Google says AI Mode users ask questions three times longer
People using Google's AI Mode are asking questions roughly three times longer than before, and are working through decisions earlier in the search process, according to Google Ads product liaison Ginny Marvin and search vice president of data science and user experience research Shivani Mohan, speaking on the Ads Decoded podcast on 28 October.
Google's episode notes say users go back and forth on follow-up questions and search with voice and images, which lets them add personal detail and work through complex choices as they search. More than one in six AI Mode searches in the US are multimodal, per a May 2026 report, though that figure covers AI Mode only and not all Google searches. The three-times-longer figure compares average query length and does not by itself show stronger buying intent or better conversion rates.
Mohan said users value the clarity of AI summaries but still seek out detail, lived experience and earned authority from the open web, pointing to forums, podcasts and videos. For brands, that points to answering the concerns customers raise before buying, including how a product performs in practice and why someone chose it, rather than repeating product copy.
Google has not published conversion benchmarks for the behaviours discussed, and questions in the replies to Marvin's post about adapting ad copy and landing pages for earlier exploratory intent, and about which retail signals to watch, went unanswered in the episode and posts.
Reported by Search Engine Journal ↗
Topics: AI Mode, Google Search, AI advertising