In our tests on Friday, October 10, we see that AI Mode is sporadically available for some users. It is typical for Google to switch features on and off while they are being tested in new markets, so we can expect AI Mode to be fully rolled out to all users in Norway in the near future.
Updated 14 October:We’re seeing that more users are starting to see AI Mode as an option also outside of Incognito mode in the browser. This indicates that Google is in the process of rolling out the feature to all users in Norway.
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Why is Google AI Mode a more important development for your website than ChatGPT?
AI Mode can have a greater impact on your traffic and conversion numbers than the introduction of ChatGPT.
There are many different measurements and figures for the market shares of Google and ChatGPT, but most agree that 80–90% of all searches are still conducted on Google – globally. Number two on the list is ChatGPT. Looking at the different AI tools in isolation, ChatGPT has a market share just below 80%.
This distribution makes the launch of AI Mode particularly important and interesting for you if you depend on organic traffic to your website. In addition, a study from Semrush shows that AI Mode displays more references (links) to other websites in its answers than AI Overview and ChatGPT.
Our first impressions of Google AI Mode in Norway
At Solid Media, we closely monitor developments in search platforms and search behavior.
In our early tests, we see that AI Mode often cites and refers to different websites than those that typically appear in AI Overviews. This is confirmed by the Semrush study, which states that only 35% of the URLs shown in AI Mode also appeared on the traditional first page of Google.
At the same time, as many as 92% of the searches in the study displayed links in a sidebar, which means that AI Mode will continue to be an important traffic source going forward. In our tests, we see that AI Mode often links through to dedicated Google pages that pull information from Google My Business. This is an example of why it will be important to analyze which types of search queries generate links to different types of pages further on.
