A new study looking at 10,000 keywords found that Google’s AI Mode gives very distinct results each time you search. The study also revealed that the websites demonstrated in AI Mode barely match the ones in regular search results. Published by SE Ranking, the research compared outcomes from AI Mode, Google’s AI Overviews, and the top 10 organic search results. Surprisingly, only about 9.2% of the URLs were identical across all three, indicating just how unpredictable AI-generated results can be.
Key Takeaways from the Study
AI Mode Often Shows Different Results Each Time
Researchers tested the same 10,000 keywords in AI Mode three times on the exact day—and most of the time, the results were different. In fact, in 21.2% of cases, there were zero matching URLs between the three searches. There was more consistency at the domain level, with 14.7% overlap, suggesting AI Mode sometimes pulled different pages from the same websites.
AI Mode vs. Regular Search Results
The research found that only 14% of URLs shown in AI Mode also appeared in Google’s top 10 organic search results for the same keywords. When checking at the domain level (like different pages from the same website), the overlap rose to 21.9%.
Interestingly, in 17.9% of searches, there were no matching URLs at all between AI Mode and regular search. It indicates that AI Mode often works independently of Google’s usual ranking system.
Where AI Mode Gets Its Links From
Each AI Mode outcome includes nearly 12.6 citations on average. Most of these are block links (90.8%), which are grouped separately. Others include in-text links (8.9%) and a few SERP-style links (0.3%), which look like standard search results. Even though the sources differed a lot, some websites kept showing up in AI responses across many searches. The most commonly cited were:
- Indeed (1.8%)
- Wikipedia (1.6%)
- Reddit (1.5%)
- YouTube (1.4%)
- NerdWallet (1.2%)
Google’s own platforms, specifically Google Maps business listings, made up 5.7% of all the links, making them the most often cited overall.
How AI Mode Differs from AI Overviews
When comparing AI Mode to Google’s AI Overviews, researchers discovered that the overlap in exact URLs was merely 10.7%. At the domain level, it was slightly better at 16%. This indicates that even though both features are driven by AI, they seem to use different methods to determine their results.
What This Means for Search Marketers?
AI Mode’s continually changing results bring both challenges and new opportunities for visibility. Since the results can shift even when users search for the same thing, tracking your rankings becomes more difficult. But the upside is that AI Mode doesn’t depend on a fixed set of top pages, like standard search does.
Rather, it often pulls fresh content, which represents publishers with useful, high-quality content could get featured, even if they do not appear in the top 10 of organic search.
To keep up with this new way of searching, marketers and SEO pros should:
- Focus on building strong, topic-specific authority across their websites
- Publish content on trusted platforms beyond their own sites
- Strengthen their local presence using tools like Google Maps
- Keep an eye on how AI Mode includes content as it persists to expand and transform
In short, flexibility and quality are key to standing out in AI-powered search.
Final Thought!
In a search landscape powered by AI, staying visible means staying adaptable. As Google’s AI Mode continues to grow—with frequent changes in results and minimal overlap with traditional search—businesses need more than just keyword rankings to thrive.
At RevoluteX Digital, we help companies succeed in this new era by building powerful domain authority, drafting AI-friendly content, and ensuring presence across multiple platforms, including local SEO tools like Google Maps. With the proper technique and continuous optimisation, we turn the unpredictability of AI search into an effective opportunity for evolution. Contact us today!
Jason
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