AI Overview and AI Mode: how Google is redefining SEO in 2025 and what brands in the travel industry can do

Google's evolution towards an increasingly AI-assisted search is not an isolated experiment, but a structural transformation that is already changing the way users interact with information.

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From mid-2024 and especially in this 2025, the deployment of functionalities such as AI Overview and AI Mode redefines both the search experience and the rules of SEO.

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At Roiback, as specialists in hotel technology and digital visibility, we have analyzed these changes in depth. This article details what these tools consist of, how they affect organic traffic and what brands -especially in the tourism sector- can do to avoid losing relevance in Google's new paradigm.

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What is IA Overview?

IA Overviewisa feature already available in more than 100 countries, including Spain as of March 2025. It is automatically activated on certain searches and offers AI-generated summaries at the top of the results, before traditional links. The AI extracts content from multiple trusted sources to provide the user with a quick, clear and visually enriched answer, without the need to navigate between different websites.

This is a profound change: many queries are resolved directly in the search engine, which reduces the number of clicks to websites. According to Google, the aim is to improve the user experience. For SEO professionals, however, it means competing not only to appear on the first page, but to be chosen as a source within these AI-generated summaries.

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And what is IA Mode?

IA Mode represents an even more ambitious step. Available for now only in the United States for Google One AI Premium users, this feature completely transforms search into a conversational and immersive experience. The user accesses an alternative tab within Google Search, where the answer is generated entirely by AI, without showing the typical blue links or organic results.

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Thanks to the Gemini 2.0 model, IA Mode enables complex natural language queries, question chaining, and context-sensitive answers enriched with images, maps, text snippets and structured data. This functionality is still in the experimental phase, but Google has already made it clear that it will set the roadmap for the search of the future.

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Why is it so relevant for SEO?

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Because it changes the role of websites within the search ecosystem. Until now, the goal of SEO was to achieve a prominent position in organic results. Now, the challenge is to be a reliable source for Google's AI. In other words, the content we produce must not only be well positioned, but must also meet a much more demanding set of criteria:

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• Thematic depth: AI seeks information that clearly answers complex questions.

• Authority and veracity: Google prioritizes sources with contrasted, updated and signed by real experts (E-E-A-T).

• Clear semantic structure: headings, content hierarchy, structured data and correct markup are now more important than ever.

• Natural language: AI selects text that can be easily integrated into a fluent and coherent response.

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In addition, the impact on traditional SEO indicators is already palpable. The CTR decreases in many queries because the answer appears directly in the SERP. At the same time, new metrics are beginning to emerge, such as appearances in AI blocks, still not very visible in tools such as Google Search Console, but key to interpret the real visibility.

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How does this affect the hotel and tourism sector?

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In tourism, where the organic channel continues to be a fundamental source of direct traffic acquisition, these changes require a complete revision of strategies. Informative searches such as "best hotels in Mallorca" or "when to travel to Menorca" can be solved entirely within the IA Overview, with snippets taken from media, blogs or platforms with higher semantic authority.

This implies that:

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• Hotel websites must go beyond transactional content. They must position themselves as a source of useful and reliable information for the traveler.

• OTAs and big media could gain even more visibility if branded content is not properly worked on.

• The funnel structure changes: the user can move from inspiration to action without leaving Google's generative search.

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What are we doing from Roiback?

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At Roiback, we are not only observing this transformation, but we are already tackling it from the ground up. Some of the actions we have incorporated include:

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• Semantic content review: we audit each page to ensure that it clearly responds to the user's search intent.

• Advanced application of structured data (Schema.org): we mark not only products and services, but key elements such as hotel benefits, flexible policies, locations and featured reviews.

• Team building: we train our specialists to work under the same strategy adapted to generative environments.

• Real-time source integration: we connect rates, availability and services with tools that enable AI to extract up-to-date and reliable information.

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Conclusion: adapt or stay out

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SEO is not disappearing, but it is becoming more complex, more technical and more demanding. Google no longer simply rewards the content that ranks best, but the content that responds best. And that means a change of mentality: we no longer optimize only for search engines, but also for generative models capable of deciding what to show and what not to show.

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At Roiback, we believe this is the time to act. Brands that anticipate, that build a digital presence based on utility, authority and structure, will not only survive this change. They will lead it.

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Because in the new era of SEO, the one who generates responses wins, not just the one who chases clicks.

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