Updated September 2026.
In my daily work as a technology specialist, I’ve been closely following the transformations that artificial intelligence is bringing to Google. One of the most impactful, without a doubt, is what they call Query Fan-Out. For me, this isn’t just an update, but a true revolution in the way the search engine interprets what we ask.
Instead of treating a search as a single question, Google now breaks it down into multiple subqueries. It explores different angles and intentions behind the initial search to deliver a much richer and more complete answer, often with the help of AI. I see this as the end of linear search and the beginning of an era of contextual exploration.
In practice, how does Query Fan-Out work?
When I perform a search that can have multiple nuances, such as “best phones for photos,” Google no longer simply shows me a list of devices.
Behind the scenes, it’s doing much more complex work.
- My Question Breakdown: The search is broken down into smaller questions: “What are the most important camera specs?”, “Which brands have the best user reviews?”, “What is the price range of these phones?”
- Parallel Search: The system executes all these subqueries simultaneously, searching for information in its traditional index, the Knowledge Graph, and specialized data sources.
- Use of AI Models: AI Mode runs on a custom version of Gemini, which generates the subqueries and interprets the results. Google doesn’t say whether different models handle different types of questions; what it does confirm is that the model itself creates a set of related queries and runs them concurrently.
- Intelligent Synthesis: Finally, the AI consolidates all the collected information into a single, cohesive answer, which appears in AI Mode (and in AI Overviews), with links so I can delve deeper into the research.
The Big Difference: Traditional Search vs. Query Fan-Out
Traditional search has always been straightforward: I ask a question and get a list of links.
It was a “one query, one set of results” model. It worked well for simple questions, but for complex decisions, I needed to open multiple tabs and piece together the puzzle.
With Query Fan-Out, the paradigm shifts to “one query, multiple simultaneous investigations.”
The biggest change I’ve noticed is that authority on a topic has become much more important than optimizing for a single keyword.
A site that ranked first for “cellphone with a good camera” may not appear in the AI response if it doesn’t also address related subtopics, such as battery life, cost-effectiveness, and user reviews.
How does Query Fan-Out impact SEO?
This shift is seismic for those of us who work with the internet and digital products.
The SEO we know and have learned to do, focused on specific keywords, is losing ground. Now, our focus needs to be on building broad and recognized topical authority.
- Comprehensive Coverage is Essential: Superficial pages lose relevance. The goal now is to create content that answers not only the main question, but all possible questions that may arise from it.
- EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust) gains more strength: I need to demonstrate that my content is the result of real experience, written by someone who understands the topic and is trustworthy. Google prioritizes this when creating its answers.
- Metrics are Changing: With ready-made answers at the top of the search results, clicks on organic results tend to decrease. Therefore, it’s important to start valuing visibility and brand mentions within AI answers more, not just direct traffic.
Possible Optimization Strategies for this New Scenario
So, how do we adapt to this?
My strategic approach has shifted to focus on the following:
- Creating Content Clusters: My main recommendation is to abandon the idea of isolated pages. It’s necessary to work on creating “clusters,” that is, robust pillar content surrounded by several smaller articles that cover all related subtopics. This dramatically increases the chances of appearing in Google’s subqueries.
- Question Anticipation: Using tools and your own intuition to predict what questions a user might ask next and answer them with content.
- Clear Structuring: I organize my articles with titles, subtitles (H2, H3), and lists, with readers in mind first. Google has said there’s no need to chop content into tiny pieces or add special markup for AI, but well-organized text is still easier to understand for people and machines alike. Structured data remains useful for rich results in regular Search.
- Unique and Original Content: I invest in my own data, original research, and insights that only my experience can offer. Generic content is increasingly less valuable.
What Has Changed Since Launch
When I first wrote this article, AI Mode had just rolled out to everyone in the US after Google I/O 2025 and was starting to expand to other languages; Brazilian Portuguese, for example, arrived in September 2025. Since then, a few things have changed:
- Google explained fan-out officially. In its guide to optimizing for generative AI features, published in May 2026, Google describes query fan-out as a set of concurrent, related queries generated by the model to fetch additional results. The same guide says optimizing for these features is still SEO.
- AI Mode reached scale. At Google I/O in May 2026, Google said AI Mode had passed 1 billion monthly users and that Gemini 3.5 Flash became its default model worldwide.
- Search became more “agentic”. The same event introduced the biggest redesign of the search box in over 25 years, with multimodal input, plus information agents that monitor the web and alert users when something changes.
In practice, this reinforces what I was already arguing: fan-out isn’t a trick to exploit, but one more reason to cover a subject well. Preparing for this scenario is no longer about the future; it’s about now.
By focusing on building topical authority and creating truly comprehensive content, I’m not only optimizing for an algorithm, but also offering immensely greater value to my readers.
And ultimately, that’s what has always guaranteed the best results.
Sources: AI Mode in Google Search: Updates from Google I/O 2025; Google Search’s I/O 2026 updates; Google Search Central: optimizing for generative AI features.