Google Brings Discover To Search, Comprehensive New AI Studies, & Anthropic Launches Claude Max
11 Apr, 2025
5 mins read
Welcome to the latest edition of the Previsible SEO and AI Update, where we take a close look at the intersection of search and AI through the lens of the newest search and AI news.
The combined SEO and AI space continues to grow and evolve, and this week brings us industry news from Google, Anthropic, and Microsoft, along with two of the most comprehensive AI reports ever compiled.
Let’s jump right in with the ten top SEO and AI news items this week, and take a look at some of the areas on the fascinating periphery of the two, including the history of search technology and its future.
TOP 10 SEO & AI UPDATES OF THE WEEK
AI Race in 2025 is Tighter Than Ever Before
Multiple breakthroughs have brought about an AI convergence, and Stanford University’s Institute for Human Centered AI has compiled a 450-plus page report measuring the impact of AI on business and society on a global scale, and Nature recently took a close look at the new data. Nature
SEO & AI IMPACT: The eighth edition of the Stanford report offers a wealth of insight into the state of large language models (LLMs), and a look ahead to where AI efforts are intensifying — all offering SEO professionals a helpful rundown on a search industry in flux.
Google Confirms Discover Coming To Desktop Search
Google has begun rolling out its Google Discover feature to its core desktop search service, a move that will surface recommended content based on past search usage, the search giant recently announced. Search Engine Journal
SEO & AI IMPACT: Google Discover will offer an additional path for bringing new front-and-center exposure to certain content, and savvy publishers will be more likely to optimize for potential featured listings within Google Discover once the rollout has taken place.
“AI is a civilization-changing technology — not confined to any one sector, but transforming every industry it touches.”
— Russell Wald, Executive Director at The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI
After Months of User Complaints, Anthropic Debuts New $200/Month AI Plan
AI firm Anthropic has launched Claude Max — offering its subscribers fewer usage limitations alongside a priority level of processing above those of the company’s free and lower-priced Claude plans, Anthropic recently announced. Ars Technica
SEO & AI IMPACT: Also among the new features was early access to future new features, combining to offer SEO professionals who use Claude a more robust AI tool experience, with Claude Max priced between $100 and $200 per month.
AI 2027 [AI Futures Project Report]
For some, AI has continued to drive the prospect of a world negatively affected by the technology, and a newly-published report from the non-profit AI Futures Project examines some of the fears and hopes surrounding what the AI revolution may have in store. AI Futures Project
SEO & AI IMPACT: The project’s report, led by former OpenAI researcher Daniel Kokotajlo, offers a glimpse at some of the doomsday scenarios envisioned for AI-gone-astray, while also examining many of the practical benefits AI has brought in certain business sectors.
Feeling Curious? NotebookLM Can Now Discover Data Sources For You
Google has updated its Google Labs project NotebookLM with the ability to perform AI analysis that goes beyond only user-uploaded content — broadening the scope to include relevant web resources, Google recently announced. Ars Technica
SEO & AI IMPACT: Surfacing web content to Google’s NotebookLM with the new Discover Sources feature offers publishers and SEO professionals a potential new audience, with accompanying optimization challenges and opportunities.
Google Business Profiles Performance Messaging Clicks Report
Google has conducted a limited rollout of a new analytics data point within its Google Business Profile product, offering metrics on text messaging user interactions, according to the search giant. Search Engine Roundtable
SEO & AI IMPACT: Should the new measurement tracking roll out universally, SEO professionals looking to optimize Google Business Profile content will likely find the return of the data — which was once available and then removed — to be a welcome addition.
Windows 11’s Copilot Vision Wants to Help You Learn to use Complicated Apps
Microsoft has expanded the scope of its Copilot Vision AI assistance tool to offer insight that goes beyond web browser content, adding the ability to analyze Windows program interface information, Microsoft recently announced. Ars Technica
SEO & AI IMPACT: By expanding Copilot Vision, Microsoft has given new capabilities to the only AI assistance tool native within the Windows operating system, which could lead to potentially fewer web searches relating to the usage of Windows-based programs.
