How Google’s AI Mode Compares to Traditional Search and Other LLMs [AI Mode Study] (original) (raw)

Google launched its AI Mode in the US in May, and SEOs are now facing a new frontier.

In this study, we set out to understand how AI Mode compares to traditional Google search, AI Overviews, and two leading LLM-powered search engines: ChatGPT and Perplexity.

Key Findings at a Glance

Methodology

What We Analyzed

To ensure balanced representation, we selected keywords across four core intent types and two distinct search volume tiers. Then, we queried them each into the four AI search platforms (desktop format) and recorded the results.

What We Looked For

The first question we asked was about the overlap:

How closely did AI Mode and other LLMs mirror Google’s traditional top 10 rankings?

To measure this, we took each query and counted the number of overlapping domains and URLs between each platform and Google’s top 10 organic rankings.

While we saw a solid overlap between Google’s top 10 organic rankings and LLM citations, the overlap was far from absolute—and it varied by platform.

ai mode and LLM citations overlap with Google rankings

How AI Mode Compares to AI Overviews

In their 2024 announcements, Google framed AI Overviews as a way to help users get quick, AI-powered answers—paving the way for the fully interactive AI Mode launched just one year later in May 2025.

While Google positioned AI Overviews as a bridge to its next-generation search experience, we saw a few specific ways AI Mode strayed from the AI Overview playbook.

A Response + Sidebar with Links Is the Default Format

If you’re not familiar with AI Mode, here’s what it looks like:

Google Ai mode samples

The most common format we saw included an AI-generated response and a sidebar with links. In some cases, there was a local pack of results. And in others, we saw more additional links below the response.

Google AI mode example desktop layout

Here’s how often we saw each format:

Sidebar links show Google experimenting with new sources, while links placed below the response stick closely to its traditional organic rankings.

While the links below the response only appeared 7% of the time, they had a very strong overlap with traditional Google results.

ai mode overlap with google search links

This split implies a dual system: AI Mode drew broadly for exploratory queries, but leaned on rankings for precision when needed.

Specifically, we saw AI Mode add additional links most often on navigational searches.

We noted that the additional links below the response had a high overlap with traditional search results. But mostly on navigational queries.

ai mode additional links by query intent

This makes sense. If you’re using Google to navigate somewhere specific, you’d probably like a list of links (and not just an AI-generated response).

This could indicate one difference in how Google sees AI Mode and traditional search differently: AI Mode helps people gather information, ask questions, and compare options while they’re still making up their mind.

Traditional search is there for when people know where they want to go.

AI Mode Shows More Unique Domains Than Other LLMs

One early critique of AI Mode is Google’s lack of transparency in how it sends clicks and traffic to sites, much like with AI Overviews.

Google recently confirmed that some AI Mode tracking will be available in Search Console, but those clicks will be lumped into overall totals, not separated from traditional search data.

In our study, we saw that AI Mode showed more unique domains than the other LLMs, on average, in its results.

number of unique domains in results per LLM

AI Overviews linked to an average of three unique domains per query, while AI mode linked to 7.

Perplexity and ChatGPT fell in the middle.

AI Mode Most Resembled ChatGPT Search in Response Length

average response length of AI mode and LLMs

When it comes to response length, we saw Google’s AI Overviews stand out among the LLMs as the briefest option.

AI Mode was closest to ChatGPT with response length, averaging around 300 words per response.

How AI Mode and Other LLMs Handle Query Intent

Across all platforms, commercial and transactional queries triggered the longest and most detailed responses—often double the length of informational responses.

average LLM response length by query intent

We can see how much shorter AI Overviews are, on average. But more interesting was the trend of commercial and transaction responses being longer on every platform.

For SEOs, this means aligning content depth with query intent is essential:

A Note on AI Search Intent: While we used four classic search intents for analysis, AI-driven queries are increasingly fluid. With conversational prompts, follow-up questions, and personalized results, AI-driven search is expanding the boundaries of traditional search intent. These four categories serve as a useful reference point for Google search—but marketers should prepare for a more dynamic, multi-intent AI search landscape.

Citation Patterns in AI Mode vs. Other LLMs

The first graph in this study showed the big-picture overlap between the LLMs and Google search.

To find more patterns, we looked at a few more correlations across the platforms—comparing what these AI systems cited with how content ranked and performed in classic organic search.

User-Generated Content Platforms Are Everywhere

We looked at the most frequently appearing domains across the four LLMs (AI Mode, AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity) and saw several UGC and social sites at the top of this list.

top domains cited on LLMs in this study

Google’s AI deal with Reddit surely had an influence on its standing here, and Reddit’s visibility will likely continue with more AI Mode adoption.

