SEO – News: February 2025.

This month’s big news is all about intensifying competition between search engines and cutting-edge AI features. Here are the three key points:

• Microsoft is testing Copilot Search as an alternative to traditional search results
• Google AI Overviews becomes more volatile with 70% changes within a few months
• Google develops new ‘AI Mode’ for exploratory and conversational searches

1. Search revolution: Microsoft is testing Copilot Search

Microsoft is testing a new version of Bing called Copilot Search that fundamentally changes the way search results are presented. Unlike traditional blue links, this new approach uses Copilot AI to deliver summaries and direct answers to users.

What is Copilot Search?

This new search experience differs significantly from both standard Bing, Copilot and the existing Bing generative search feature:

• Replaces traditional links with AI-generated summaries and direct answers
• Bridges the gap between traditional search and Copilot answers for a more integrated experience
• Offers a conversational approach to search where the user can ask follow-up questions
• Significantly different user experience focused on quick information access without leaving the search results page

According to Windows Latest, this is part of Microsoft’s strategy to ‘bridge the gap between traditional search and Copilot answers’ in competition with ChatGPT. No word yet on when we can expect to see this feature widely available.

Implications for digital marketing

This development marks another step in the rapid transformation of the search engine landscape, creating both challenges and opportunities for marketers and SEO specialists:

• SEO strategies now potentially need to be adapted to operate in an environment of AI-generated summaries rather than traditional rankings
• Content marketing requires new approaches that are optimized to be summarized correctly by AI
• Company visibility can change drastically without the familiar ranking mechanisms
• Paid search can become even more important as a supplement to organic traffic

Next steps for marketing teams

For marketing professionals, preparing for these changes in the search engine landscape is crucial to maintain visibility and traffic.

• Experiment with the new platform – Test how your content is presented in Copilot Search
• Adapt your content strategy – Focus on creating content that performs well in AI-powered search results
• Monitor traffic patterns – Keep an eye on changes in traffic sources and user behavior in the coming months

Those businesses that quickly understand and adapt to these new search formats will have a significant competitive advantage in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

2. Google AI is revolutionizing search results on three fronts

Google continues its aggressive transformation of the search universe with three significant AI-powered initiatives that will significantly impact visibility and traffic to websites. These new developments represent the most far-reaching change in search engine functionality since pagerank and will fundamentally change how digital marketing strategies are designed.

AI Overviews more volatile than organic rankings

New analysis from Authoritas shows that Google AI Overviews are significantly more volatile than traditional organic search results.

• As many as 70% of AI Overview rankings change within just 2-3 months.
• Volatility score of 0.68 over 8 weeks compared to 0.49 for organic results.
• Remarkable: 40% of pages in AI Overviews are not in the top 10 organic results at all.

This highlights the importance of monitoring your important keywords continuously and analyzing changes in order to adapt your strategy in time.

Detailed product comparisons in AI Overviews

Google has expanded AI Overviews with comprehensive product comparisons that can have a big impact on traffic to comparison sites. Searches such as “iPhone 15 vs iPhone 15 Pro” now give users detailed specifications in a structured comparison with the option to expand for more detail. The feature already works for a wide range of product categories and can be found both when logged in and logged out of Google Search in the US. This could have significant implications for affiliate sites and comparison portals that previously dominated these searches and earned commission based on traffic.

YouTube citations increase significantly in AI Overviews

BrightEdge reports a dramatic increase in YouTube citations in Google AI Overviews since the start of the year:

• 25.21% increase in YouTube citations in Google AI Overviews since January 1
• Instructional content up 35.6%, visual demonstrations up 32.5%
• Verification/examples with 22.5% increase
• Healthcare is seeing the biggest impact with 41.97% increase
• E-commerce follows with a 30.87% increase in YouTube citations

This means that your YouTube channel has now become a central element of your SEO strategy, not just a separate marketing channel. To maximize visibility, you need to convert text-based content into engaging videos, especially for instructional searches and product demonstrations.

3. Google tests new ‘AI Mode’ for exploratory questions

Google is developing a new search feature called ‘AI Mode’, designed to handle open-ended and exploratory questions. The feature is described as “Search that intelligently researches for you – organizing information into easy-to-digest breakdowns with links to content across the web.”

The feature, powered by Gemini 2.0, is particularly suitable for consultative questions and comparisons that traditional search does not handle optimally. Examples include: “How many packs of spaghetti should I buy for 6 adults and 10 children with enough for a second serving?” and “Compare wool, down and synthetic jackets in terms of insulation, water repellency and durability.”

A significant new feature is the ability to ask follow-up questions in the same session, making the search experience more conversational and context-aware:

• The user can ask follow-up questions and the AI remembers the context of previous questions
• The system presents information in a structured form with clear citations
• AI Mode can act as a personal researcher, summarizing information from many sources
• It integrates directly into Google Search, as opposed to a separate service like Bard/Gemini

Implications for your company’s online visibility

This development is likely to revolutionize the way your business achieves online visibility. With Google’s AI Mode, we can expect a further decrease in direct clicks to external websites, reinforcing the downward trend we already see with AI Overviews. To survive in this new landscape, content strategies must be rethought from the ground up. It’s no longer just about ranking high, but about being selected as a credible source in AI-generated summaries.

To future-proof your digital presence, you should focus on creating content that is tailored to be cited by AI: content that is fact-based, logically structured, establishes clear expertise, and covers topics exhaustively without redundancy. These are no longer just good SEO practices – they are survival conditions in the new AI-driven search era.

Want to know more about how you can optimize your content for the new AI-powered search world? Contact us for a no-obligation meeting and get a free analysis of your current SEO strategy in light of these new developments.