Marketers Brace for Impact as Google Bets on AI-First Search

Google’s latest AI search push is being viewed by marketers and publishers as one of the most significant changes to the web’s discovery ecosystem in decades.

At Google I/O on May 20, 2025, where the company made clear that its future is increasingly centered on AI, including a brand new version of Search, Google unveiled AI Mode, a conversational search experience that increasingly delivers answers directly within Google rather than directing users to a list of external websites. While traditional search results remain available, the company’s vision for search is moving closer to a chatbot-style interface where users can ask follow-up questions and receive synthesized responses without leaving Google’s platform.

Google’s shift toward AI search could ultimately represent a much larger change than a product update. For more than two decades, the internet has largely operated on a simple exchange: search engines sent users to websites, and publishers and brands-built businesses around that traffic. As Google increasingly answers questions itself, many marketers and media executives see the move as a potential turning point in how people discover information online.

While speaking with AdBuzzDaily about Liquid I.V.’s latest campaign, Brittany Shaw, Vice President of Integrated Marketing, said the brand is taking a wait-and-see approach to Google’s evolving AI Search updates as it continues to monitor their potential impact on consumer behavior and marketing performance.

“It is an area that we’re always staying on top of and looking at,” said Shaw. “And right now, just based on the update, we’re kind of talking internally and evaluating what this means for us.”

For marketers, the implications extend beyond traffic. Search campaigns have historically been built around rankings, keywords, clicks, and conversions. As users interact with AI-generated responses instead of traditional search results, those metrics become less reliable indicators of influence. The shift could also raise questions about future search ad spending.

Tom Parling, founder of Growthvibe, said the shift toward AI-powered search, as highlighted in Google’s latest update to its search experience, puts pressure on the traditional paid search model built around keyword bidding and static ad placements. Parling added that AI search engines now generate complete, synthesized answers directly within the results page, meaning ads are increasingly competing against an “answer layer” that users may trust more than a standard list of links.

“The brands that succeed will be the ones that build strong organic authority alongside their paid ads,” said Parling. “AI search engines naturally favor recognizable brands, even in paid spaces, because trust signals play a huge role in [who gets featured], no matter how high your bid is.’”

If fewer users are clicking through to websites and spending more time engaging with AI-generated answers, marketers will be watching closely to see whether traditional paid search delivers the same performance it once did. That could force brands to rethink how they measure return on investment and whether visibility inside Google’s AI ecosystem becomes more valuable than driving traffic alone.

“For a long time, small to mid-sized businesses had a real shortcut into a market by running paid search campaigns focused on the bottom of the funnel, capturing the people already typing buying intent keywords,” said Jake Petzkeat, digital marketing director at RefractROI. It wasn’t elegant, but it worked.”

Publishers are facing an even more direct threat. Much of the web’s business model depends on Google sending people to websites. If AI-generated summaries answer questions before users ever leave Search, those clicks may never materialize. That’s why many publishers and marketers aren’t viewing AI Mode as just another product launch in this manner as they’re viewing it as a potential rewrite of the relationship between Google and the open web, one that could determine who gets discovered, who gets traffic, and who gets paid in the next era of the internet.

A recent FTI Consulting consumer survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, released last month, suggests the shift toward AI-driven discovery is already influencing brand perception. The standout finding shows that nearly one in four Gen Z consumers, 22 percent, say AI search tools already typically shape how they perceive a brand, indicating that these systems are not just used occasionally for information but are becoming a regular part of how younger audiences form opinions about companies and products.

Google declined a request to comment for this story.