By Terence Walsh | TWDA Design | Northumberland, England
Reading time: ~5 minutes | Category: SEO
If you’ve noticed your website traffic looking a little different lately, or you’ve heard whispers about Google “changing everything,” you’re not imagining it. At the Google I/O conference in May 2026, Google officially unveiled what it described as the biggest upgrade to its search box in over 25 years — and local businesses across the UK are right to be paying attention.
This is a fast-moving area, and we want to be honest with you: even Google’s own guidance has seemed to contradict itself at times as the technology has evolved. What we can say with confidence is this — SEO is not dead. It is simply changing. And if you understand what’s happening and take the right steps, you have a real opportunity to stay ahead of competitors who don’t.
“I’ve spent over 25 years helping businesses in Northumberland build a presence online, and I’ve never seen search change this quickly. The businesses that panic and do nothing — or worse, stop investing in their website altogether — are the ones who’ll feel it most. The good news is that the fundamentals I’ve always believed in still hold true: clear, honest, well-written content about what you actually do and where you do it. Google’s AI is just a very sophisticated reader. Give it something worth reading.”
Google’s search has evolved from returning a list of ten blue links into something much more like a conversation with a knowledgeable assistant.
The big shift is what Google calls Agentic Search and AI Mode. Instead of just handing you a list of websites, Google’s AI now does the research for you — it reads multiple websites, weighs up the answers, and presents a summarised response at the very top of the results page. It can even book local appointments or make phone calls on a customer’s behalf.
At the heart of this is a new, intelligent search box powered by Google’s Gemini AI. You can now search using text, images, files, videos — even a Chrome tab. And crucially, AI Mode has already surpassed one billion monthly users, with queries more than doubling every quarter since its launch.
This is not a small tweak. This is a fundamental rewiring of how people discover businesses online.
Absolutely not — and this is the most important point in this entire article.
Yes, people are clicking the traditional blue links far less than they used to. Data shows that 93% of AI Mode sessions end without a click to an external website, and click-through rates on pages triggering AI summaries have dropped significantly.
But here’s what matters: the AI is reading your website to produce those answers. It is sourcing its information from your pages, your blog posts, your service descriptions. If your content is thin, out of date, or poorly written, the AI won’t use it — and a competitor’s website will be quoted instead.
Think of it this way: the information on your website is no longer just bait for a click. It’s the raw material from which Google builds its answers. That makes great content more important than ever, not less.
“You are no longer just trying to get clicked by a person. You are trying to get chosen by a machine, and then be easy for people to contact or book.” — WolfPack Advising, Search Marketing Specialists
Your Google Business Profile (the listing that appears on Google Maps and in local search results) has never been more important. With AI-powered agentic booking now rolling out — where Google can literally contact a business on a customer’s behalf — an incomplete or outdated profile means you could miss enquiries entirely.
Make sure your opening hours, phone number, services, and address are completely up to date. Add fresh photos regularly. Respond to reviews promptly. And if Google offers a booking integration for your type of business, enable it.
AI Overviews are most likely to appear for searches involving “how,” “what,” “where,” and “why” — exactly the kinds of questions your potential customers are asking about your trade or service. A plumber in Hexham who has a blog post explaining “What to do if you have a burst pipe in winter” is far more likely to be cited in an AI answer than one whose website just lists their phone number.
Write content that genuinely helps people. Think about the questions your customers ask you most often, and answer them clearly and thoroughly on your website.
Google’s systems reward websites that are actively maintained and added to. A website that hasn’t been updated in two years sends a signal that the business may not be active or authoritative. Aim to publish at least one new blog post or updated page per month.
If you’re not sure what to write about, TWDA’s blogging service can take care of it for you — we’ll research, write, and publish content that is specifically designed to work in this new AI search landscape.
This matters more than ever. From July 2026, Google will exclude sites without a properly functioning mobile version from its index entirely — not a ranking drop, but complete removal. If your site loads slowly, looks broken on a phone, or isn’t secured with an HTTPS certificate, these technical issues will actively harm your visibility.
Test your site using Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool to see where you stand. If you need help resolving any issues, we’re here.
Google’s ranking systems are placing increasing weight on what it calls E-E-A-T — Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This means Google is looking for genuine signals that you know your subject and are a real, credible business.
Practical steps include adding author bios to your blog posts, getting your business listed on reputable local directories, earning reviews on Google and trusted platforms, and linking out to (and ideally being cited by) authoritative sources in your field. For local businesses in the North East, being mentioned in regional press or community sites can make a genuine difference.
✅ DO:
❌ DON’T:
You may start hearing these terms more often. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) are emerging disciplines focused on making your content easy for AI systems to read, understand, and cite — as opposed to traditional SEO, which was primarily focused on ranking in a list of links.
The good news is that the fundamentals haven’t changed as dramatically as some would have you believe. Clear writing, genuine expertise, regular updates, and a well-maintained website were always the right approach — and they remain so. What’s changed is why those things matter, and the bar for quality has risen considerably.
For a deeper dive into how recent Google algorithm changes have affected local search specifically, have a read of our post on Google’s February 2026 Core Update and what it means for Northumberland businesses.
The way people find local businesses online is changing faster than at any point in the last two decades. But the businesses that will thrive are not necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets — they’re the ones with the clearest, most helpful, most up-to-date online presence.
Your website still matters. Your content still matters. Your Google Business Profile absolutely matters. The difference is that now, the audience for that content includes both humans and AI systems — and you need to write for both.
SEO isn’t dead. It just grew up. The Google search changes of 2026 simply raise the bar for quality.
At TWDA Creative Services, we help local businesses across Northumberland and the North East navigate exactly these kinds of changes. From website design and build to content writing and SEO support, we’re here to make the digital side of your business work harder for you.
Get in touch with the TWDA team today to find out how we can help.
Feel free to reach out, and we can have a straightforward conversation about how we can assist you—perhaps over a cup of tea and a cheeky Jaffa Cake.
Quality and service are very important to us, but don’t just take our word for it. See what our customers say about our service, quality and value of our work.
