algorithms enhance, based on Sullivan’s evaluation. Web site creators pursuing momentary benefits by system-specific optimization usually battle when underlying methods evolve. “You went after one particular factor fairly than going after the general objective,” he mentioned.

The podcast dialogue explicitly addressed solely Google’s methods. “We’re solely speaking about Google, proper? That is who we work for,” Sullivan clarified. The steerage doesn’t apply to different AI search platforms or conversational methods from competing know-how firms.

Sullivan positioned AI-focused optimization terminology as a subset of search engine marketing fairly than a substitute self-discipline. “I feel that one reframing of that is that you simply perceive that there is these new codecs and the way do they apply into my world of search engine marketing that I am serious about,” he mentioned. Native search engine marketing and different specialised practices have existed inside the broader search engine marketing self-discipline for years with out requiring fully new frameworks.

The framing acknowledges that completely different content material varieties might require particular issues whereas sustaining connection to elementary optimization rules. Sullivan in contrast the scenario to native search optimization, which addresses particular itemizing necessities with out divorcing itself from core search engine marketing ideas.

Mueller contributed comparatively transient feedback throughout the December 17 dialogue, primarily asking questions that allowed Sullivan to develop on Google’s perspective. The Search Advocate position focuses on developer relations fairly than public coverage communication round search product adjustments.

Sullivan emphasised that many web site creators don’t want to consider search engine marketing in any respect. “If you happen to’re not an search engine marketing, you did not do search engine marketing, you do not take into consideration search engine marketing or you do not even know what which means, nice,” he mentioned. “That is fantastic. You need not fear about this in case your content material is on the internet and usually accessible.”

The assertion displays Google’s longstanding place that high quality content material naturally accessible on the internet ought to carry out effectively in search with out handbook optimization. Search Central documentation exists for these wanting technical understanding, however the firm prefers creators concentrate on content material high quality fairly than algorithmic issues.

Sullivan famous constructive reactions to this attitude from some content material creators. “I’ve truly been heartened that I’ve seen a lot of individuals saying issues like, ‘I do not even wish to take into consideration this search engine marketing stuff anymore. I am simply getting again into the enjoyment of writing blogs,'” he mentioned. “That is what we would like you to do. That is the place we expect you are going to discover your most success.”

The steerage creates issues for search engine marketing professionals whose purchasers demand AI-specific optimization companies. Sullivan acknowledged the problem of telling purchasers that “the identical outdated stuff” stays efficient when aggressive stress exists to undertake new approaches. “I get you need the flamboyant new sort of factor, however the historical past is that the flamboyant new sort of factor would not at all times form of stick round,” he mentioned.

search engine marketing practitioners can place conventional greatest practices as the muse for achievement with AI options, based on Sullivan’s advised method. The emphasis stays on confirmed strategies fairly than experimental ways focusing on particular AI behaviors. “The perfect recommendation I can inform you in the case of how we’ll achieve success with our AEO is that we proceed on doing the stuff that we have been doing,” he mentioned.

Mueller in contrast the present AI search transition to historic patterns the place web site creators tried optimization for a number of search engines like google concurrently. Earlier than Google’s dominance, some creators constructed separate variations of content material for AltaVista, WebCrawler, and Open Textual content. “They might do six completely different variations of content material for six completely different search engines like google,” Mueller mentioned.

These multi-engine optimization methods diminished as search engines like google converged towards related high quality analysis approaches. The underlying methods aimed towards the identical objectives, making engine-specific ways much less beneficial over time. Related patterns might emerge with AI search optimization as methods mature.

Sullivan highlighted authentic content material creation as the first energy for web site success in AI-powered search environments. Commodity content material representing primary factual info turns into more and more difficult to monetize as language fashions current that info straight. “Extra of this form of commodity stuff, it is not going to essentially be your energy,” Sullivan mentioned.

The traditional instance includes annual searches for Tremendous Bowl begin occasions. A number of web sites historically created prolonged articles about recreation occasions, burying the precise reply inside in depth background info. “After which sooner or later we may see sufficient info and we’ve information feeds and all the pieces else that we simply form of mentioned, ‘The Tremendous Bowl goes to be at 3:30,'” Sullivan defined.

Most customers favor direct solutions for commodity questions fairly than clicking by to web site articles. “Thanks for telling me the time of the Tremendous Bowl,” Sullivan mentioned, characterizing typical consumer reactions. Publishers beforehand competing for that site visitors confronted adjustment challenges, although the data lacked inherent originality.

Sullivan nervous that some web sites over-invest in commodity content material optimization. Websites producing substantial site visitors from each day phrase recreation solutions exemplify the sample. “That’s nice till the system shifts or no matter and it’s normal sufficient or we’re pulling it from a feed or no matter and now it is like, ‘This is the reply,'” he mentioned.

Authentic voice represents what solely particular person creators can present. “Your authentic voice is that factor that solely you may present. It is your specific take,” Sullivan emphasised. Content material differentiation by distinctive perspective turns into extra beneficial as AI methods deal with primary informational queries.

