May 2025 was absolutely packed with developments, and most of them centred around one theme: artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping how people search and how Google presents information. From AI Mode’s full rollout to new shopping features in ChatGPT, the landscape shifted significantly this month.
If you’re managing a website or running a business that depends on search traffic, understanding what happened in May is crucial for adapting your strategy going forward.
AI Mode Officially Rolls Out to All U.S. Searchers
The biggest announcement of the month came during Google’s I/O event on 20th May: AI Mode was moving from Labs (Google’s experimental features programme) to a full rollout across the United States.
AI Mode isn’t the same as AI Overviews, which you might already be familiar with. AI Mode is a more conversational, in-depth AI experience that provides deeper responses to complex search queries. Google described it as “particularly helpful for queries where further exploration, reasoning, or comparisons are needed.”
The feature supports searching with text, voice, and images, and offers conversational follow-up questions similar to how you’d interact with Gemini directly. It’s essentially Google’s answer to ChatGPT – a way to have an extended conversation with an AI to explore a topic in depth.
Over the next few weeks following the announcement, AI Mode began appearing as a new tab on the Search home page for U.S. users. It runs on Gemini 2.5 and can reportedly handle more advanced reasoning, conduct multiple searches simultaneously, and provide deeper answers than standard AI Overviews.
What this means for you: AI Mode represents another channel where your content could (or should) appear. Whilst it’s currently only available in the U.S., it will likely expand globally. The same principles apply: structured data, clear expertise, authoritative content, and demonstrating E-E-A-T. However, AI Mode appears to favour even more comprehensive, detailed content since it’s designed for users who want to explore topics in depth.
ChatGPT Launches Shopping Features
Not to be outdone by Google, OpenAI started rolling out shopping features in ChatGPT Search in late April, which became widely discussed in May. The feature works across fashion, beauty, home goods, and electronics, with the results powered by external data sources rather than ads or affiliate links.
Users can now search for products directly in ChatGPT and get recommendations, comparisons, and purchasing information without leaving the chat interface. OpenAI issued a call for companies to make their products discoverable through ChatGPT, with the process starting by signing up for notifications when feed submissions open.
To be eligible for inclusion, companies must ensure they haven’t opted out of OpenAI’s search crawler (GPTBot). This is crucial – if you’ve blocked ChatGPT’s crawler for copyright reasons or because you were concerned about AI training data, you’re also blocking yourself from appearing in ChatGPT’s shopping features.
What this means for you: If you run an e-commerce business, you need to start thinking about visibility beyond Google. ChatGPT is becoming a search engine in its own right, and shopping is a major use case. Make sure:
- You haven’t blocked OpenAI’s crawler in your robots.txt,
- Your product data is well-structured and accessible,
- You’re prepared to submit product feeds when OpenAI opens that option,
- Your product descriptions are clear, detailed, and AI-friendly.
Apple Plans to Integrate Gemini into Apple Intelligence
In May, Google confirmed that Apple plans to add Gemini and other generative AI tools to Apple Intelligence by the end of 2025. Apple Intelligence is the AI system built into newer Apple platforms that combines generative models with personal context while protecting user privacy.
This partnership could provide another avenue for brands and services to be recommended to Apple users through AI-powered suggestions. Given Apple’s massive user base, this could be significant for visibility and brand discovery.
What this means for you: The walls between different AI platforms are starting to come down. Your content needs to be optimised not just for Google, but for multiple AI systems. The common thread across all of them is quality, structure, and authority. Focus on those fundamentals and you’ll be positioned well regardless of which platform dominates.
AI Overviews Impact on Traffic Continues to Worsen
New data from Ahrefs in May revealed that AI Overviews are consistently driving down click-through rates for organic results. When an AI Overview is present, top-ranking pages see an average 34.5% lower CTR compared to similar informational keywords without AI Overviews.
