In this week’s digital news, Google’s latest conversion metric lets advertisers track the brand buzz their ads generate across Search and YouTube. Research shows profound differences between ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews, suggests different approach to content to rank in each.
Bing recommends using accurate lastmod values in sitemaps to help AI-powered search prioritize which pages to recrawl and index. Reddit’s stock rose over 16% in extended trading after the social media company issued a third-quarter revenue forecast that surpassed Wall Street expectations.
Google has officially rolled out its AI-powered search experience, to users in the UK. LinkedIn reported another quarter of “record engagement” with revenue up 9% and sessions up 7%.
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Google Ads adds ‘Branded Searches’ as new conversion metric
Google has launched Branded Searches, a new metric to measure upper funnel impact. It tracks users who search for a brand on Google or YouTube within 30 days of seeing an ad, offering a clearer view of brand lift. Available across YouTube, Performance Max, and Demand Gen campaigns, it does not yet support optimisation. Accurate setup via Brand Mapping is essential. This long anticipated feature helps advertisers connect awareness with user action, offering valuable insights into brand influence. More details are available on Google’s Measuring branded searches help page.
Research shows differences in ChatGPT and Google AIO Answers
New research from BrightEdge highlights key differences in how Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT handle search queries and what results they serve, which reinforces the need for tailored strategies to be visible in each AI search platform. While Google typically delivers informational content, ChatGPT acts as a decision-making coach, recommending tools and services for action-oriented queries. The divergence is most notable in healthcare (62%), B2B tech (47%), and education (45%), with finance showing the least (39%). For example, ChatGPT suggests Zocdoc to find doctors, while Google links to directories. This shift in intent interpretation means SEO strategies must adapt, focusing on actionable, tool-based content for ChatGPT and detailed, research-friendly content for Google to remain visible across both platforms.
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Bing recommends lastmod Tags for AI Search indexing
Bing has updated its sitemap guidance, emphasising the importance of the lastmod tag for AI-driven indexing. Accurate lastmod values help Bing prioritise which pages to recrawl, especially on large or frequently updated sites. It must reflect true content updates and follow the ISO 8601 date-time format. While Bing ignores changefreq and priority tags, combining sitemaps with IndexNow offers both broad and real-time coverage. Bing supports indexing at a massive scale—up to 2.5 trillion URLs. For SEOs, keeping sitemaps clean and current is crucial to ensure content remains discoverable in the evolving landscape of AI-powered search.
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Google’s AI Search Just Landed in the UK
Google has officially rolled out its AI-powered search experience, now called AI Overviews, to users in the UK. This marks a major shift in how search results are displayed, with AI-generated summaries appearing above traditional organic links. For marketers and SEO professionals, this could mean a drop in visibility for standard listings, as users may get answers directly from Google without clicking through. It’s a clear signal: optimising for AI-generated results is no longer optional. Brands need to rethink their content strategy and keep a close eye on how these changes impact click-through rates and conversions.
Read more here.
LinkedIn reports ‘record levels’ of engagement.
LinkedIn reported another quarter of “record engagement” with revenue up 9% and sessions up 7%. Comments rose 30%, and video uploads increased 20%, making video a key focus. The platform now has 1.2B members, though only around 400M are active. Concerns remain about artificial engagement, including pods and automation. LinkedIn says it is working to detect and limit this activity. It’s also expanding AI tools across hiring, sales, and content creation.
Read more here.
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