Google AI Mode Gains Search With Image Multimodal Capabilities With Lens
Google has rolled out a new feature that allows users of its AI Mode to perform search queries based on uploaded images, the search giant recently announced. Search Engine Roundtable
SEO & AI IMPACT: By combining its AI Mode and image-searching technology, Google has brought together two search features that may have SEO professionals paying greater attention to the optimization possibilities that images increasingly present.
How People Are Really Using Gen AI in 2025
A growing number of consumers have begun using generative AI tools for tasks beyond traditional technology-oriented goals, with expanding usage for emotional and personal development tasks, according to newly-published report data. Harvard Business Review
SEO & AI IMPACT: Some 38 percent of the top 100 AI use cases were new 2025 additions, including such topics and life organizational tasks and finding purpose and meaning, which signify new opportunities for SEO professionals looking to optimize the increasing number of AI tool-based searches.
Google Outlines Evolving AI Process in Business Listings, Search and More
Google has expanded access to its AI Mode and shared new details about how it combats fraudulent reviews within Google Business Manager, Google recently announced. Social Media Today
SEO & AI IMPACT: By providing additional transparency into how it has evolved its usage of AI to tackle inauthentic business reviews, Google has sought to improve the trust users place in its Google Business Profile listings and potentially bring back some related traffic that turned to Reddit for more authentic business reviews.
SEARCH & TECHNOLOGY HISTORY & FUTURE:
Anthropic Education Report: How University Students Use Claude — Anthropic
DeepMind Has Detailed All the Ways AGI Could Wreck the World — Ars Technica
12 Graphs That Explain the State of AI in 2025 — Spectrum IEEE
The Curious Case of Jupiter Ace [History of Computing] — Programming at the Right Level
VOICES OF SEARCH PODCAST LATEST EPISODES:
What does successful link building look like today, and what role does automation play in scalable SEO? Alex Gophstein, co-founder at Pitchbox recently took the time to join our own CEO and co-founder Jordan Koene and share the latest strategies for overcoming 2025’s link-building challenges — you’ll find it all on the Voices of Search podcast at “Link Building & Automation.”
What’s the best way to put AI to use for specific tasks? AI educator and consultant Britney Muller recently sat down with our COO and co-founder Tyson Stockton to share the latest — you’ll find this and more on the Voices of Search Podcast at “Putting AI to Work For Specific Tasks.”
How can you align SEO with B2B revenue attribution, and why is doing so more important than ever today? Dreamdata CMO and co-founder Steffen Hedebrandt joined our COO and co-founder Tyson Stockton to answer these questions, and why SEO’s true value is often under-reported in traditional CRM attribution models — it’s all on the Voices of Search Podcast at “How to Align SEO with B2B Revenue Attribution.”
FRIDAY FIVE SEARCH MARKETING & AI FAVORITES TO FOLLOW:
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK FOR THE LATEST SEO & AI UPDATES
Learn more about Previsible‘s mission to unlock scalable organic growth with AI search optimization, and if you haven’t seen our free comprehensive 70-plus page Previsible 2025 State of SEO Jobs Report yet, you can download it here.
Have you come across a top news item exploring the intersection between SEO and AI that we haven’t covered yet? If so, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line.
Thank you for taking the time to join us for this week’s edition of the Previsible SEO & AI Update, and we hope that you will return once again next Friday for another selection of the most up-to-date and relevant SEO and AI industry news. In the meantime, you can follow us on our LinkedIn page for even more timely insight.
Lane R. Ellis has over 41 years’ experience working with and writing about the Internet. Lane's industry coverage has been featured regularly in LinkedIn’s “This Week in Marketing” newsletter with over 4.5 million readers, and he's published over 2,000 articles. When he's not writing about search technology, Lane enjoys distance running (he's completed 11 marathons including two ultra-marathons so far), genealogical research, cross-country skate skiing including a world-record 202-day streak, vegetarian cooking, collecting vintage computers, and spending time with his wonderful wife Julie Ahasay and their cats Kukla, Twister, and Arlo in beautiful Duluth, Minnesota.
Ready to rank higher and attract more customers?
Let's chat to see if there's a good fit
More from Previsible
SEO Jobs Newsletter
Join our mailing list to receive notifications of pre-vetted SEO job openings and be the first to hear about new education offerings.