Google’s AI Mode Is Killing the Blue Links—Now What? | Ep. 16

Performance SEO Unpacked

The world of SEO isn’t just evolving—it’s being rewritten. On this episode of Performance SEO Unpacked, Joseph Lewin steps in as guest host to interview Ruchi Pardal, founder of ResultFirst, about one of the most seismic shifts in digital marketing: Google’s move to AI Mode.

Forget ranking #1. That blue-link legacy is fading fast as Google transitions from search engine to response engine. Instead of offering choices, it now delivers AI-powered answers—instantly. Ruchi Pardal breaks down what this means for SEOs, content marketers, and brands who’ve relied on traditional traffic models.

What replaces top rankings? Citations. Brand mentions. Total visibility. Ruchi Pardal shares the three shifts SEOs must make to stay relevant, how to rethink attribution in a zero-click world, and what AI-readiness really means in 2025.

📌 What We Cover

• Why Google is shifting from a search engine to a response engine
• How AI Mode changes SEO visibility, traffic, and user behavior
• The rise of zero-click answers and decline of the blue-link era
• What AI-driven content means for SEOs, content creators, and marketers
• The new SEO priority: being quoted, not just ranked
• Why brand visibility and third-party mentions now matter more than CTR
• Ruchi Pardal's 3-part strategy for AI Mode: Visibility Audit, Content Clarity, Authority Building
• How to think like a brand, not a publisher, in the new AI SEO landscape
• Rethinking attribution: measuring impressions, direct traffic, and AI citations

🔗 Resources Mentioned

• ResultFirst
• Google AI Mode / AI Overview (referenced)
• ChatGPT, Perplexity (referenced AI tools)

Resources:

ResultFirst: Visit for more SEO tips and strategies

Connect with Ruchi Pardal on LinkedIn for a conversation about SEO

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