Scott Lenik's Linkedin Analytics

Is Google’s AI Mode the beginning of the end for organic traffic? Every brand wants to be found. Visibility drives traffic. Traffic drives sales. Simple. But here’s the uncomfortable bit: Your content, the stuff you’ve poured time, budget and brains is in all likelihood quietly training the AI that will replace your site in search results. Google's AI Mode is being trialed as a Search Labs opt-in (currently US-only). It's powered by Gemini 2.0 and could shape the future of how information is found. Its a big deal. No more ten blue links. Users ask a question, and Gemini answers essentially summarising your blog, your product page, your thought leadership... without necessarily sending anyone your way. With 60% of Gen Z already replacing traditional search with AI tools, the shift is arguably already here. Here’s why that should make advertisers, publishers and agencies pay attention: 🔹 Conversational dominance 70% of people never click past page one. Now they might not click at all. 🔹 SEO disruption Early tests show AI summaries can slash organic clicks by 40–50%. That’s not a tweak that’s a total reshaping of how traffic flows. 🔹 Ethical grey zones The AI doesn’t just index your content. It digests, rewrites and reuses it. No consent. No credit. No compensation. No analytics breakdown in the search console. 🔹 Real-world fallout Media brands like The Guardian and BBC depend on clicks to monetise content. If AI strips that out, the whole model starts to wobble. And then there’s the kicker: 💰 Google’s search ads made $198.1 billion in 2024. If organic gets harder, paid gets more essential. Coincidence? Brands can’t afford to wait this out. 🧠 Gate what matters 💬 Build direct comms (newsletters, communities, owned platforms) 🎯 Optimise for summarisation, not just search ranking 💡 Rethink ad formats for AI-native search Search is changing. Again. But this time, we’re not just playing by new rules We might not even be invited to the game. How are you preparing your brand for the shift? 👋 I’m Scott Lenik, founder of the Neverbland Group, digital experience and growth partners to ambitious forward thinking brands. I post twice weekly insights on the role of AI, DX and entrepreneurship 🔔