Google is testing new AI features directly on its home page. For some desktop users, the classic layout has changed: three new buttons — Create images, Ask about files, and Brainstorm — now sit below the big search box, where many are used to seeing only the Google Search and "I'm Feeling Lucky" buttons.
The new buttons are designed to push users toward Google's AI Mode, the Gemini-powered conversational search experience. They appear alongside the AI Mode button, the "+" icon on the left of the search box, Google Lens, and the voice search button, which have been part of the home page toolkit for a while.
What's actually new
Most of these capabilities were already available in the Google Search app — but they are now rolling out to the desktop home page for at least some users. Notably, none of the new buttons were part of the redesigned "intelligent search box" Google demoed back in May.
SEO Khushal Bherwani was among the first to spot the change and posted about it on X earlier today, and the search community quickly followed with reports and screenshots of their own.
Google confirms it's a small test
Google's VP of Product, Robby Stein, has since confirmed that the buttons are part of a limited test. In a post on X, he said:
"This is a small test on desktop to help people find new things they can do with Search. No impact to how the core search box works – just add your question and hit enter as usual (which is how most people search anyways!)"
So for now, the core search box behaves exactly as it always has — typing a query and hitting Enter still works normally.
Why this matters for SEO
The Google home page is one of the most valuable pieces of digital real estate on the internet, and Google rarely changes it. The last time the company used it so aggressively to promote AI was around I/O, when it added promotional boxes pushing AI Mode below the search box.
If Google expands this test beyond its current limited set of desktop users, it could meaningfully change how people discover — and use — AI Mode from Google Search. More users entering AI Mode means more queries answered with AI-generated overviews and conversations instead of traditional blue links, which would shift where organic traffic ultimately lands.
For SEOs and publishers, this is another signal that visibility in AI Mode is becoming as important as visibility in classic search results. If the test expands, monitoring how your brand shows up in AI Mode — not just in the regular SERP — will matter more than ever.
