Google built its $2 trillion empire by curating lists of blue links to relevant websites. Now, it’s giving users a reason to ignore them.

Last week, the tech giant rolled out AI Mode across Search in the U.S. – a new tab that turns queries into conversations, complete with follow-up questions and multimodal responses. No clicking required.

It’s the exact experience ChatGPT and Perplexity are pushing, which is precisely why Google had to copy it.

The Bigger Story

Google makes billions a year from ads that rely on one simple behavior: users clicking through to websites.

AI Mode eliminates that behavior entirely, keeping users in a chat interface with direct answers. (Yes, they’ll add ads to AI Mode, but conversational interfaces generate a fraction of the ad opportunities.)

So why make this trade?

First, ChatGPT has crossed a critical threshold. CEO Sundar Pichai recently warned staff: “ChatGPT is becoming synonymous with AI the same way Google is with search.”

While Google still handles 373x more queries, that gap matters less than the trend. ChatGPT has evolved from Silicon Valley novelty to genuine search alternative.

Second, the AI wars have become absolutely ruthless. Just look at last week:

• Tuesday: Google unveils AI Mode and countless other new features
• Wednesday: OpenAI headline-jacks, announcing a $6.4B acquisition
• Thursday: Anthropic follows suit, shipping Claude 4

Three major AI moves in three days. That compressed timeline reveals how quickly the ground is shifting and how intense this competition really is. 

Why You Should Care

Google’s facing the classic innovator’s dilemma: defend your core business, or disrupt it yourself.

They chose the latter. And in doing so, they’re offering a blueprint for anyone navigating a market that’s also being reshaped right now – which at this point, feels like most markets…

For compete pros, two things to watch:

1. Messaging magic

Google will now need to convince Wall Street that fewer clicks equal more value. Watch how they reframe “declining traffic” as “richer engagement” and “AI disruption” as “new monetization formats.” It’ll be a great case study around narrative control. 

2. Pressure reveals priorities

If Google, with every conceivable advantage, felt forced to cannibalize itself, what “competitive advantages” are you clinging to that might actually be anchors? Sometimes the biggest threat isn’t what competitors are building. It’s your own unwillingness to break what you’ve built.

Turns out, the greatest risk to Google Search might be… Google 🤔

Tell me if this sounds familiar.

Your rep’s working a competitive deal, and the buyer asks:

“How do you stack up against Competitor X?”

There’s no battlecard. So the rep wings it – and the deal starts to wobble.

These make-or-break moments? They happen every day.

And they’re exactly why we built Klue’s Competitor Profiles and Knowledge Hub.

Here’s what you get with these new capabilities 👇

→ AI-generated competitive profiles covering your entire landscape
→ Built using context from your GTM, positioning, and product docs
→ Refreshed daily, available on-demand, and used in Deal Tips

No more guessing. No more scrambling. Just accurate, approved answers — even for ankle-biters.

Last week, Adam and I sat down with Dustin Ray (Head of CI at Huntress) and Clara Smythe (Director of Competitive Consulting at Klue) to tackle a critical question:

What should you do before creating competitive content?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth they shared: most teams skip the diagnosis and jump straight to the prescription. They crank out battlecards, slides, and talk tracks without first understanding which competitors are actually hurting pipeline and why.

The result? Content nobody uses. And deals lost…

Their fix is what they call the Tripod Approach — a simple framework built around three signals:

• Sales Confidence Surveys – How sellers feel
• Threat Analysis – What the data says
• Win-Loss Interviews – What buyers actually tell you

Let’s break it down 👇

1. Sales Confidence Surveys

This lightweight feedback loop captures where your sellers feel vulnerable before it shows up in your pipeline.

To start, Clara recommends running a 5-question pulse survey twice a year to surface where sellers feel least equipped to win. Ask:

• On a scale of 1–5, how confident are you in competitive deals
• Which competitors are toughest to beat?
• What objections do you struggle with most?
• Which assets actually help you
• Magic wand: what one thing would make your life easier?

You’ll come away with a heatmap of competitive confidence, spotlighting where content and training are most urgently needed.

2. Threat Analysis with CRM Data

Where confidence surveys show feelings, threat analysis shows facts.

To start, pull these key reports:

• Closed-lost deals by competitor
• Revenue impact by competitor
• Win rate by competitor
• Regional patterns
• Open opportunities by competitor

Then map competitors on frequency (how often they show up) versus win rate (how often you beat them). This immediately reveals which competitors are actually costing you revenue.

3. Win-Loss Interviews

Finally, use win-loss interviews to validate (or challenge) your working theories. The patterns that emerge here – especially in competitive loss stories – can guide exactly what content you build next.

Sounds Like a Lot of Work?

It doesn’t have to be.

Clara showed how Klue customers are running this entire process – surveys, reports, interviews – in about a week, depending on their setup and existing intel. No massive project plans. No weeks-long strategy cycles.

• Run a confidence survey once or twice a year
• Pull CRM reports on your top competitors
• Review a few existing win-loss interviews

That’s enough to start building competitive content that actually impacts deals.

📌 Go Deeper: Read our in-depth guide on the Tripod Approach, including step-by-step implementation and templates.

Here’s what you missed on the Compete Community discussion board 👇

• Dustin’s looking to benchmark CI team growth — and is asking ‘at what point do you add new analysts?’ Chime in.
  
  
• Bhavik asked for creative ideas for delivering deal-specific support at scale with a small team.
  
  
• Clara shared her competitor tiering & prioritization matrix. An always-on hot topic for CI pros.
  
  
• Dustin shared the ‘Tripod Approach,’ the foundation of his compete strategy at Huntress.

Want to submit a question anonymously? Go here. 

Upcoming Commmunity Events

Peer Circles: Sales Enablement & AI
📆 May 29 & June 5 @ 8am PT/11am E
📍Virtual customer-only events – register now

Dinner & Dialogue: AI’s Role in Product Marketing
📆 June 11 @ 6:15pm ET
📍NYC Dinner – register now

5 Plays to Support Competitive Deals (yes, with AI)
📆 June 12 @ 9am PT
📍Virtual event – register now

Save the Date: Compete Week 2025
📆 Sept 15-16
📍Virtual & Vancouver Conf – register now

Product marketers shouldn’t have to choose between being strategic or helping sales win deals. But when every competitive ask becomes a fire drill, you lose time, credibility — and revenue.

That’s why we’re hosting a virtual event built for PMMs and compete leaders who want to scale their impact and influence revenue with AI.

🗓️ 5 Plays to Support Competitive Deals (yes, with AI)

June 12th | 8am PST/11amEST

🎙️ And now, the speaker lineup is live.

You’ll hear from some of the sharpest minds in compete and product marketing:

• Clara Smyth, Competitive Consultant, Klue

• Jason Hersh, Principal, Market Intelligence, Gainsight

• Cody Bernard, Director of Product Marketing, Klue

• Kim Bauer, Director of Competitive Intelligence, SentinelOne

You’ll walk away with:

• Templates to identify threats and boost seller confidence

• Frameworks for shaping buying criteria and following up with fire

• Strategies to scale enablement without being everywhere at once