A Day at Google HQ: Mastering LeadGen in the AI Era

Today 3 of us from Clicky (Oli Yeates, Ollie Nicholls and Matt Jones) headed to Google's London headquarters at 6 Pancras Square, King's Cross, for Mastering LeadGen in the AI Era.

The invite-only event brought together agencies and advertisers to hear directly from Google's teams on where lead generation is heading, and how AI is changing the way people search, compare and decide. With a packed auditorium and a full morning of sessions, it was a brilliant chance to get ahead of what's coming.

What we heard

The agenda covered the full lead generation journey, from measurement and Search through to YouTube and Demand Gen, finishing with a live customer panel and an exclusive look at Google's upcoming LeadGen product roadmap. A few themes stood out.

1. AI is opening up new demand, but it's complex. One of the opening slides summed it up well: the AI opportunity is exciting, but it is also really complex. Getting the foundations right matters more than ever.

2. Measurement comes first. AI-powered campaigns are only as good as the signals you feed them. Clean conversion tracking and good quality lead data are what allow automation to find the right people.

3. Search queries are getting longer and more conversational. Patrick White, Account Strategist at Google, showed how people now search in full sentences, describing exactly what they need. Using payroll software as an example, exact match click volume has fallen 10% since 2023, while phrase match is up 16% and broad match is up 45%. AI Max for Search campaigns is Google's answer to capturing these more complex queries.

4. Good SEO is good GEO. As AI Overviews and AI Mode change how results appear, the message was reassuring: the fundamentals of good SEO, helpful content and a strong site, are what get you seen in generative search too.

5. YouTube and Demand Gen fill the funnel. Video and visual campaigns are now a serious route to high-intent leads, not just awareness.

What it means for our clients

For businesses that rely on enquiries, the takeaway is simple: the way people find you is changing, and campaigns need to keep up. That means:

• Getting conversion tracking and lead quality data in order, so AI has the right signals
• Testing AI Max and broader match types to reach longer, more specific searches
• Treating SEO and paid search as one joined-up visibility strategy
• Using YouTube and Demand Gen to build demand before people search

We'll be bringing these learnings straight into our client accounts over the coming weeks.

Thank you, Google

A big thank you to the Google team for hosting us, and to our account manager for the invite. It was a great day of learning, networking and seeing what's next, and the building itself is pretty special too.

If you'd like to talk about what AI-powered lead generation could do for your business, get in touch with the Clicky team.