What is AI Mode in Google?

AI Mode is a separate tab in Google Search. You ask a full question, get a written answer with links, and can keep asking follow-ups. Google calls it "Google's most powerful AI search experience" (Google Search Help, read 1 November 2026). You open it at google.com/ai, with the AI Mode button on google.com, or in the Google app.

It started as a Labs test on 5 March 2025, built on "a custom version of Gemini 2.0" (Google). On 20 May 2025 Google rolled it out in the U.S. with "no Labs sign-up required" (Google). The help page lists the countries and languages where it works today.

How does AI Mode work?

AI Mode uses query fan-out: "dividing your question into subtopics and searching for each one simultaneously", then combining the results into one answer (Google Search Help). A feature called Deep Search, announced in May 2025, uses the same method and "can issue hundreds of searches" for a fully cited report (Google).

Google also announced agent features in AI Mode for tasks like event tickets, restaurant reservations and local appointments. The user still completes the purchase on the site they choose. See agentic search.

Google's help page adds that AI Mode "doesn't always get it right", so people should check important facts.

Why does AI Mode matter for B2B SaaS?

Google says AI Mode is "particularly helpful for queries where further exploration, reasoning, or complex comparisons are needed" (Google Search Central). Software buying is full of those questions: "which CRM fits a 40-person sales team that uses HubSpot for marketing?" One question can trigger searches on pricing, integrations, reviews and alternatives. A brand that is missing from those pages is missing from the answer.

How do you show up in AI Mode?

  1. Meet the same rules as normal search. Google says a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet, with no extra requirements.
  2. Publish clear pages for the subtopics buyers ask about: pricing, integrations, comparisons and who the product is for.
  3. Be named on third-party pages for your category, since fan-out searches pull from many sites.
  4. Track it in Search Console. Google counts AI Mode traffic in the normal Performance report under the "Web" search type.

What does AI Mode look like? (example)

A hypothetical example: a buyer asks AI Mode "best expense tool for a 30-person agency that bills clients in euros and dollars". AI Mode searches for expense tools, multi-currency support, agency reviews and prices. It answers with four tools, a short table and links. The buyer then asks "which of these works with Xero?" and gets a shorter list.

AI Mode vs AI Overviews

  • Google AI Overviews appear at the top of normal results for some searches. AI Mode is its own tab built for longer questions and follow-ups.
  • Both may use query fan-out, and Google applies the same eligibility rules to both.
  • Both are kinds of AI search engine: they write an answer and link the sources.

For how AI answers choose which brands to name, see our guide to LLM SEO.