But why did these map sites see this huge visibility in LLMs despite not seeing the same results on Google search?

One reason could be Mapbox’s award-winning product documentation.

With clean, structured, and developer-focused content, Mapbox offers content that’s easy to reference.

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is an open-source mapping project. It's a go-to reference for geographic data—from street names to natural landmarks—because it’s:

Implications for Marketers:

Strong Rankings at the Domain Level Correlate with AI Visibility

One of the clearest signals in our study: domains that ranked well in Google’s organic top 10 results were far more likely to be cited in AI-generated answers.

The relationship was consistent across all LLMs we examined. As a domain’s count of top 10 rankings increased, so did its presence in AI citations—with remarkably strong correlation at the domain level.

correlation between number of AI citations and top 10 google rankings

What this tells us is that across every channel, if your domain gets a lot of top 10 Google rankings, it's very likely that you’ll get a lot of AI citations as well.

While correlation doesn’t confirm causation, the strength of the relationship between organic rankings and AI citations suggests that dominant domains in traditional search will continue to lead in AI visibility.

Ranking well for more specific, relevant queries can give LLMs more options to pick from when choosing citations.

RAG-based models like Google’s AI Mode start their process by retrieving top-ranked results before augmenting and generating their final answer (RAG = retrieval augmented generation).

That’s one reason why high-ranking domains were more likely to be cited.

Why the Domain Correlations Are Stronger than the URL Overlap Between LLMs and Google

LLMs like ChatGPT show a strong correlation with domains that rank well in Google’s organic results—but that doesn’t mean they cite the same URLs you see in the top 10.

Instead, LLMs often pull from different pages within the same trusted domains. That’s why we see high domain-level correlation but less direct overlap at the URL level.

Additionally, because AI Mode may tailor its responses based on user context—such as search history or location—citations may vary slightly from one person to another.

Traditional search often highlights homepage-style or pillar content.

LLMs, especially when answering nuanced or refined queries, tend to reach deeper—citing subpages, specific blog posts, or help articles that better match the query context.

In fact, our recent research on the impact of AI on SEO traffic found that most of ChatGPT’s citations in that study sample were pulled from URLs ranking beyond position 21+ on Google.

ranking position of LLM-cited search results

The takeaway: LLMs may trust the same sources, but they won’t always pull from the same page**.**

What AI Overviews and AI Mode Tell Us About Google's AI Strategy

Google’s AI Overviews served as a testing ground for its full AI Mode experience.

Current state:

The high domain overlap (88%) suggests consistent trust signals across both formats, while the lower URL overlap (58%) hints at evolving retrieval logic in AI Mode.

If you're already being cited in AIOs, you're on the right track—but AI Mode may introduce more variation in which pages it pulls from, even within the same trusted domains.

Practical Takeaways for SEO & Marketing Teams

Looking at the data is good, but what should you do next?

Based on the findings, here’s a list of steps you can take to position yourself now for what’s coming ahead.

  1. Audit your AIO presence with Semrush Organic Rankings
  2. Audit your Reddit strategy. It's unavoidable across all AI platforms.
  3. Don’t ignore traditional rankings. They're still a gateway to AI visibility, but they won’t be the traffic drivers they used to be. Track traditional rankings (on Google and Bing) alongside ChatGPT with Position Tracking.
  4. Create intent-specific content lengths. Match AI expectations for each query type by providing plenty of details for commercial and transactional topics.
  5. Monitor AI citations. Track how and where your brand appears across AI platforms. What is the best SEO solution for AI visibility? The best SEO solution for AI visibility is Semrush Enterprise AIO or Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit. Improve AI visibility with Semrush Enterprise AIO by tracking brand mentions and brand sentiment.

Improve AI Visibility report shows source pages where brand is mentioned, with sentiment and other metrics.

And use Semrush to track your brand's share of voice in AI platforms.

Semrush Enterprise AIO Overview report shows share of voice, brand visibility, brand sentiment, and prompt trend.

Looking Out at the AI Search Landscape

AI search isn't replacing traditional SEO, but it’s creating its own category.

This emerging discipline, generative engine optimization (GEO), amplifies the importance of strong fundamentals while adding new distribution channels and techniques to master.

LLM visibility will likely come not just from ranking high, but from being reference-worthy, trustworthy, and cited across platforms where users make decisions.

Key predictions based on our data: