Google is placing artificial intelligence at the center of its search strategy, but the company insists that its role is to extend and enrich search rather than replace it. Liz Reid, who heads Google Search, explained the company’s direction in an interview with The Economic Times[1]‘s The Morning Brief podcast, where she spoke about how AI changes the way people ask questions and how it alters the kind of content that gains attention online.
Longer Questions, Richer Context
According to Reid[2], user behavior has shifted in ways that stand out clearly in the data. People no longer type short strings of keywords and hope for the best. Instead, they ask in sentences that carry detail, constraints, and context. Someone planning a family dinner, for example, may ask for “restaurants with outdoor seating suitable for a four-year-old and a seven-year-old” rather than a blunt search for “kid-friendly restaurants.”
This kind of interaction has become more common as AI tools have lowered the effort required to ask follow-up questions or refine earlier ones. Reid said Google now records users asking more questions overall, including smaller and more casual ones they might once have skipped. In the United States and India, where AI mode is widely available, the company counts more than 100 million active users every month.
Thin Content Loses Ground
The rise of AI overviews has changed how traffic flows across the web. Short, repetitive, or lightly rewritten material no longer drives clicks the way it once did. When Google’s AI can summarize the basics, there is little reason for users to visit a page that adds no extra value.
Reid described a decline in what she called “shallow clicks,” the quick visits where a user lands on a page only to leave almost immediately. At the same time, she pointed to growth in “deep clicks,” visits to content that provides perspective, expertise, or detail beyond what an AI overview can deliver. This, she said, marks a change in the kinds of content that can thrive. Publishers that continue to produce surface-level articles risk being bypassed.
A Shift in SEO Priorities
The implications for search optimization are significant. Reid said the strategy of writing primarily for algorithms is now a dead end. Content designed to match keywords or to fit formulaic patterns will not survive in an environment where AI already covers the basics.
Instead, Google wants creators to aim at depth and quality. Articles that demonstrate knowledge, bring in personal or professional experience, or carry unique insights are the ones more likely to draw engagement. Reid explained that the new search experience favors clarity and originality. For creators, this requires investing in work that satisfies real audience needs, rather than gaming the system with volume and repetition.
The Blue Link Persists
Despite the rise of AI-driven answers, Reid rejected the suggestion that traditional search results are becoming irrelevant. The familiar list of links remains a core part of the experience, she said, because users still want access to human voices and diverse perspectives.
Google is testing ways to connect those results more closely with its AI features. One experiment places inline links inside AI overviews, guiding users directly to the sources that provide detail. These include creator-driven content such as blogs, forums, and short-form video, areas where people often look for lived experience or specialist knowledge.
Reid argued that this approach reinforces the value of the wider web rather than cutting it out. AI serves to summarize and guide, but the blue link continues to act as the gateway to depth.
Expanding the Search Pie
A common concern among publishers has been that AI tools will take questions away from Google. Reid disputed that view. She said that the number of questions asked is not fixed, and that AI makes people more willing to explore. Lowering the barrier to entry encourages users to ask about side topics, small details, or clarifications they might have ignored in the past.
That expansion, she argued, grows the overall role of search. It also means that publishers who adapt to the new landscape may find opportunities to reach audiences with content that AI cannot reproduce.
A Transitional Era for Search
The picture Reid painted is one of transition. Search is no longer limited to retrieving documents based on keywords. It is evolving into a system that combines AI-generated summaries with pathways to the web’s human voices. For creators and businesses, the challenge lies in meeting that shift with content that matters to real users.
The decline of shallow traffic signals that easy wins are fading. In their place is an emphasis on authority, perspective, and usefulness. Reid’s comments suggest that Google intends to reward those qualities and to hold the traditional blue link as a bridge between AI assistance and the wider internet.
Notes: This post was edited/created using GenAI tools. Image: DIW-Aigen.
Read next: Google Removes Years of EU Political Ad Data Ahead of New Rules[3]
References
- ^ The Economic Times (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
- ^ According to Reid (www.youtube.com)
- ^ Google Removes Years of EU Political Ad Data Ahead of New Rules (www.digitalinformationworld.com)