Part 3: Google Search Central Live in NYC; Misconceptions on Search and AI

Earlier this year I had the privilege of attending Google Search Central Live in New York City, held in the newly remodeled St. John’s Terminal. It’s an exclusive Google-organized event where digital marketers get direct access to the executives of the Google Search teams to hear not only what’s new in search, but also what’s coming in the near future. Of course, AI was a hot topic.

It was a fun and enlightening event, and while in the city I also got to have dinner with one of my long-time NYC clients too, Michael Lamonsoff.

From the presentations and one-on-one conversations with people who I consider some of the most brilliant minds in digital marketing today, here’s a Q&A to answer some common questions I hear from Studio 3 clients.

No. It’s shifting where and how SEO works and will be successful.

At the event, Google executives emphasized that AI Overviews (AIOs), the summary boxes that answer queries at the top of results, are here to stay. But they also made it clear: they won’t soon provide separate tracking for AIO traffic. It’s too volatile right now.

Google accounts for 88% of all internet searches and with Gemini it’s leaning into AI even more. ChatGPT is the rage, but it’s still less than 1% of the global search market. The takeaway is SEO can’t just be about organic rankings anymore, like what worked a few years ago. SEO must evolve to encompass local listings, compete for AI citations, and be complemented by the other positions that top search results, such as sponsored. The goal of SEO is now repetitive brand visibility, not just organically ranking high and wishing for bottom-funnel leads.

Google provided a balanced view and said generative AI is perfectly allowed, but only if it’s used responsibly.

What you need to be wary of is “Scaled Content Abuse.” Google defines this as, “when many pages are generated for the primary purpose of manipulating search rankings and not helping users.”

The common-sense way to look at it is this: What’s your intention for posting the content? If your marketing agency is trying to meet a contracted monthly quota of new pages or blogs for SEO, then you might be in trouble because your content is probably for search engines. If you’re using AI to help generate content that you believe is timely, relevant, and will help people and checking to make sure it is, then you’re using AI the right way and this can benefit SEO results. 

Not really. Even though some marketing agencies claim they’re doing something unique for the sake of selling their “AI marketing” services. Search and AI are now two sides of the same coin. There are some differences for sure, but if anything, AI is augmenting SEO, not replacing it.

AI is pulling information from the same data points that search engines like Google are. The difference is the way content gets prioritized and responses are served. In reality, Google is aligning more with AI than separating from it. Quality content, authentic customer reviews, brand consistency across the internet, and clear signals to AI and search engines with structured data are still the basics and now benefit visibility in both Search and AI results.

No, Google said explicitly they don’t directly favor bigger brands. What Google favors is recognition. They made it clear that its systems look for consistent signals: reviews, citations, mentions, and trust from third-party sources. Big brands tend to accumulate these naturally, but smaller practices and firms can win as well by building authority in their niche and geographic area.

For smaller businesses, this means keeping industry profiles current, earning authentic community reviews consistently, and being mentioned in credible local sources. Authority isn’t demonstrated by size; it is evidenced in social proof. 

• Expertise: Content should reflect real-world knowledge and authority.
• Beyond your website: Reviews, testimonials, and third-party mentions carry more weight than ever before in Google’s algorithms.
• Brand Trust: Consistency across profiles, listings, and content signals reliability to both AI and more importantly, users.
• Core Vitals: These are defined metrics used to gauge things like site speed and mobile performance. Marketing agencies love to cite Core Vitals as if they’re be-all-end-all. They do matter to Google, but people visiting your website and having a pleasant and productive overall experience matters more. It’s no different than Google has been prioritizing and saying for years, put people first.

Search Central Live was not about gimmicks or shortcuts. It was mostly common sense. SEO in the AI era is still about how brands can gain online visibility, but the levers are different. Responsible use of AI, structured content, credible citations, and consistent brand visibility matter more than ever.

The winners will be the firms and practices that stop chasing hacks like spamming keywords and start focusing on legitimate authority signals that AI and search engines can verify.