Google packed a lot into this week, with Search Console picking up AI-powered configuration, Maps loosening its real-name rule for reviews, and a new test nudging more people from AI Overviews into AI Mode.
Here’s what that means for you.
Google Search Console Tests AI-Powered Report Configuration
Google introduced an experimental AI feature in Search Console that lets you describe the report you want and have the tool build it for you.
The feature, announced in a Google blog post, lives inside the Search results Performance report. You can type something like “compare clicks from UK versus France,” and the system will set filters, comparisons, and metrics to match what it thinks you mean.
For now, the feature is limited to Search results data, while Discover, News, and video reports still work the way they always have. Google says it’s starting with “a limited set of websites” and will expand access based on feedback.
The update is about configuration, not new metrics. It can help you set up a table, but it will not change how you sort or export data, and it does not add separate reporting for AI Overviews or AI Mode.
Why SEOs Should Pay Attention
If you spend a lot of time rebuilding the same types of reports, this can save you some setup time. It’s easier to describe a comparison in one sentence than to remember which checkboxes and filters you used last month.
The tradeoff is that you still need to confirm what the AI actually did. When a view comes from a written request instead of a manual series of clicks, it’s easy for a small misinterpretation to slip through and show up in a deck or a client email.
This is not a replacement for understanding how your reports are put together. It also does nothing to answer a bigger question for SEO professionals about how much traffic is coming from Google’s AI surfaces.
What SEO Professionals Are Saying
On LinkedIn, independent SEO consultant Brodie Clark summed up the launch with:
“Whoa, Google Search Console just rolled out another gem: a new AI-powered configuration to analyse your search traffic. The new feature is designed to reduce the effort it takes for you to select, filter, and compare your data.”
He then walks through how it can apply filters, set comparisons, and pick metrics for common tasks.
Under the official Search Central post, one commenter joked about the gap between configuration and data:
“GSC: ‘Describe the dataview you want to see’ Me: ‘Show me how much traffic I receive from AI overviews and AI mode’ :’)”
The overall mood is that this is a genuine quality-of-life improvement, but many SEO professionals would still rather get first-class reporting for AI Overviews and AI Mode than another way to slice existing Search results data.
Read our full coverage: Google Adds AI-Powered Configuration To Search Console
Google Maps Reviews No Longer Require Real Names
Google Maps now lets people leave reviews under a custom display name and profile picture instead of their real Google Account name. The change rolled out globally and is documented in recent Google Maps updates.
You set this up in the Contributions section of your profile. Once you choose a display name and avatar, that identity appears on new reviews and can be applied to older ones if you edit them, while Google still ties everything back to a real account with a full activity history.
The change is more than cosmetic because review identity shapes how people interpret trust and intent when they scan a local business profile.
Why SEOs Should Pay Attention
Reviews remain one of the strongest local ranking signals, based on Whitespark’s Local Search Ranking Factors survey. When names turn into nicknames, it shifts how business owners and customers read that feedback.
For local businesses, it becomes harder to recognize reviewers at a glance, review audits feel more manual because names are less useful, and owners may feel they have less visibility into who is talking about them, even though Google still sees the underlying accounts.
If you manage local clients, you will likely spend time explaining that this doesn’t make reviews truly anonymous, and that review solicitation and response strategies still matter.
What Local SEO Professionals Are Saying
In a LinkedIn post, Darren Shaw, founder of Whitespark, tried to calm some of the panic:
“Hot take: Everyone is freaking out that anonymous Google reviews will cause a surge in fake review spam, but I don’t think so.”
He points out that anyone determined to leave fake reviews can already create throwaway accounts, and that:
“Anonymous display names ≠ anonymous accounts”
Google still sees device data, behavior patterns, and full contribution history. In his view, the bigger story is that this change lowers the barrier for honest feedback in “embarrassed consumer” categories like criminal defense, rehab, and therapy, where people do not want their real names in search results.
