After 15+ years in SEO, I have seen plenty of Google updates that made noise and changed little. AI Overviews and AI Mode are different: they change what "being visible" on Google means.
When a founder in Pune or a marketing head in Gurugram asks me, "Why are our rankings stable but our clicks flat?", the answer is now often sitting at the top of the results page: an AI-generated answer that may or may not mention their brand.
This is the playbook I use with clients: no tricks, just habits that make your brand easier for Google's AI systems to understand, trust and cite.
What AI Overviews and AI Mode actually change
AI Overviews are the AI-written summaries that show up above the regular results for many informational queries. They pull from several web pages and show links to sources next to the summary.
AI Mode goes further. It is a conversational search experience where users can ask longer, layered questions and follow-ups. Google has described a "query fan-out" approach, where one question is broken into many sub-queries that are searched for at the same time and then combined into one response.
For Indian brands, three things follow from this:
- Ranking #1 is no longer the only goal. You can rank well and still not be cited. You can also be cited without ranking first for the main keyword, because the AI may pull from a page that answers one specific sub-question really well.
- Queries are getting longer and more specific. People ask things like "best term insurance for a 35-year-old non-smoker in Bengaluru with parents as dependents" instead of "term insurance". Content that only covers broad keywords loses out.
- Your brand has to be understood, not just indexed. The AI needs to know clearly who you are, what you offer, where you operate and why you can be trusted.
People call this Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). I see it as SEO done properly, with a sharper focus on clarity, evidence and reputation.
The playbook: 8 tactics that work
1. Make your entity unmistakable
Google's systems think in entities (brands, people, places, products), not just keywords. Many Indian businesses confuse those systems without meaning to: different brand spellings across platforms, a registered company name that doesn't match the trading name, old addresses, and founder bios that don't agree with each other.
Fix the basics:
- Use one consistent brand name, description and logo everywhere: your website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, marketplaces such as Amazon or IndiaMART, and industry directories.
- Build a strong "About" page that says plainly what you do, who founded the company, when, where you operate, and how to reach you.
2. Use structured data as a translation layer
Schema markup does not guarantee a citation, but it removes ambiguity. At minimum, put Organization (or LocalBusiness) markup with sameAs links to your official profiles on your homepage. Add Product, Service, Article, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList and Person (for authors) wherever they genuinely fit.
Two rules I follow: mark up only what users can actually see on the page, and test every template with Google's Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator. Broken or misleading schema is worse than none.
3. Write answer-first content
AI systems pull clean, self-contained answers. Structure your pages so they can be lifted easily:
- Start each section with a direct, one-or-two-sentence answer to the question in its heading, then expand.
- Use descriptive H2/H3 headings phrased the way people actually ask questions.
- Use tables for comparisons (plans, pricing tiers, specifications) and numbered steps for processes.
- Cover the follow-up questions a real buyer would ask. Think about fan-out: if someone asks about GST registration for a startup, they will also want documents, timelines, fees and common mistakes.
If your audience searches in Hindi, Tamil or Hinglish, create properly localised pages, not machine-translated copies.
4. Show real E-E-A-T, not decorative E-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust are not boxes to tick with a stock-photo author bio. Show them:
- Name real authors with real credentials, and link to their profiles.
- Include first-hand evidence: your own photos, case examples (with client permission), process walkthroughs, and original observations.
- For YMYL categories like finance, health, legal and insurance, which are huge in India, get content reviewed by qualified professionals and say so on the page.
5. Earn citations and mentions beyond your own site
AI answers lean on what the wider web says about you. If the only place praising your brand is your own website, that is a weak signal.
Focus on:
- Coverage in credible Indian publications and trade media relevant to your sector.
- Genuine reviews on Google, marketplaces and category platforms. Ask happy customers, and never buy reviews.
- Expert contributions: podcasts, webinars, industry reports and thoughtful answers in communities where your audience asks questions.
6. Strengthen local signals
A big share of Indian searches have local intent: "near me", city names, neighbourhoods, even pin codes. AI Mode and AI Overviews draw on local data for these.
- Fully complete and verify your Google Business Profile: categories, services, hours, photos and attributes.
- Keep NAP (name, address, phone) identical across your site and listings.
- Create genuinely useful city or branch pages with local details such as directions, local team, and area-specific services, instead of copy-paste doorway pages.
7. Keep the technical foundation clean
None of this works if Google can't crawl and render your content. Make sure important content is in the HTML (not hidden behind heavy client-side JavaScript), pages load fast on mid-range Android phones over mobile data, and you are not accidentally blocking Googlebot in robots.txt or with noindex. Google's guidance is clear that pages must be indexed and eligible to show a snippet to appear as a supporting link in AI features.
8. Measure AI visibility honestly
This is where most teams struggle. Google has said that traffic from AI features is included in Search Console's overall Performance data, but it is not reported as a separate line. So combine several signals:
- Search Console: watch impressions and clicks for longer, question-style queries, and pages where impressions rise while CTR falls. That pattern often means an AI answer is sitting above you.
- Manual tracking: keep a fixed list of priority queries and check every month whether an AI Overview appears and whether you are cited. Record it in a simple sheet.
- Brand demand: track branded search volume and direct traffic over time. Being cited builds familiarity even when it doesn't produce a click.
I cover measurement frameworks and more AI search tactics in my work on AI SEO and GEO consulting for brands navigating this shift.
Quick GEO checklist
- [ ] Brand name, description and logo consistent across all major platforms
- [ ] Clear About page with founders, location and contact details
- [ ] Organization/LocalBusiness schema with
sameAslinks, validated - [ ] Key pages open each section with a direct answer
- [ ] Follow-up questions covered in tables, steps and FAQs
- [ ] Real, credentialed authors; expert review for YMYL topics
- [ ] Ongoing plan for press mentions, reviews and expert contributions
- [ ] Google Business Profile complete; NAP consistent
- [ ] Important content crawlable, indexable and fast on mobile
- [ ] Monthly AI Overview citation tracking for priority queries
Final thought
GEO is not a replacement for SEO, and it is not a hack. It rewards the same things good marketing always has: being clear about who you are, helping your customer properly, and earning a reputation that other people talk about. Indian brands that build those habits now will be the ones AI answers keep coming back to.
About the author
Mahendra (Mahi) Yadav is an India-based SEO, AI SEO and GEO consultant with more than 15 years of experience helping startups, enterprises and local businesses grow organic visibility. He works on technical SEO, content strategy and visibility in AI-driven search. Learn more at mahiyadav.com.
Top comments (0)