A new search box probably doesn\u2019t sound that exciting. And neither does \u201cadvanced model capabilities\u201d. Particularly if you\u2019re not an SEO nerd (cough cough). <\/p>\n
But this is pretty major.<\/p>\n
With a search box now designed for conversational AI search and agents that can work autonomously, Google will soon be able to do the “Googling” for us. You say what you want, it does everything else. <\/p>\n
The launch cited examples like house hunting, monitoring for new clothing drops and restaurant bookings. But the possibilities are huge. <\/p>\n
What does this mean for digital PR?<\/p>\n
From a day-to-day POV, these updates could save us a lot of time. Media monitoring, newsjacking, coverage reporting. If we could automate them all within one platform, brilliant. Yes, it\u2019s possible to do a lot of this already with existing tools and software. But Google became the beast it is today for a reason. It\u2019s the best. So these features will probably be top notch.<\/p>\n
But looking a little wider, it\u2019s another step towards the agentic web<\/a>. Human touchpoints in search are decreasing. Our audiences are going to be less and less involved in the search process. So if you\u2019re a PR or marketer that isn\u2019t at least thinking about agentic search, you should probably start.<\/p>\n Listicles still dominate AI search (but are they a sustainable digital PR tactic?)<\/p>\n Recent research found that half of LLMs\u2019 most cited URLs<\/a> are listicles. Which backs up what we already know. Right now, they\u2019re one of the core drivers of AI search visibility. In other words, AI search loves a listicle.<\/p>\n But SEOs have caught on. And surprise surprise, they\u2019re abusing the tactic<\/a>. So, (as covered in February\u2019s column<\/a>) Google\u2019s now cracking down, demoting many of the brands creating self-promotional listicles to manipulate AI search.<\/p>\n What does this mean for digital PR?<\/p>\n Are listicles an AI SEO tactic that digital PRs should prioritise? On the surface, yes. <\/p>\n It\u2019s offsite brand building. Whether we\u2019re pitching to be included in an existing listicle or we\u2019re offering a new product roundup, they fall right in our sweet spot. The only real difference being that we\u2019re pitching to both journalists and brands (as many listicles are hosted on brand websites).<\/p>\n But as a tactic, they\u2019re not perfect. Far from it. The sites you\u2019re pitching to could be spammy. You could fall foul of Google\u2019s guidelines, particularly if your approach involves scaling. Or you might end up facing unexpected costs when the listicles turn out to be pay-to-play.<\/p>\n And ultimately, while listicles are a key driver of AI search visibility now, they probably won\u2019t be forever. AI search algorithms will improve, just as traditional search algorithms have. And at some point, they won\u2019t rely on roundups as much as they do now. These platforms will (probably) have developed such an in-depth understanding of brands, entities and context that a roundup of the “11 best PR agencies in the UK” simply won\u2019t have as much influence as it does right now.<\/p>\n So how much should we prioritise listicles? At the moment, I think they should play an important role in your AI SEO strategy. But only if combined with wider tactics to drive AI visibility. Things like original research, expert comments, entity building. <\/p>\n They\u2019re a useful tool to be used sparingly. Not a quick win to abuse.<\/p>\n New research shows shift in branded search behaviour<\/p>\n A study of 846,000 Google searches<\/a> found that navigational searches (direct searches for brands) are massively impacted by AI Overview. <\/p>\n Without an AI Overview, only 12% of people searching for a brand were still active in the SERPs at 21 seconds. The rest had navigated to one of the brand\u2019s pages. But when an AI Overview is present, this rose to 46%.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a massive increase. If there\u2019s an AI Overview in the search results, almost half of people won\u2019t navigate to your website straightaway. <\/p>\n What does this mean for digital PR?<\/p>\n Personally, I\u2019m a huge fan of branded search<\/a> for digital PR measurement. It avoids so many of the traps that many PR metrics fall into \u2013 instead measuring the outcome of our work. Branded search is a great reflection of brand awareness, while also being an action that can drive real commercial value.<\/p>\n But if branded searches don\u2019t directly lead to your website, are they less valuable? Does someone reading an AI Overview about your brand provide as much commercial value as browsing your website? Can you control the narrative and influence audience behaviour in AI results like you can on your own site?<\/p>\n This is such an interesting topic. One to keep an eye on.<\/p>\n What else is new in digital PR and SEO? \t\t\t\tWritten by<\/p>\n
\nGoogle launched ads in AI Mode<\/a>. They\u2019ll be integrated directly into AI answers. Meaning more paid opportunities for businesses. But more organic competition. So if we want to really capitalise on the opportunity of AI search, we\u2019re going to have to work closer with our paid marketing counterparts.Pedro Dias published an excellent article<\/a> on “GEO consultants” selling unsubstantiated claims. And how real AI engineers are saying the exact opposite. This really resonated with me. I see so, so much GEO\/AEO\/AIO nonsense on LinkedIn. And this piece reflects our approach to it all here at Energy PR.A niche B2B UK publisher is one of the world\u2019s most cited news sources<\/a> in AI. As reported by Press Gazette, Blooloop is a small visitor attractions publisher that\u2019s fully embraced LLMs \u2013 and it\u2019s paying dividends. Maybe AI isn\u2019t quite as horrendous for publishers as we thought?<\/p>\n
![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ben-Eaglestone-1_82a67cafbacd7cb29bdf064292dea004.jpg\")
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