The comments add useful nuance. Curtis Boyd expects “an increase in both 5 star reviews for ‘embarrassed consumer industries’ and correspondingly – 1 star reviews, across all industries as google makes it easier to hide identity.”
Taken together, the thread suggests you should watch for changes in review volume and rating mix, especially in sensitive verticals, without assuming this update alone will cause a sudden spike in spam.
Read our full coverage: Google Maps Lets Users Post Reviews Using Nicknames
Google Tests Seamless AI Overviews To AI Mode Transition
Google is testing a new mobile flow that sends people straight from AI Overviews into AI Mode when they tap “Show more,” based on a post from Robby Stein, VP of Product for Google Search.
In the examples Google has shown, you see an AI Overview at the top of the results page. When you expand it, an “Ask anything” bar appears at the bottom, and typing into that bar opens AI Mode with your original query pulled into a chat thread.
The test is limited to mobile and to countries where AI Mode is already available, and Google hasn’t said how long it will run or when it might roll out more broadly.
Why SEOs Should Pay Attention
This test blurs the line between AI Overviews as a SERP feature and AI Mode as a separate product. If it sticks, someone who sees your content cited in an Overview has a clear path to keep asking follow-up questions inside AI Mode instead of scrolling down to organic results.
On mobile, where this is running first, the effect is stronger because screen space is tight. A prominent “Ask anything” bar at the bottom of the screen gives people an obvious option that doesn’t involve hunting for blue links underneath ads, shopping units, and other features.
If your pages show up in AI Overviews today, it’s worth watching mobile traffic and AI-related impressions so you have before-and-after data if this behavior expands.
What SEO Professionals Are Saying
In a widely shared LinkedIn post, Lily Ray, VP of SEO Strategy & Research at Amsive, wrote:
“Google announced today that they’ll be testing a new way for users to click directly into AI Mode via AI Overviews.”
She notes that many people will likely expect “Show more” to lead back to traditional results, not into a chat interface, and ties the test to the broader state of the results page, arguing that ads and new sponsored treatments are making it harder to find organic listings.
Ray’s most pointed line is:
“Compared to the current chaotic state of Google’s search results, AI Mode feels frictionless.”
Her view is that Google is making traditional search more cluttered while giving AI Mode a cleaner, easier experience.
Other SEO professionals in the comments give concrete examples. One notes that “the well hidden sponsored ads have gotten completely out of control lately,” describing a number one organic result that sits below “5–6 sponsored ads.” Another says they have “been working with SEO since 2007” and only recently had to pause before clicking on a result because they were not sure whether it was organic or an ad.
There’s also frustration with AI Mode’s limits. One commenter describes how the context window “just suddenly refreshes and forgets everything after about 10 prompts/turns,” which makes longer research sessions difficult even as the entry point gets smoother.
Overall, the thread reads as a warning that AI Mode may feel cleaner but also keeps people on Google, and that this test is one more step in nudging searchers toward that experience.
Read our full coverage: Google Connects AI Overviews To AI Mode On Mobile
Theme Of The Week: Google Tightens Its Grip On The Journey
All three updates are pulling in the same direction: More of the search journey happens inside Google’s own interfaces.
Search Console’s AI configuration keeps you in the Performance report longer by taking some of the work out of report setup. Maps nicknames make it easier for people to speak freely, but on a platform where Google defines how identity is presented. The AI Overviews to AI Mode test turns follow-up questions into a chat that runs on Google’s terms rather than yours.
There are real usability wins in all of this, but also fewer clear moments where a searcher is nudged off Google and onto your site.
If you want to dig deeper into this week’s stories, you can read:
- Google Adds AI-Powered Configuration To Search Console
- Google Maps Lets Users Post Reviews Using Nicknames
- Google Connects AI Overviews To AI Mode On Mobile
And for broader context:
- Google Year In Search 2025: AI Tools Dominate Global Trends
- Google’s Old Search Era Is Over – Here’s What 2026 SEO Will Really Look Like
- How To Get Brand Mentions In Generative AI
Featured Image: Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock
