Google AI Mode is a conversational interface inside Google Search: for a complex question, Gemini assembles an answer from several background searches, backs it with links, and lets the user keep going with follow-up questions. It has been available in Hungary, in Hungarian, since autumn 2025. For your business, it means visibility depends less on a single ranking and more on whether you are among the sources the answer cites.
Headlines love to call AI Mode "the end of SEO". We don't buy it. It runs on the same content and the same indexable pages as before; they are just read differently and measured differently. What genuinely changes: simple questions send fewer clicks, and appearing in the answer as a cited source becomes worth more.
- AI Mode is a conversational AI answer experience within Google Search, available in Hungary and in Hungarian since October 2025.
- To build an answer, Google runs multiple related searches in the background (query fan-out), so the set of linked pages is wider than on a classic results page.
- There is no special technical requirement: a page has to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet.
- AI Mode clicks and impressions are included in the Search Console Performance report, and follow-up questions count as new queries.
- What you can do: pages that answer specific sub-questions, verifiable facts, consistent company information everywhere, and measurement based on your own conversions.
What is AI Mode, and how is it different from AI Overviews?
People tend to lump the two together, but they serve different purposes. An AI Overview is a summary at the top of the regular results page, and according to Google it only appears when the system decides it adds something to classic Search. AI Mode is a separate experience built entirely around the AI answer, and the conversation can continue.
Google Search Central's "AI features and your website" documentation says AI Mode is particularly helpful for queries that call for further exploration, reasoning or complex comparisons. The same page explains that both features may use a query fan-out technique: issuing multiple related searches across subtopics and data sources, which lets Google show a wider and more diverse set of links than a classic search. It also states that the two features may use different models and techniques, so the answers and links they show will differ.
The practical upshot: being cited in AI Overviews doesn't mean you'll show up in AI Mode, and vice versa. We've covered how AI Overviews choose sources separately; here we focus on what's specific to AI Mode.
| Aspect | Classic results | AI Overview | AI Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where does it appear? | On the results page | Top of the results page, not on every search | In a separate, conversational experience |
| Best for | Short, specific searches | A quick summary | Complex, multi-step, comparative questions |
| Can the user continue? | No, it takes a new search | Not what it's built for | Yes, with follow-up questions |
| Your "spot" | A position in the list | A cited source | A cited source, potentially across several sub-questions |
Who sees it in Hungary, and what do they use it for?
In its October 2025 announcement, Google launched AI Mode in more than 35 new languages and over 40 new countries and territories, bringing it to over 200 in total, many of them in Europe. According to the list published by Search Engine Roundtable, that round included both the Hungarian language and Hungary. So this isn't a US-only experiment: some of your customers already search this way.
There's no public data on how many do so in Hungary, and we're not going to invent a number. What we can see is the kind of question AI Mode suits: the ones that used to take three or four searches and five open tabs. A few typical examples from our own client base:
- "How should I choose an e-commerce platform if I have 3,000 products and need inventory sync?"
- "What's the difference between server-side and browser-based tracking under GDPR?"
- "Which Budapest agency does both custom software and marketing?"
These aren't short keywords; they're decision-making questions. In B2B and for higher-value purchases, this is exactly the stage where buyers decide who to call.
What happens to clicks?
When the answer satisfies the question, fewer people click through. The effect is strongest on simple, factual questions, and you have to plan for it. In the documentation above, Google claims that clicks from results pages with AI Overviews are higher quality. We neither take that at face value nor dismiss it: check it against your own conversion data.
Where can you see AI Mode traffic?
According to the Search Console help page, clicking a link to an external page in AI Mode counts as a click, and the usual rules apply to impressions and position. One detail matters: a follow-up question counts as a new query, and the impressions, positions and clicks in that response are attributed to the new query. That's why you'll see more and more long, conversational queries in your query list.
In June 2026 Google launched the generative AI performance report in Search Console, which shows separately how often links to your site appeared in AI Overviews or AI Mode, broken down by page, country, device and date. It shows impressions only, not clicks: those remain in the regular Performance report, mixed in with all other web search clicks.
What we track
- AI impressions per page: which of your pages Google cites, and which it never does.
- Organic clicks to those same pages in the regular report, compared over time.
- Branded search trends: people who see your name in an answer often search for it later.
- Real conversions from your own systems (quote requests, orders), not just Analytics sessions. Our article on server-side tracking is a good starting point.
What can you do to appear in the answers?
There's no secret AI Mode optimisation, and be wary of anyone selling one. Google's documentation says that to be eligible as a supporting link, a page has to be indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet; there are no additional technical requirements. Within that, four things make the difference in our experience.
1. Make it technically accessible and quotable
If a page isn't indexed, renders slowly or only via JavaScript, or carries an accidental nosnippet directive, AI Mode can't use it as a source either. According to the documentation, nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex apply to AI features too. A technical SEO check will surface this quickly.
2. Answer the sub-questions, not just the main keyword
Because of fan-out, Google isn't searching for one question but for its pieces. A generic "webshop development" service page rarely becomes a source; a page that spells out when you need custom inventory sync, how long a migration takes, and where the developer's responsibility ends and the client's begins is far more likely to. For every key service, we collect the questions clients ask in the first meeting and write a clear, self-contained answer to each.
3. Write verifiably
As a source, an AI answer favours the concrete: dates, version numbers, named standards, step sequences, explicit conditions. "Market-leading solutions" copy can't be quoted because it doesn't claim anything. For the same reason, structured data only helps if it describes what's actually visible on the page; we go into detail in our structured data article.
4. Keep your company's picture consistent everywhere
When AI Mode is asked who does something in Budapest, it may draw on sources beyond your website. If your Google Business Profile, your website and industry mentions describe what you do differently, that creates ambiguity. Describe your services in the same words everywhere.
Where not to spend energy: mass-producing keyword pages with AI, and "AI files" that Google doesn't ask for. llms.txt may be useful for other systems, but it isn't a requirement for appearing in Google's AI Mode.
Frequently asked questions
Can I stop Google AI Mode from using my site?
The documented tools are the existing snippet controls: nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex. But they also restrict how you appear in regular results, so for most businesses it's a bad trade.
Do I need to optimise separately for AI Mode and AI Overviews?
The fundamentals are shared: indexability and concrete, quotable content. But Google says the two features may use different models, so they can show different sources. So don't judge your position from one surface alone: check which pages earn AI impressions in the generative AI performance report, and test your key questions in both experiences.
Why are my impressions rising while clicks aren't?
Because your links shown in AI Mode count in the Performance report, and every follow-up question appears as a new query. You're seen in more places, but not every impression leads to a click. The impression data in the generative AI performance report lets you separate out how much of that comes from AI surfaces.
Does a smaller company stand a chance of being cited?
Yes. Because of fan-out, Google looks for sources for sub-questions, and a focused, well-written specialist page can answer a given sub-question better than a big portal's generic article. Nobody can guarantee it, us included.
If you're curious how quotable your site currently is in AI Mode and other AI search tools, request our free SEO and AI visibility audit. And if you'd like to sort out the content and measurement side too, see how we work as an AI marketing agency.