We’re now seeing real-world examples of the impact. Several publishers and website owners shared data showing significant traffic drops specifically correlated with the increased appearance of AI Overviews for their target keywords.
The most concerning aspect? Even when your page ranks #1, the presence of an AI Overview means fewer people ever click through to read your content. They get their answer from Google’s AI summary and move on.
What this means for you: I’ll be blunt: if your business model relies entirely on organic search traffic from informational queries, you need to adapt urgently. Strategies to consider:
- Target commercial and transactional keywords where AI Overviews are less common,
- Create content that requires a click – detailed guides, original research, interactive tools,
- Build your brand so people search for you specifically, not just topics,
- Diversify traffic sources – email, social media, partnerships, paid advertising,
- Optimise to be cited in AI Overviews – at least get brand visibility even if clicks decline.
YouTube AI Overviews Being Tested
Here’s an interesting development: YouTube began testing AI Overviews for Premium members on a limited number of English-only, U.S.-based searches. When users search YouTube, AI would scan relevant videos and show clips it determines are most useful to the search query.
A handful of relevant clips would appear in a carousel within the search results, helping users discover content without necessarily watching full videos. YouTube positioned this as helping users discover more content, especially product and location-specific videos.
However, many content creators are concerned. If AI Overviews have reduced click-through rates in Google Search, will video creators experience the same decline in YouTube? Early data suggests it’s possible.
What this means for you: If you create video content for YouTube, monitor this development closely. We don’t yet know the full impact, but it’s worth:
- Creating content that benefits from watching rather than just summarising,
- Using timestamps and chapters to help AI understand your content structure,
- Optimising your video titles and descriptions for both human viewers and AI systems,
- Considering shorter, more focused videos that directly answer specific questions.
Hourly Data Now Available in Search Console API
A more technical but potentially useful update: Google Search Console released hourly data in the API. Previously, data from the last 24 hours had been available in the Search Performance report since December, but now you can retrieve near real-time data for use in internal tools or third-party platforms.
This doesn’t change anything for most website owners, but for SEO professionals and agencies, it enables more sophisticated monitoring and reporting.
What this means for you: If you’re using Search Console directly, you likely won’t notice much difference. However, if you’re working with an SEO agency or using third-party SEO platforms, they may now be able to provide more timely reports and catch issues faster.
Google Cloud Outage Causes Search Disruption
On Thursday, 12th June, Google Cloud experienced a significant outage lasting approximately three hours. This led to disruptions across numerous Google services, including Google Search, Workspace apps, and others – over 50 distinct Google Cloud services across more than 40 global regions were affected.
Google issued an apology and released an incident report explaining that the problem stemmed from a new feature not being properly tested in real-world scenarios and a lack of “feature flags” for a controlled rollout.
For website owners and SEOs, this was a stressful few hours as we tried to determine whether traffic drops were related to ranking changes or simply the outage preventing people from searching.
What this means for you: If you saw unusual traffic patterns on 12th June, this was likely the cause. More broadly, it’s a reminder that even Google isn’t infallible, and temporary technical issues can create data anomalies. When you see sudden, dramatic changes, check Google’s Status Dashboard before panicking about algorithm updates.
Short-Form Video Integration in AI Results
Both AI Overviews and Bing Copilot started pulling in short-form video content—60-second-or-less videos from YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels—to supplement textual content in AI responses.
This represents a significant shift. AI results are no longer just text citations—they’re becoming multimedia experiences that include video snippets alongside written content.
What this means for you: If you haven’t ventured into short-form video creation yet, it’s worth exploring. The platforms to focus on:
- YouTube Shorts – Directly integrated with Google’s ecosystem,
- TikTok – Increasingly cited in AI responses,
- Instagram Reels – Growing visibility in search contexts.
You don’t need professional video equipment. Smartphone videos with good lighting and clear audio can be effective. Focus on answering common questions in your niche concisely and engagingly.