Genuine content material creation extends past written codecs. Sullivan highlighted video and podcast content material as alternatives for firsthand views. “Individuals are additionally in search of authentic content material that is genuine to them, which usually means it is a video, it is a podcast, as a result of we’re speaking. See, now we’re extra genuine,” he mentioned.

Google has integrated more social and experiential content into search outcomes, reflecting consumer demand for private views alongside skilled evaluation. “Individuals need that generally, such as you’re simply eager to know somebody’s firsthand expertise alongside some skilled tackle it as effectively,” Sullivan mentioned.

The multimodal side represents one other space the place AI search and conventional search align. Sullivan dislikes the time period multimodal however acknowledged its technical accuracy. Customers can search with one content material sort and obtain leads to one other format. “I used to be strolling round in Portland and I noticed these geese on the bottom,” Sullivan recounted. “I did a video of them after which I despatched it off to Google. ‘What are they doing?’ And it got here again and it mentioned, ‘They’re consuming.'”

The system recognized the exercise from visible enter and supplied textual responses. Sullivan reported utilizing this performance extensively for numerous duties. “I used to be clearing out my closets and eliminating some stuff and I am like simply taking footage of issues. ‘What is that this price?'” he mentioned.

Content material creators producing pictures and video alongside textual content probably achieve alternatives in multimodal search experiences. The advice applies past AI-specific options to conventional search outcomes. “This is not simply AI particular. It has been one among this stuff that one thing that you could possibly be considering of,” Sullivan mentioned.

Structured information obtained transient point out as probably useful with out representing a important issue. “It wasn’t like if you did not have structured information, that is it. You are executed for,” Sullivan mentioned. The workforce included structured information steerage as a result of professionals don’t at all times contemplate it, although it capabilities as one optimization factor amongst many fairly than a breakthrough tactic.

Success measurement represents the ultimate main steerage space. Sullivan emphasised that web site house owners should outline their very own success metrics past easy click on quantity. “Generally, even on this age, individuals aren’t seeming to even outline what their success is past ‘I received a variety of clicks,'” he mentioned.

High quality clicks and high quality conversions matter greater than uncooked site visitors numbers, based on Google’s evaluation. New AI codecs seem to ship extra engaged guests. “The one actual factor that we have been discovering with these new codecs is that folks arrive they usually appear to be extra engaged after they get there,” Sullivan mentioned.

Time on web site gives a proxy metric for engagement high quality. Google tracks go to length to grasp whether or not customers discover content material satisfying after clicking by from AI-generated responses. “We are able to perceive the time of visits or no matter and so we are able to perceive they’re spending extra time on the websites,” Sullivan defined.

Multiple industry studies have documented higher conversion rates from AI search site visitors in comparison with conventional natural search guests. Analysis printed by Semrush in June 2025 discovered AI search guests reveal 4.4 occasions increased worth than typical natural site visitors when measured by conversion metrics.

Sullivan believes AI codecs enhance contextual consciousness earlier than customers attain web sites. Conventional search usually requires a number of queries as customers refine understanding of their very own wants. “You do a search, you get some outcomes again, possibly you click on on one thing, you go, ‘That is probably not it.’ You click on again. You do one other search,” he mentioned.

Question fan-out methods enable AI methods to carry out a number of associated searches concurrently. Mueller defined that the method “does an entire bunch of searches for you” based mostly on understanding consumer intent. The great info gathering occurs earlier than presenting outcomes, probably explaining improved engagement metrics.

The technical implementation creates conditions the place web sites rank in conventional search outcomes however not in AI-generated responses. Sullivan addressed this confusion straight. “The search is what the particular person looked for, however we went past that with the AIOs when all these incremental issues,” he mentioned.

AI Mode customers obtain in depth contextual info bringing them nearer to their precise info wants. “When you have been getting a variety of these incremental clicks they usually’ve clicked away, possibly that was a go to, however possibly that wasn’t actually a superb worth to you,” Sullivan advised. “Whereas the individuals coming in who’re changing higher could be higher prospects.”

Conversion monitoring requires website-specific implementation past Google’s normal instruments. Search Console can not mechanically measure conversions with out integration with analytics platforms monitoring consumer habits past preliminary touchdown. “If you wish to go into that deep, they’re means past the form of stuff I take care of,” Sullivan acknowledged.

The underlying message emphasised measurement sophistication. “Measure your full worth. That is what you are asking. How do I do know if I am profitable? It is like, effectively, we do not know the way you understand for those who’re profitable. Solely you understand that you understand how you are profitable,” Sullivan mentioned.

Sullivan in contrast present AI search evolution to historic search improvement. Earlier than fashionable know-how enabled pure language processing, customers interacted with search engines like google by restricted key phrase inputs. He cited Brian Pinkerton’s traditional metaphor about somebody strolling right into a library and saying solely “journey” to a librarian.

