🤖What to do about the new-age of search?

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Summer is basically here and school youngins are glad of it. Teachers even gladder.

Today’s Main Thing breaks down a few disturbing trends in search. Why they matter and what to do about them (unless you’re retiring this year… then, who cares?).

After that story, sip on Monday’s Marketing News section.

The Main Thing

Doom & Gloom in the New Age of Search 

I don’t know how much AI is gonna “change everything.” 

But it’s plain that AI is rearranging the face of the search industry — fast and in ugly fashion.

Google’s AI overviews are making clicks few and far between (down 30%). Might make clicks extinct one day. 

Plus, most people are only bothering to read one-third of the AI overview summaries!

So, AI has already changed the way people search. And that change is likely to pick up speed and spread to more people. 

What can marketers and business owners do about this new age of search?

4 Ways to Overcome Non-Clicking, Skimming Users, & AI Overviews

1. Gain user trust faster. Many users only click on links to validate the AI summary (low trust in AI?). So, stick credentials, original research statistics, or expert quotes in your article’s first paragraph. 

2. Have your “key takeaway” or “why it matters” in the top one-third of your articles.

3. More complex topics need more depth (e.g., healthcare). But e-commerce content can stay simple and concise, while also leaning on product comparisons since Google isn’t providing AI Overviews on comparisons (yet).

4. Search queries are getting longer and more technical. So, create content to match the structure of complex questions. Use headers that directly mirror advanced question formats and technical terms.

Pains me to say, but you probably also need to sling your content further and wider. 

Can’t rely on an article alone to get picked up by Google’s AI Overview (or other AI tools). Odds of users seeing your content rise if you create other assets to go with each article, like…

• A chart

• Short video

• Audio version of article

• Related stats in a slick infographic

Sounds like a lotta work. Because it is. But worth it in this new age of search.

Now. What about all the long-winded searches people are doing more of?

Why search queries are getting longer and more detailed.

• Since ChatGPT rolled up, consumers have shifted toward more conversational search patterns.

• Voice search is still on the rise. Folks are more likely to voice-search queries in full sentences. We get mouthy with Siri and the like.

• Search engines are now better at understanding intent. Example: "How to save money on energy bills during winter" might generate results with actionable tips tailored to geographic location or household size.

• Savvier searchers with reduced attention spans want better answers, faster. People are asking more granular questions instead of broad search terms.

• Research suggests longer, more detailed queries are more likely to trigger AI Overviews from Google. This may be teaching users that more specific queries get better results, creating a feedback loop of increasingly detailed searches.

With these long-winded searches, it’s a good idea to break down “pillar content” into shorter articles. 

Yep, it’d be tempting to use GPT or Claude to spit out small chunks of pillar posts into short pieces. Don’t let AI diminish the quality of the shorter articles, though. 

Plus, you’d need to consider how the shorter articles would be presented to someone using GPT or a voice assistant. And targeting the right long-tail keywords requires more thought because those long-tail keywords could change depending on some of the factors below:

While Driving:

Standard Search: "What are the side effects of taking ibuprofen with blood pressure medication?"

Modified (In Car): "ibuprofen blood pressure danger quick"

Why: Voice searches while driving tend to be shortened to essential keywords with time-sensitive modifiers ("quick", "fast", "now")

At Work

Standard Search: "Best local Italian restaurants with vegetarian options and outdoor seating"

Modified (At Work): "Italian near office vegetarian to-go lunch"

Why: Work context prompts users to add proximity qualifiers ("near me", "near office"), time constraints ("lunch hour", "quick"), and practical modifiers that reflect immediate needs rather than comprehensive research.

While Relaxing

Standard Search: "Best fantasy books 2025"

Modified (Relaxing): "immersive fantasy novels with complex female protagonists and unique magic systems 2025 not YA"

Why: During leisure time, searches become more detailed and preference-specific, with users adding qualitative descriptors, exclusions, and specific attributes that reflect deeper exploration rather than quick solutions.

Mobile vs. Desktop

Standard Search (Desktop): "How to troubleshoot Windows laptop random freezing during video calls when using external monitor"

Modified (Mobile): "fix laptop freezing video calls"

Why: On smaller screens or while multitasking, users simplify complex queries to reduce typing effort, often adding back specificity through iterative searches rather than one comprehensive query.

For more insights on AI smacking around the search industry, see this deep-dive report.

Onward now to Monday Marketing News.

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Please share Inbox Hacking with a fellow marketing go-getter or business owner. Many thanks…

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin

"Great design is a visual conversation with your customer before they've read a single word." ~Lester Beall