Welcome to our round up of the latest SEO news! These are the stories that have caught our eye over the past month.
- AI Mode rolls out in the UK
- ChatGPT drops searchable chats
- Reddit doubles down on search
- June Core Update complete
AI Mode rolls out in the UK
Last week, AI Mode finally arrived in the UK, a new feature that offers search results written in a conversational tone rather than just a list of links. Users can opt into this mode, which ‘uses Gemini 2.5’s advanced reasoning, thinking and multimodal capabilities to help with even your toughest questions’. It’s already available in the US and India.
This is likely to trigger a major shake-up as to how people search online. The aim is to answer your question directly, so you don’t have to trawl through multiple websites – though that’s exactly what has many publishers and marketers worried.
While AI Mode doesn’t replace standard Google Search, it’s already prompting concern among news outlets and businesses who rely heavily on search-driven traffic. With fewer links and answers appearing upfront, the risk of losing visibility in the search journey is very real.
Google, however, insists it’s simply offering new ways for people to ask questions, especially more specific, natural ones. Still, while 25% of traditional google searches result in a click, early AI Mode data from Similarweb suggests that figure drops to just 5% when it comes to AI Mode searches.
Here’s what Google’s John Mueller had to say about adapting SEO to this new AI-driven model:
Ultimately, AI Mode signals a significant changing of the guard. It’s optional for now, but if this becomes the default way to search, content strategies across industries will need a serious rethink – and soon.
You can read more about AI mode and what it means for digital marketers here.
ChatGPT drops searchable chats over privacy concerns
OpenAI has quietly scrapped a ChatGPT feature that allowed individual conversations to be indexed by search engines, citing privacy risks. Known as the ‘Share’ feature, it let users manually opt in by selecting a chat and ticking a box to make it publicly discoverable.
The idea was to help others find useful conversations and prompt examples via search. However, OpenAI admitted the feature - which was never widely promoted - posed too many chances for users to accidentally expose personal or sensitive data. Even though sharing was opt-in, the potential for unintentional oversharing was considered too risky.
The company has now disabled the feature and is working to remove any previously indexed chats from search engines. In a statement, OpenAI said the experiment was short-lived and that privacy and security remain a top priority across its products.
“Ultimately we think this feature introduced too many opportunities for folks to accidentally share things they didn’t intend to, so we’re removing the option. We’re also working to remove indexed content from the relevant search engines.”
Whilst the move may disappoint the small number of users who found value in publicly accessible conversations, it highlights the ongoing challenge of balancing openness with user safety - especially as AI-generated content becomes more integrated into everyday tools and platforms.
Reddit doubles down on search as AI Answers usage surges
Reddit (which turned 20 in June) is making strategic moves to become a prominent search destination. Weekly usage of its internal search now surpasses 70 million users, while its AI-powered feature, Reddit Answers, has grown fivefold to 6 million weekly users since last quarter.
CEO Steve Huffman signalled a bold ambition in the Q2 shareholder letter to position Reddit as the ‘go-to search engine’, drawing upon its vast catalogue of user-generated content and conversations to deliver authentic, human-sourced answers. Plans are underway to integrate Reddit Answers more deeply into the platform’s native search interface and extend its availability across new markets.
Reddit’s latest earnings report underscores the success of this pivot, with revenues hitting $500 million - a 78 % year-over-year increase - and net income reaching $89 million, its most profitable quarter to date.
While this strategic switch could reduce reliance on Google traffic, Reddit hopes to monetise search through a higher share of purchase-intent posts - currently around 40 % of content.
June Core Update complete
Google’s June 2025 Core Update officially completed its rollout on 17th July. The second core update of the year, this one brought more noticeable changes than March’s update, particularly in how content is evaluated and how AI is integrated into search.
Unlike previous updates, June’s update led to significant volatility across various sectors, with some websites reporting dramatic drops in traffic.
Others experienced partial recoveries from past penalties, especially those affected by the September 2023 Helpful Content Update.
One of the biggest shifts was the apparent increase in AI Overviews within the search results. These summaries, generated from multiple sources, have sparked concerns around ‘zero-click’ searches, where users get all the information they need directly from the results page. This could potentially reduce traffic to publishers’ websites, even those with strong content.
The update also strengthened Google’s preference for content that demonstrates E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust), while rewarding platforms with user-generated content, such as Reddit, for their authenticity and relevance.
