Anyone optimizing for Google AI Mode specifically? It feels different from ChatGPT.
Three months tracking and Google AI Mode behaves differently from ChatGPT / Perplexity in ways that confuse my mental model:
- AI Mode pulls from sites that rank well in regular Google organic results. Almost like a re-ranking layer on top of classic SEO.
- ChatGPT seems to weight 'fresh + structured' more.
- Perplexity loves Reddit and HN threads disproportionately.
So when my GEO score climbs in ChatGPT, it doesn't always lift in AI Mode. And vice versa.
Questions:
- Anyone else seeing this divergence?
- Is there an 'AI Mode-specific' optimization beyond just being good in classic SEO?
- For a B2B product team picking ONE engine to optimize first — which would you bet on for buyer-intent queries in 2026?
Genuinely uncertain here.
4 replies
- Marcus B.
The AI Mode = re-ranking on classic SEO observation is basically confirmed by the Google I/O 2026 reporting. AI Mode and AI Overviews pull from different URLs 86% of the time according to one study. They're genuinely separate retrieval systems, not one system with two front-ends.
- Petr VlčekFounder
Petr here — across the domains we monitor, AI Mode citation patterns track classic SERP rank ~0.6-0.7 of the time, but the divergence cases are the interesting ones. When AI Mode cites someone who isn't in the top 10 organic, it's almost always a recent comparison page, a high-DR press hit in the last 60 days, or a Wikidata entry. ChatGPT and Perplexity weight social proof and freshness more heavily than rank. Worth tracking AI Mode and ChatGPT as separate columns — they answer the same query for different reasons.
- Dave A.
Genuine question: how much of the AI Mode citation set is just the same top-3 organic results re-skinned? Before I tell a client to 'optimize for AI Mode specifically', I'd want to see at least 100 paired queries where the cited set materially differs from the SERP. Otherwise we're just selling them SEO again with a new tab in the report.
For buyer-intent queries I'd bet on Perplexity Sonar 3 first in 2026. It crawls freshest and the citation link actually drives clicks — I have GA4 referrals from Perplexity showing up in my pipeline now. Google AI Mode is next if you're already ranking well in organic. ChatGPT last unless you're heavily in a category where Reddit/HN discussion is the trust signal.