Google AI Mode and preferred sources: the impact on your visibility

What Google just changed (and that nobody explains clearly)

One of our clients, the manager of an SME services company in Caen, called us last week with a simple question: “My site ranks well, but I’m no longer showing up in results like before. What’s going on?”

Good question. And the answer is rewriting the rules of the game.

At Google I/O 2025, Google officially announced several major changes in how its AI tools — AI Overviews and the new AI Mode — select and display sources. Add to that the launch of new visual carousels in the results, and you get a silent but deep overhaul of what “being visible on Google” actually means.

This isn’t your typical algorithm update. It’s a paradigm shift.

AI Overviews, AI Mode: what exactly are we talking about?

Let’s set the basics straight, because there’s a lot of confusion between these two terms.

AI Overviews is that AI-generated block of text that appears at the top of Google results since 2024. Google summarizes an answer from several sources and (sometimes) cites the pages it used. You may have noticed that your organic traffic has shifted since its rollout.

AI Mode is the next step. A fully conversational search mode, integrated directly into Google Search, that works like an assistant capable of answering complex, multi-step questions by drawing from selected sources.

The new feature announced at Google I/O: users can now define their preferred sources. In other words, a user can tell Google which sites they want prioritized in their AI answers.

You see where this is heading?

The real visibility problem Google I/O revealed

Here’s what nobody tells you clearly enough: ranking well on Google is no longer enough.

For 20 years, the rule was simple. You optimized your page, you climbed the results, people clicked. Mechanical, predictable, measurable.

With AI Overviews and AI Mode, the logic changes. Google no longer necessarily sends the user back to your site. It gives them the answer directly — built from your content, no click required. And if your site isn’t picked as a source by the AI, you simply don’t exist in that answer, even if you’re in position 1.

The Google I/O demos showed it unambiguously: the AI actively selects its sources based on criteria that go beyond simple traditional ranking. Topical authority, content freshness, data structure, E-E-A-T signals (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) — all of it weighs in.

What we see concretely with our clients: well-ranked sites whose traffic stagnates or drops, not because they fell in the results, but because the AI is answering in their place.

That’s the new visibility problem. And it’s structural.

AI carousels: a new surface to conquer

Alongside preferred sources, Google launched new visual formats in the results — enriched carousels generated or amplified by AI, especially for local searches, products, and service content.

For a Normandy SME, this means concretely: your Google Business Profile, your reviews, your photos, your structured data — all of it feeds these new carousels. And if you haven’t taken care of these elements, you don’t show up there.

Here’s what now matters to appear in these formats:

• Complete structured data (Schema.org: LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ, Review)
• Active and up-to-date Google Business Profile with recent photos and review responses
• Fresh, thematically coherent content — not a blog with 3 articles from 2019
• Local authority signals: mentions, local backlinks, NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistency

It’s not revolutionary in itself. But the importance of these elements just went up a notch.

Preferred sources: an opportunity disguised as a threat

Let’s go back to this preferred sources feature, because it’s more interesting than it looks.

Yes, it creates a risk: if your prospects set their preferred sources to competitors or industry media, you disappear from their AI radar. That’s real.

But let’s flip the situation. This feature also means that loyalty to a source becomes a visibility factor. If your site becomes a reference for your existing customers, if they add you to their preferred sources, Google will cite you more in their future searches.

It’s a logic of permission marketing applied to SEO. You’re no longer just chasing cold traffic. You’re building an audience that actively chooses you as a source.

“Quality content has always been king. But today, it must also be structured to be understood by machines, not just by humans.” — That’s exactly what we apply on the sites we build at GDM-Pixel.

Concretely, what does this mean for an SME?

Produce expert content, consistently

Not generic 300-word articles. Content that answers precise questions your customers ask, with real on-the-ground added value. An electrician in Caen publishing a detailed article on “electrical standards for renovating an old house in Normandy” has more chances of being cited as a source than a generic article on “electricity in houses”.

Structure data for the AI

Schema.org tags are no longer optional. FAQ, HowTo, LocalBusiness, Service — every page must clearly tell Google what it contains and for whom.

Take care of E-E-A-T

Experience and Expertise are demonstrated. Detailed author pages, references to real projects, verifiable customer testimonials, displayed certifications. Google’s AI looks for tangible trust signals.

What the Google I/O demos reveal about the direction taken

The demos presented at Google I/O 2025 leave little room for doubt about the trajectory. Google is investing massively in a search engine that answers, not just one that lists.

A few concrete signals that stand out from the announcements:

The “Deep Search” in AI Mode lets Google break down a complex question into dozens of sub-queries, cross-reference sources, and synthesize a structured answer. It’s a search that works like a junior consultant — not perfect, but fast and exhaustive.

The integrations with Google Shopping and Maps are getting stronger. For an e-commerce or local business, this means the product feed, reviews, and data consistency are now critical to appearing in commercial AI answers.

The personalization of results runs deeper. Google uses history, declared preferences, and user context to filter sources. Two people asking the same question can get answers built from different sources.

For an SME, the conclusion is direct: your visibility is no longer universal. It’s contextual, personalized, and depends on signals you must actively build.

Three concrete actions to launch this week

No theory. Here’s what we’re recommending to our clients right now.

1. Audit your structured data Use Google’s Rich Results Test on your main pages. If your Schema.org data is missing or incomplete, that’s your first job. One hour of technical work can change your eligibility for the new formats.

2. Update your Google Business Profile Recent photos (less than 6 months old), detailed service description, review responses — all of it feeds the local carousels. If your profile has been left fallow since 2022, you’re leaving visibility on the table.

3. Publish targeted expert content At least one article per month, on precise questions in your sector. Not for volume — for topical authority. Google AI needs to see you as a reference on your topic, not as a generalist site.

According to a Search Engine Journal study analyzing the sources cited in AI Overviews, pages with complete structured data and strong E-E-A-T content are significantly overrepresented in AI citations.

Tomorrow’s visibility is built today

SEO isn’t dead. But it’s mutating, fast, and yesterday’s rules no longer cut it.

What Google is rolling out with AI Mode, preferred sources, and the new carousels, is a search engine that wants to be useful before being neutral. It selects, synthesizes, personalizes. And if your site isn’t structured to be understood and cited by this AI, you lose visibility — silently, gradually, without a red alert in your Search Console.

After 15 years working on SEO for Normandy SMEs, here’s my read: the companies that will pull through are those that treat their site as an editorial and technical asset, not as an online brochure.

Expert content, structured data, local authority, well-kept Google profile. It’s not sexy. But it’s what works.

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Want to know where you stand against these changes?

At GDM-Pixel, we do honest technical audits. Not to sell you a redesign if it’s not necessary — to tell you exactly what’s blocking your visibility and what can be fixed quickly. Contact us for a diagnosis, we’ll get back to you within 48h.