And So It Begins

Google Expands AI Overviews & Introduces AI Mode – Are We Headed for a Zero-Click Future?

Google’s latest update is another step toward search engine result pages evolving into Wikipedia-style pages—something I’ve been predicting for a while.

The big news is the imminent launch of Google's AI Mode, a new experimental feature that enhances AI responses with deeper reasoning, better comparisons, and interactive follow-ups. Google wants users to stay within search and get rich, AI-driven insights without clicking through to external websites (something I've been again saying for years - Google doesn't want you to leave its search engine.)

What This Means for SEO & Content Strategy:

• Zero-click searches are accelerating – AI responses will push organic results further down or replace them entirely for many queries.
• Google is prioritising AI-generated summaries over traditional rankings – content that feeds into Google’s AI (structured data, expert-led insights, and comprehensive resources) will perform best.
• Search is becoming more dynamic – businesses must optimise for AI-generated discovery rather than just ranking in SERPs.

?As AI-driven answers become more prominent in search, businesses should closely monitor their traffic sources for fluctuations. AI Overviews and AI Mode are shifting user behaviour, meaning fewer traditional clicks and more interactions happening directly within Google’s ecosystem.

If your site relies on organic traffic, now is the time to adapt content for AI discovery. Google will still pull from high-quality sources, so long-form, well-structured, and authoritative content stands the best chance of being referenced in AI-driven results.

Additionally, leveraging Google’s own ecosystem is key. Features like Shopping data, the Knowledge Graph, and Google Business Profiles will likely gain even more importance as Google prioritises integrated, AI-powered responses. Ensuring your business is well-represented across these touchpoints will be essential for maintaining visibility.

Ultimately, Google is shifting from a search engine to a destination, and businesses must rethink their SEO strategies accordingly.

Google CTR Trends Q4 2024: AI Overviews & Industry Shakeups

Clickthrough rates (CTR) are shifting dramatically, with AI Overviews increasingly impacting organic search behaviour. According to the latest report, informational queries lost 7.31 percentage points (pp) in CTR, while AI Overviews surged by 8.83 pp in prevalence. This reinforces what we’ve been seeing: Google’s AI-driven answers are absorbing more traffic, leaving fewer clicks for traditional organic results.

Industry-wise, Law, Government, & Politics sites saw the biggest CTR increase (+7.39 pp) for first-position rankings on desktop, while Science websites took the hardest hit (-6.03 pp drop). Despite Shopping search demand skyrocketing by +142.88% in Q4 (Black Friday effect), first-position CTR actually declined, indicating that Google’s SERP features (ads, AI Overviews, featured snippets) are pulling attention away from traditional listings.

What This Means for you -

• AI Overviews are reshaping organic search—if you’re in an industry that thrives on informational queries, expect more zero-click searches and reduced CTRs.
• First position isn’t a guaranteed win anymore—sectors like Careers, Shopping, and Parenting saw CTR declines despite strong rankings.
• SERP anatomy matters more than ever—tracking pixel depth (where your result appears on the page) could be a more reliable metric than just keyword rankings.

Google’s AI-driven shift is well underway, making it crucial for businesses to optimise for AI discovery, leverage structured data, and track how search behaviours evolve.

Researchers Analyse Bluesky’s Growth, Political Leanings & User Behaviour

Bluesky, the decentralised social media platform, has positioned itself as an alternative to X (formerly Twitter), but a new study reveals that its structure and user interactions mirror traditional social media more than expected.

Researchers from the University of Zurich tracked Bluesky’s evolution from its invite-only launch in early 2023 to over 5.7 million users by mid-2024, noting that major spikes in sign-ups coincided with controversies on X—such as Elon Musk’s announcement of subscription fees or widespread platform bugs.

Key Insights from the Study:

• ?Like other social platforms, engagement is dominated by a small group of highly active users.
• Bluesky skews left politically—over 60% of shared links pointed to left-leaning sources, while just 8% linked to right-leaning outlets.
• Polarisation is still present, even in politically aligned spaces—especially on divisive issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict, which saw a sharp ideological split post-October 7.

Bluesky’s unique open-source, algorithm-agnostic model was expected to foster a different kind of discourse, yet it still follows familiar patterns of engagement concentration, political skew, and issue-based polarisation. This suggests that platform design alone may not solve issues of echo chambers and ideological divides—social dynamics might be the bigger factor.

AI Case Study - Estée Lauder’s AI Makeover

Would you have guessed that Estée Lauder—the heritage beauty brand—would be at the forefront of AI-driven speed and innovation? By integrating AI into trend forecasting, product development, and marketing execution, the company has gone beyond streamlining operations. Now, it’s gaining a competitive edge by acting on insights faster than ever.

I’ve taken a deep dive into how Estée Lauder is using AI and, more importantly, how you can apply these insights to your own business.

AI for Real-Time Trend Forecasting

Estée Lauder’s Trend Studio tracks social media, market data, and consumer behavior to identify emerging trends before they peak. Without AI-driven insights, brands risk always playing catch-up.

Try this yourself:

• Google Trends – Free, real-time search trend tracking.
• Exploding Topics – AI-driven tool for spotting early-stage trends before they go mainstream.
• Brandwatch or Sprinklr – Social listening platforms to track mentions, sentiment, and consumer buzz.

Speeding Up Insights & Decision-Making

Instead of spending days compiling reports, Estée Lauder’s ConsumerIQ retrieves customer insights, sales data, and historical trends instantly. The result is faster product pivots, more responsive marketing, and less wasted effort.

How to do this yourself:

• ChatGPT (Custom GPTs) – Summarises long reports and customer feedback.
• Perplexity AI – AI-powered research assistant to extract and analyse insights from across the web.
• Notion AI or Claude AI – Processes and summarises internal business documents.

AI-Powered Personalisation at Scale

Estée Lauder’s AI-driven marketing tailors content to individual consumers based on behavior, preferences, and location. But without good data, AI-generated content risks becoming generic.

How to do this yourself:

• Segment – AI-driven audience personas based on behaviour.
• Klaviyo – AI-enhanced email marketing that adapts messaging based on customer activity.
• Persado or Jasper – AI-generated messaging that matches tone and engagement patterns.

AI Is a Competitive Necessity, Not Just an Efficiency Tool

I highlighted Estée Lauder’s AI strategy because it’s a gold standard in execution. They haven’t adopted AI for AI’s sake—they’ve built a real competitive advantage by using it strategically. Their edge isn’t just about speed; it’s about acting on data while competitors are still reacting. The same applies to any brand: the faster you turn insight into action, the stronger your competitive edge.