Does URL length correlate with AI Mode results versus traditional blue link results?
Dan Taylor ♒
Enterprise SEO Consultant and Growth Marketer | Experienced Marketing Professional - Focus on SEO, AI, and Research.
Some clients have asked me this since Google I/O, so we looked into it using real data.
We analyzed 3,123 URLs that were mentioned in AI-generated answers (what we’re calling “AI Mode”) across 580 different searches in travel, e-commerce, and SaaS.
The average URL length (not counting the domain) in AI results was 53 characters. The shortest was 9 characters, and the longest was 173.
When we checked the same searches in regular Google results (the usual blue links), the average URL length was almost the same: 52 characters, with the same range from 9 to 173.
So based on this sample, URL length does not seem to be a big factor that separates AI results from traditional search results.
It is another sign that what works for regular Google search still has a lot in common with how content is picked up in AI-powered results, even if the formats and experiences are different - and that it definitely isn't "just SEO".