Google’s new AI Mode could crush small business visibility
Google’s new AI Mode transforms Search into a concierge. It’s a big leap in convenience, but a potential threat to small business visibility.
During its annual developer conference Google I/O this week, the tech giant showed off how it is going to use AI to fundamentally change how search works. It has now launched AI Mode in the US, which turns Google Search into an assistant capable of planning, filtering, summarising and even booking on behalf of the user.
What’s not being talked about is how this could affect small businesses.
Google’s new AI Mode builds on last year’s AI Overviews feature, but goes much further. Using a technique Google calls ‘query fan-out,’ it breaks a user’s question into multiple subtopics and issues dozens (and soon hundreds) of queries simultaneously.
The responses are synthesised by a custom version of Google’s Gemini 2.5 model, which draws from live data across the web as well as proprietary sources like the Knowledge Graph, Shopping Graph and Maps.
The result is a single AI-generated response that answers not only the original query, but the likely follow-ups as well.
In one demo, one broad search was ‘things to do in Nashville this weekend with friends who are foodies and love music’. This resulted in curated restaurant picks, event suggestions, a custom map, and tailored bar listings with live music within seconds.
According to Google, future iterations will also include Deep Search for long-form research, personalised context based on Gmail or past bookings, and visual outputs like custom charts for finance and sport.
Alongside AI Mode, Google also announced Project Mariner – its long-anticipated ‘agentic’ AI tool – will soon be integrated into Search.
Users will be able to ask Search to book tickets, fill out forms, or secure restaurant reservations with support from platforms like Ticketmaster, Resy and StubHub.
In regards to e-commerce, AI Mode will not only suggest products but, in the future,e be able to check out on your behalf through Google Pay.
Our take: Google’s AI mode isn’t just a search update, it’s a discovery reset
For small businesses, especially those relying on organic search and unpaid discovery, Google’s AI pivot presents an immediate challenge. If customers aren’t doing the Googling themselves anymore, how do you ensure your business is still found?
AI Mode shifts the decision-making power away from the user and places it in the hands of an algorithm that not only interprets a query but also curates results, ranks relevance, and increasingly facilitates transactions — all before a potential customer sees a traditional list of options.
While this marks a significant shift in how visibility works within Google Search, it’s not exactly a new problem.
Google’s core search product already favours those who pay for prominence through ads, shopping feeds, or participation in tightly integrated services like Google Merchant Center.
AI Mode seems to be the next generation of that model. This could mean that appearing in an answer may depend less on what you offer and more on how well your business fits into Google’s structured data ecosystem. If you’re not part of that system, you may not be part of the response.
Even if you are, users may have even less reason to click through to your site if everything is served up to them on Google.
The groundwork for this shift has been building for years. The rise of featured snippets, knowledge panels and shopping carousels ushered in the era of zero-click search — where Google presents the answer without sending users to your website.
AI Mode formalises that trajectory. Rather than surfacing 10 blue links, it delivers a single, AI-generated result that collapses discovery, recommendation, and action into one tightly controlled output.
For small businesses, particularly those without dedicated digital marketing resources, that means competing not just for clicks but for inclusion in the underlying data.
It also raises the bar for technical compliance. Structured product listings, verified profiles, and consistent metadata all disproportionately benefit larger brands or those who can afford SEO and platform integration support.
The implications are especially sharp for e-commerce. AI Mode pulls product suggestions from Google’s Shopping Graph and increasingly allows users to complete purchases without even visiting a store’s website.
This makes it harder for smaller retailers to differentiate through brand storytelling or customer experience.
If Google’s AI becomes the trusted agent for product recommendations, it may default to the options it can parse most cleanly. And these are often the ones that have already paid to be there.
But amongst the doom and gloom, there are some potential upsides for time and resource-poor small businesses.
Project Mariner could help streamline admin and planning for small operators, and AI-powered personalisation may help some niche businesses surface in more targeted ways. This could be particularly true for those already embedded in Google’s product ecosystem.
It’s also worth noting Google isn’t alone in this space. Amazon is adding generative AI to product Q&As and reviews, and Shopify is experimenting with AI-powered discovery.
Platforms like Perplexity – a rival to ChatGPT – are also positioning themselves as an answer engine rather than a link provider. AI-injected platforms are becoming curators across the board, and in doing so, are deciding which businesses get seen.
Still, there may be a path forward for businesses willing to adapt early.
Small businesses that lean into local SEO, structured data, and Google’s merchant tools may find new ways to surface in hyper-personalised searches.
Niche brands with strong review profiles or a loyal customer base might also benefit if Google’s AI prioritises trusted, relevant responses over sheer scale.
But this is easier said than done. And those who can’t play catch up due to time and resource constraints may find themselves edged out of a new discovery opportunity before they even realise it has changed.
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