Google Described Search and AI as a Single Product on Its Q3 2026 Earnings Call

On its Q3 2026 earnings call, Google described traditional Search, AI Overviews, and AI Mode as parts of one product. As Search Engine Journal reported on November 3, 2026, the company also discussed its work on agentic features: Search should not just help people find information, but also help them complete tasks.

Search and AI Are Converging

Google is talking about a unified Search experience that brings together familiar search results, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. This is a direction of travel, not an announcement that the transition is complete: the company gave no date for when all these formats would become a single interface for every user.

The company says its agentic capabilities are still at an early stage. Google first introduced them in Gemini Enterprise and is now bringing them to Search. The idea is that users could do more than find pages relevant to a query: they could ask the tool to handle some of the steps involved in completing a task. It is not yet clear which use cases will catch on.

On the day of the call, Google announced its Connected Apps Platform. Several apps can already interact with Gemini through MCP, either within the app itself or from Search. In Google's example, a user turns to Peloton and uses its app with Gemini. Other developers can apply to connect their apps. That does not mean every website's features are already accessible from Search.

The article's author, Marie Haynes, connects these developments to Sundar Pichai's earlier description of Search as a system for managing agents. That is her interpretation of where things are heading, not a description of a finished product. Google is talking about new use cases and commercial opportunities, but has yet to explain what role different types of websites will play in them.

What Remains Unclear

The development of AI Mode also affects advertising. According to the article, Google plans to improve the product and user engagement first, then expand its monetization options. It has already begun rolling out ads in AI Mode to additional countries, including Australia and Canada. The call did not make clear when, or to what extent, advertising opportunities in AI Mode would become comparable to those in traditional Search.

Google Search advertising grew 12% year over year, against Wall Street expectations of 15%. That makes it worth watching how the company places paid offerings in its new formats. But AI Mode cannot be treated as the sole reason for the gap between results and expectations: the article establishes no such link.

Google also expects AI development to accelerate as AI is used to improve AI itself. For SEO, that is not a timetable for change: the account of the call gives no specific date for when new agentic features will be available to all Search users.

What This Means for Websites and Marketing

For a website owner, the important question is where someone will first encounter an offering and whether they will need to visit the company's website. If a search tool can handle part of their task, the path from query to website may change. The article does not, however, claim that visits will disappear or that any particular SEO tactic has stopped working.

It is important to separate confirmed changes from predictions. Google is bringing its Search formats together in its product strategy and developing ways for Gemini to interact with connected apps. What that will mean for an individual business's visibility, traffic, and enquiries is still unknown. The company offered no universal guide to optimizing for agents on the call.

Marketers would do well to watch which tasks people can complete without visiting a website and which still require them to explore an offering. Service developers should assess the Connected Apps Platform as a way to integrate functionality, not just another place to put a link. Whether to connect depends on what a service can do and what actions users should be able to take through it.

My View: The School's Needs Come Before the Search Format

For my language school, this discussion is quite practical. People still search for courses and compare schools in Search; they need information about programs, schedules, and terms. So I would not scale back work on the website because of predictions about agents. I am more interested in whether this kind of Search will help someone choose a course without missing important details.

When updating the website, I would first decide who will update schedules and course information, which features are needed, and how much the launch will cost. I would keep an eye on AI Mode and connected apps separately. I like the idea of a new route to enrollment, but it is too early to budget for it as an established source of enquiries.

Sources

Where the news comes from. The text is a retelling in the author’s own words; the facts come from the source, the opinion is the author’s.

1. Google’s Q3 2026 Earnings Call: Search & AI Are Merging Into One Unified Product via @sejournal, @marie_haynes www.searchenginejournal.com

About the author

Narek A.

Language school owner

I'm growing a small language school and planning to update the website with the course schedule. I want to be able to change information after launch without starting another project from scratch.

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