“The librarian would flip to you and say, ‘Effectively, okay, that is good. Did you wish to journey anyplace specifically? Are you curious about the historical past of journey? Are you eager to go on a ship, on a airplane, a prepare?'” Sullivan recounted. Search engines like google lacked conversational skill, forcing improvement of proxy alerts for understanding intent.

Fashionable AI search allows the pure conversational search customers most likely wished initially. “You possibly can have these conversations. You can begin off with the dialog the place you may go in and say, ‘I wish to make a pizza. Are you able to inform me the sorts of stoves that might be helpful for me to make use of if I wish to do it in my yard or backyard or no matter?'” Sullivan defined.

The pure interplay sample probably advantages everybody concerned. “If it re-energizes individuals to wish to search, then hopefully everyone’s being profitable alongside the best way,” Sullivan mentioned.

The steerage arrives as Google faces mounting criticism from publishers experiencing site visitors declines following AI Overview enlargement. Analysis analyzing 300,000 key phrases discovered AI Overviews scale back natural clicks by 34.5% when current in search outcomes, based on April 2025 evaluation from Ahrefs.

Google executives together with Nick Fox and Liz Reid have defended AI search features all through 2025, sustaining that “the online is prospering” regardless of writer considerations. The corporate emphasised high quality over amount in referral site visitors, suggesting fewer however extra beneficial clicks symbolize constructive outcomes.

Sullivan’s December 17 message to web site creators maintains consistency with earlier Google statements. The basic recommendation stays unchanged: create high quality content material for human audiences, implement primary technical greatest practices, and measure outcomes based mostly on enterprise aims fairly than self-importance metrics.

The podcast episode was recorded and printed on December 17, 2025, showing on Google Search Central’s YouTube channel. The dialogue represented a part of the continuing Search Off the Document sequence that includes conversations between Google Search workforce members about business matters.

Timeline

Might 2024: Google launches AI Overviews globally, starting enlargement throughout 100+ nations

Might 2025: Google Search Relations workforce publishes weblog submit advising no adjustments wanted for AI search optimization

Might 20, 2025: Google expands AI Mode entry to all United States customers, eliminating previous waitlist restrictions

June 16, 2025: search engine marketing advisor Aleyda Solis releases complete AI Search Content material Optimization Guidelines

June 17, 2025: Google integrates AI Mode information into Search Console efficiency totals

June 25, 2025: Liz Reid discusses AI Mode advertising rollout and spam prevention measures

July 8, 2025: Brainlabs publishes analysis displaying AI search requires multi-platform visibility methods

July 16, 2025: SEO expert warns about potential “Zero Result SERP” scenario as AI Overviews scale back natural site visitors

August 14, 2025: John Mueller warns against AI SEO acronym hype on Bluesky

October 27, 2025: CEO dismisses SEO professional believing AI makes conventional optimization out of date, site visitors drops 70%

December 11, 2025: Google launches December 2025 core update affecting rating methods globally

December 15, 2025: Nick Fox tells publishers AI search requires identical optimization as conventional search

December 17, 2025: John Mueller and Danny Sullivan publish Search Off the Document podcast explaining conventional search engine marketing practices stay efficient for AI search

Abstract

Who: Danny Sullivan, Google Search Liaison, and John Mueller, Search Advocate at Google Switzerland, mentioned search engine marketing and AI search optimization on the Search Off the Document podcast. Sullivan beforehand spent 20 years writing about search earlier than becoming a member of Google, whereas Mueller handles developer relations for the search workforce.

What: Google’s Search Relations workforce said that optimizing for AI-powered search options requires no elementary adjustments from conventional search engine marketing practices. The steerage straight contradicts business narratives selling new optimization acronyms like GEO, AEO, and LMEO as distinct disciplines. The workforce emphasised that every one rating methods reward content material created primarily for human profit fairly than algorithmic manipulation, whether or not showing in conventional blue hyperlinks or AI-generated responses.

When: The podcast episode was recorded and printed on December 17, 2025, following months of business confusion about AI search optimization necessities. The steerage builds on weblog submit printed in Might 2025 after the Search Relations workforce consulted with engineers about what web site house owners ought to do in another way for AI options.

The place: The message applies particularly to Google’s search ecosystem, together with conventional net search, AI Overviews working in 200 nations and 40 languages, and AI Mode accessible in the USA and India. Sullivan explicitly said the steerage doesn’t cowl different firms’ AI search methods or conversational platforms.

Why: Google emphasised this message to deal with widespread confusion inside the digital advertising and marketing group about whether or not AI-powered search calls for new optimization approaches. The corporate desires web site creators specializing in authentic, genuine content material for human audiences fairly than pursuing system-specific ways that will fail as algorithms enhance. Sullivan acknowledged pure reactions to format adjustments however careworn that chasing momentary benefits by specialised optimization usually proves counterproductive as underlying methods evolve towards rewarding real high quality.