Google is testing something that sounds like a small UX tweak but signals something larger: an 'Ask Anything' prompt box that sticks to the bottom of the screen as users scroll through AI Overviews and organic results. It stays visible. It follows you. It is, functionally, a persistent invitation to go deeper into AI Mode.
That is not a cosmetic change. It is a structural shift in how Google wants users to behave during a search session - and it reshapes the competitive environment for any brand trying to be found, cited, or recommended by AI-generated results.
What the Sticky Box Actually Does to Search Behaviour
Traditional search had a relatively predictable rhythm. A user types a query, scans results, clicks, and either finds what they need or returns to the results page. The search session was largely contained to that initial query.
A sticky Ask Anything box changes that rhythm. With a follow-up prompt always visible, the natural behaviour is to keep refining, narrowing, and drilling down - all without leaving the search experience. Google is nudging users towards conversational, multi-turn sessions. Rather than one query producing one results page, you get a thread.
This is the behaviour that Perplexity and ChatGPT already encourage. Google has watched users engage with those platforms conversationally, and this test is clearly an attempt to recreate that same sticky session dynamic within its own product. The implications are significant for anyone tracking how branded and unbranded queries behave.
Why Multi-Turn Search Is a Different Problem for GEO
Most brands and their agencies have been thinking about AI visibility in terms of single queries. Can we appear in the AI Overview for 'best accountants in Birmingham'? Are we cited when someone asks ChatGPT about home insurance options? Those are important questions, but they assume a one-shot model.
Multi-turn search introduces a different challenge. In a conversational thread, the AI does not just answer one question - it builds context across several. A user who starts with 'what should I look for in a project management tool' and then follows up with 'which ones are best for remote teams under 50 people' is progressively narrowing towards a purchase decision. A brand that only appears in the first answer but not the second has lost ground at the critical moment.
This means GEO strategies need to account for depth, not just presence. It is not enough to have content that answers the top-level query. Brands need to be answering the follow-up questions too - the specific, intent-heavy queries that come later in a search session when a user is close to a decision. Schema-marked FAQs, detailed comparison content, and clearly structured use-case pages all become more valuable in this model.
The Visibility Window Is Getting Narrower
If users are being kept inside the AI search experience for longer, the organic results sitting below the AI Overview face a more difficult battle. The sticky prompt reinforces the AI layer as the primary interaction surface. Users who might have scrolled past the Overview to check the blue links are now being actively re-engaged with AI Mode before they get there.
For UK brands that have relied on strong organic rankings, this is another signal that ranking alone does not guarantee traffic. Being visible in AI-generated answers is increasingly the first layer of discovery - not a secondary one. A position-one organic result that sits below an AI Overview and a sticky prompt inviting further AI conversation is operating in a much more competitive environment than it was two years ago.
The practical response is not to abandon SEO. Well-structured, authoritative content remains the foundation of being cited by AI systems. But the goal of that content needs to evolve. You are not just optimising for a ranking position. You are optimising to be the source an AI reaches for when it constructs its answer - across multiple turns of a conversation.
What Brands Should Be Doing Differently Right Now
Start by auditing your content for conversational depth. Map out the follow-up questions a user might ask after finding your core content. If you sell B2B software, your top-of-funnel page might answer 'what is X category of tool' but have nothing that speaks to 'how does it work for teams using Slack and Jira' or 'what does implementation look like for a 20-person team'. Those second and third-tier questions are exactly where multi-turn AI sessions probe.
Make your content easy for AI systems to parse and attribute. Clear headings, direct answers near the top of each section, and accurate structured data all help. If your pages bury the answer in paragraph four after three sentences of preamble, you are making it harder for AI Overviews to pull your content and credit you as the source.
Consider the role of paid search in this context too. As AI Mode captures more of the session, Performance Max and Search campaigns that appear alongside or within these experiences become a complementary layer. Users who are deep in a multi-turn AI session and still engaged are high-intent. Being visible with relevant paid placements in those moments - particularly for commercial queries - is worth examining as AI search session lengths increase.
The Broader Direction of Travel
This test is one signal in a consistent pattern. Google is investing heavily in keeping users inside its AI layer for longer, with features that reduce the friction of follow-up queries. The Ask Anything box sticking to the screen is a small but deliberate piece of that. It is designed to make the traditional scroll-and-click behaviour feel less necessary.
Brands that treat AI visibility as a separate, secondary concern to their core SEO and paid strategy are going to find themselves progressively less visible to users who are actively searching. This is not about chasing every Google test that surfaces in the trade press. It is about recognising that the search session itself is being redesigned - and that the brands who understand how AI answers are constructed, cited, and chained together across a conversation are the ones who will hold their ground.
The sticky box is a small window into where search sessions are heading. The response required is not small.