Google is testing three shortcuts directly under the search box on its desktop homepage: “Create images”, “Ask about files” and “Brainstorm”. Each one sends the user into AI Mode rather than a standard results page. Google confirmed the experiment on 10 August 2026 and described it as a small desktop test that leaves the core search box unchanged.
That makes it easy to dismiss as a UI experiment. For anyone working on Google AI Mode SEO, the more useful read is behavioural. Google is putting task-based actions in front of users before they type a conventional query. If the habit sticks, more discovery starts inside a conversation instead of a list of links.
What Google confirmed
Search Engine Land reported the test on 10 August after Barry Schwartz spotted the new homepage layout. Google VP of Product Robby Stein then confirmed it as a limited desktop experiment intended to help people discover more of what Search can do.
The three shortcuts currently showing are Create images, which starts an image-generation task; Ask about files, which brings a file into an AI-assisted search flow; and Brainstorm, which opens a conversational idea-generation flow. All three route into AI Mode. The traditional search box still works as before, so this is not a replacement for classic Google Search, and Google has not announced a wider rollout timeline.
The important detail is placement. These actions sit on the homepage, before a search has started. Google has spent years teaching people to type a short query and pick a result. This test teaches a different sequence: choose a task, add context, then continue inside AI-powered search.
| Entry point | User behaviour | Destination | Marketing implication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard search box | Type a query | Regular Google Search | Traditional rankings and clicks remain relevant |
| AI Mode entry | Ask a longer or multi-step question | AI Mode | Discovery becomes more conversational |
| New homepage shortcuts | Start with brainstorming, file analysis or image creation | AI Mode | Some research begins without a conventional keyword query |
Why the homepage test matters beyond the homepage
These shortcuts do not change rankings by themselves. There is no announced ranking rule, schema requirement or paid media setting attached to the experiment.
They do reinforce a direction Google has been signalling for months. Search is becoming a place where people ask, compare, create, analyse and act without returning to the link-based flow every time. An earlier breakdown of Google’s shift toward agentic search covered the same move from queries toward task completion.
The practical response is not to invent a fresh checklist for three homepage buttons. The existing direction, covered in this analysis of optimising content for AI search engines, still points back to Search fundamentals.
Useful pages, clear structure, accurate facts, crawlability and real expertise continue to matter. What changes is that Google AI Mode buttons also needs content that can answer follow-up questions and support comparison. A page built around one narrow keyword becomes less useful when AI Mode expands a request across several related questions. For the broader framework, this guide to AI search SEO covers the foundation the homepage test sits on top of.
The B2B SaaS marketing impact is mostly about research behaviour
For B2B SaaS marketing, the risk is not that Google removes the search box tomorrow. Google has explicitly said the core search box is unchanged.
The realistic shift is that early research becomes less click-heavy. A buyer could brainstorm requirements, upload a requirements document, ask for categories to compare and carry on inside AI Mode before ever visiting a vendor site. The commercial impact has not been quantified publicly, but the workflow is closer to problem solving than to keyword search.
That changes what content has to do. Generic definition pages may still earn visibility, but comparison content, use cases, pricing context, integration detail and evidence become more valuable when a system is assembling an answer rather than ranking ten links.
Measurement also gets harder when discovery happens before the click. The AI Overviews reporting in Search Console helps with visibility, and the GA4 AI Assistant channel group separates some AI-referred visits once they arrive. Neither closes the gap entirely.
Paid media teams should avoid reading more into the test than Google has said. There is no public evidence that these shortcuts change ad targeting, bidding or auction mechanics. The implication is indirect: if more research completes inside AI experiences, the queries that still trigger a site visit may gradually skew more specific or more brand-led. That is something to measure rather than assume.
What marketing teams should watch next
This is a test, so the next signals matter more than the screenshot. Four are worth tracking.
- Rollout scope. Watch whether Google extends the shortcuts beyond a small desktop audience or pushes the same behaviours across other Search entry points.
- Task mix. Image creation, file analysis and brainstorming are broad. Shortcuts tied to shopping, comparison, planning or business research would carry a far more direct commercial effect.
- Click behaviour. Compare organic impressions, clicks, AI referrals and branded search demand in Search Console before and after any broader rollout. Do not declare a traffic collapse on the basis of a homepage test.
- Citation presence. If AI Mode becomes a more common starting point, being included in generated answers matters alongside ranking. This guide on how to rank on AI Overview covers the citation side, and generative engine optimisation is useful for teams planning beyond classic SERP positions.
Teams should also run their own high-value buying questions through AI Mode. Look at which brands appear, which sources are cited, what follow-up questions Google suggests, and whether your content supplies the facts needed to stay in the conversation.
OneMetrik Takeaway
Three homepage buttons are not an SEO emergency. They are a product nudge that makes Google’s direction harder to ignore.
Do not rebuild a search strategy around a limited test. Keep the technical foundation solid, publish content that supports real buying decisions, and start measuring presence in AI-powered search alongside rankings, traffic and pipeline.
At OneMetrik, our read is that the winning brands will not be the ones chasing every new Google interface. They will be the ones whose product information, expertise and proof stay useful whether the buyer starts with a keyword, an AI prompt or a file upload.