Google’s AI Mode and Franchise Lead Generation
By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights
June 11, 2025 — Almost exactly a year since we wrote about the introduction of AI Overviews and generative AI to franchise search, Google introduced AI Mode, its generative AI offering to the search experience in browsers and the Gemini app which began rolling out to all U.S. desktop and mobile users on May 20, 2025.
How this will ultimately impact the paid search marketing ecosystem is of course unknown, as Google is only now testing ads in the generative AI Mode response, which appear in the left-most tab in the user interface. Search advertisers can’t request placement there (yet), but those “who are already using Performance Max, Shopping and Search campaigns with broad match, including AI Max for Search campaigns, will be eligible to have their ads appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode” according to Google.
Asking AI mode for an answer to the question “what will be the impact of Google’s AI mode on franchise lead generation?” yielded a lucid and balanced list of eleven opportunities, benefits, challenges and considerations. But even Google itself does not know the quantitative impact, hence a paced roll-out with a lot of testing before unleashing the new feature on its golden goose of search revenue.
Even before AI Mode is ubiquitous, only about 1% of searches lead to a paid click according to a SparkToro study.
The answer is very important to franchise development teams, since 87% of them expect to use Google for franchise lead generation according to a January 2025 survey. And since only about 16.7% percent of aspiring franchise owners are already “very, or somewhat familiar” with the franchises they inquire about, being seen where prospective buyers are searching is essential.
If AI Overviews are an indication, brace yourselves for a reset. Here are some astounding factoids shared from various sources since the launch of AI Overviews just over a year ago:
- Search queries have grown by almost 50%, yet click-throughs have dropped by 30%.
- Zero-click searches (user finds an answer without clicking further, or searches again) now make up almost 60% of all U.S. searches.
- Google’s own properties (YouTube, Maps, etc.) receive about 12% of all the clicks, and
- Only approximately 1% of searches go to Google’s paid search ads!
On the brighter side for franchises with great brand stories and detailed information on their websites, AI overviews are reaching deeper down into the long tail of content, where some 89% of citations are coming from sites down below the top 100 organic search results, according to the BrightEdge report.
But before anyone gets giddy, there is no guarantee that you will get a link from the citation, much less a click. The same report showed that only about 29% of searches resulted in any click outside to the open web where your content might be found. The Wall Street Journal reported this week massive drops in traffic to publishers’ sites in the last few years as AI chatbots have taken hold, and they expect AI Mode to “deliver a stronger blow.”
On the plus side, since Google controls the real estate and options dedicated to paid search on its platform, if only 1% of searches result in paid clicks now, it seems that there is a lot of room for inventory expansion, provided there are advertisers willing to spend the money. While the ads seen now in AI Mode are mainly “product” ads, there is no doubt Google will set aside more pixels to perpetuate its digital ad hegemony.
Franchise Ventures is the leading franchise lead-generation platform for potential franchisees to thousands of growing franchise systems in the United States and Canada. Its franchise lead generation brands include Franchise.com, Franchise Solutions, Franchise Gator, Franchise Opportunities, Franchise For Sale, SmallBusinessStartup.com and BusinessBroker.net, and together they provide the largest aggregation of prospective franchise buyers in the U.S.
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Published on Tuesday, June 10th, 2025.