Search Quality and Volatility Concerns
Throughout May, the SEO community continued reporting ranking volatility, though Google didn’t announce any core updates. Some attributed this to ongoing refinements following the March core update, whilst others believed Google was testing new ranking signals.
Traffic patterns remained unpredictable for many sites, with some seeing gains whilst others experienced declines without clear reasons. This uncertainty has become the new normal in 2025.
What this means for you: Stable rankings are increasingly a thing of the past. Build resilience into your SEO strategy:
- Don’t rely on a handful of high-traffic keywords,
- Develop multiple content clusters targeting different topic areas,
- Build strong brand recognition,
- Create content with lasting value, not just trending topics,
- Monitor trends over months, not days or weeks.
Google’s Guidance on AI-Generated Content
Google published two new documents in May to help site owners better understand recent changes:
- Google Search’s guidance on using generative AI content on your website – Explaining that whilst using generative AI to research topics or organise content is fine, the content must still demonstrate experience, expertise, and provide unique value.
- Guidance on appearing in AI features – Outlining best practices for getting cited in AI Overviews and other AI-powered search features.
The consistent message: AI tools are acceptable, but lazy, low-effort AI content is not. Human expertise and editorial oversight remain essential.
What this means for you: Read these documents if you’re using AI in your content creation process. They provide clarity on what Google considers acceptable versus problematic. The key takeaway: AI is a tool to assist humans, not replace them.
The Big Picture: AI Is No Longer Optional
May 2025 made one thing abundantly clear: AI-powered search is no longer a future possibility – it’s the present reality. From Google’s AI Mode to ChatGPT’s shopping features to Apple’s Gemini integration, AI is becoming the primary interface between users and information.
For website owners and businesses, this presents both challenges and opportunities:
The challenges:
- Declining organic click-through rates,
- More complex optimisation across multiple AI platforms,
- Increased competition for visibility in AI-generated summaries,
- Unpredictable traffic patterns.
The opportunities:
- New channels for brand visibility through AI citations,
- First-mover advantage for those who adapt quickly,
- Ability to reach users through conversational AI interfaces,
- Differentiation through quality when competitors chase volume.
What You Should Do Now
Based on May’s developments, here are concrete actions to take:
Immediate priorities:
- Audit your robots.txt to ensure you’re not blocking AI crawlers unnecessarily,
- Implement comprehensive structured data across your site,
- Review your content for E-E-A-T signals – add author bios, credentials, citations,
- Diversify your traffic sources beyond organic search,
- Start experimenting with short-form video content.
Ongoing strategy:
- Monitor where AI Overviews appear for your target keywords,
- Track your visibility in ChatGPT and other AI platforms using tools like LLM SEO Monitor,
- Create content that demonstrates unique expertise and experience,
- Build brand recognition through multiple channels,
- Focus on commercial and transactional queries where AI summaries are less useful.
For e-commerce specifically:
- Prepare product feeds for ChatGPT and other AI platforms,
- Optimise product descriptions for AI understanding,
- Use comprehensive product schema markup,
- Monitor shopping feature developments across all AI platforms.
Need Help Navigating the AI Search Revolution?
May’s developments represent a fundamental shift in how search works. The strategies that worked even six months ago may not be effective anymore, and the pace of change is only accelerating.
If you’re a local business in Farnborough, Hampshire, or the surrounding areas and you’re concerned about declining organic traffic, confused about AI Overviews, or simply want to ensure your website is optimised for this new AI-powered search landscape, I’m here to help.
I stay on top of these developments daily so you can focus on running your business. Whether you need a comprehensive SEO audit, AI visibility analysis, content strategy development, or ongoing SEO management, give me a ring on 01252 692 765 or leave me a message via my contact form.
The search landscape has changed dramatically, but with the right approach and expert guidance, your business can not only survive but thrive in this new environment.
Paul Mackenzie-Ross is an SEO consultant based in Farnborough, Hampshire, specialising in helping local businesses improve their online visibility and attract more customers through search engines and AI platforms.