Adaptify Tips for Agencies Facing Google’s AI Fan-Out Shift

Adaptify Tips for Agencies Facing Google’s AI Fan-Out Shift

Hansjan Kamerling

Feb 25, 2026 7 min read

Hello there,

Once upon a time, you could rank #1 and rest easy.

Now?

Even that doesn’t guarantee visibility. Welcome to the age of query fan-out, a time where one search prompt becomes a dozen behind-the-scenes queries, sliced, diced, and remixed into a single AI-generated answer. If your clients are asking, “Why aren’t we showing up anymore?” this might be why.

Today we are going to break it down.

Google’s Query Fan-Out — One Prompt, Many Paths

Google’s query fan-out technique is quietly revolutionizing how search works. Instead of showing a list of blue links for a single keyword, AI Mode now fans out the query behind the scenes, launching multiple related searches based on inferred user intent and merging them into one synthesized response.

According to Search Engine Journal, Google’s VP of Product, Robby Stein, described it like this: if someone searches for "things to do in Nashville with a group,” the system might also explore “best restaurants,” “kid-friendly activities,” and “live music spots,” all without the user ever typing those in.

That means the days of optimizing for exact-match queries are fading fast. Instead, the key to visibility is:

But there’s more going on under the hood. Fan-out isn’t just surface-level; it taps into Google’s real-time data systems like Shopping Graph and Google Finance, layering live information into results. And when Google determines a topic needs deeper research, Deep Search can fire off dozens or even hundreds of these micro-queries before giving a final answer. That’s not just algorithmic, it’s investigative. For SEO pros, this means your content needs to anticipate the full range of user needs, especially for high-consideration topics like product comparisons, service evaluations, or travel research.

And here’s the kicker: these AI responses change from user to user, device to device. Rankings aren’t just unstable; now they’re individualized.

At Adaptify, we’ve been preparing for this shift. Our platform is designed to create content that doesn’t just rank but speaks fluently with AI models, including Google’s AI Overviews. Whether your content is surfaced in Deep Search, summarized in a featured overview, or synthesized alongside competing sites, our content strategy emphasizes depth, authority, and intent, all of which are exactly what LLMs are now prioritizing.

As query fan-out becomes the new norm, the agencies that win will be the ones creating content ecosystems, not just keyword checklists.

Core Web Vitals Become a Race Where Duda Cruises and WordPress Hits a Speed Bump

When it comes to Core Web Vitals, it turns out not all CMS platforms are built the same and this year’s leaderboard might surprise you.

According to Search Engine Journal’s latest CWV report, Duda is still sitting pretty at the top, with over 83% of sites scoring well on performance. It’s fast, it’s consistent, and clearly built for the modern web. If your clients want a site that moves like a sports car (but feels like a luxury ride), Duda’s hard to beat.

Right behind them is Shopify, which has made impressive strides, especially for a platform packed with features that typically slow e-commerce sites down. Nearly 75% of Shopify sites passed the Core Web Vitals test, and their INP (Interaction to Next Paint) score ranked them in third. That means users aren’t just clicking, they’re getting a snappy, satisfying response from the site.

Then we’ve got Squarespace, clocking in with the best INP score of the bunch: a whopping 95.85% of Squarespace sites are delivering that silky-smooth user interaction. So while it ranks fourth for overall vitals, it’s winning when it comes to how fast pages respond once people start clicking.

And then… there’s WordPress.

Only 43.44% of WordPress sites passed the CWV threshold. That’s not just a dip, that’s a full-on stumble. And the trend isn’t moving upward either. Despite its massive market share and plugin flexibility, WordPress continues to struggle with bloated themes, outdated installs, and inconsistent optimization.

Now, to be fair, most CMS platforms scored well on INP, so the end-user experience isn’t a total loss. But if you’re trying to future-proof your clients’ sites for both performance and search visibility, these results are a pretty loud wake-up call.

Bottom line: fast, clean builds matter more than ever. If your clients are clinging to legacy sites with sluggish performance, now’s the time to talk upgrades. Google’s AI is watching and waiting for someone faster to take your spot.

Agency SEO Tip of the Week: Speed isn’t just about user experience anymore. It’s about getting picked by AI.

As Google’s AI Mode fans out queries and pulls real-time data from multiple sources, your clients’ pages need to load fast, hit the right intent, and be structured clearly to stand a chance of being included. Run PageSpeed Insights, trim bloated scripts, and make sure key content loads first. In a world where Google fires off 20 subqueries in a flash, the fastest, clearest answers win.

Let’s be real: platforms like Adaptify can do a lot. And with that power comes... well, a few moments of “Wait, how does this part work again?”

We know some features can be a little confusing at first glance: whether it’s understanding how Smart Keyword Top-Up actually chooses its terms, figuring out the perfect way to use a backlink profile, or just wondering what the heck “Automatic Publishing” even means.

So here’s the deal: we want to hear directly from you.

What’s unclear? What’s been tripping up your team? What do you wish someone would walk you through?

Drop your anonymous feedback using this quick form, and we’ll pick one topic each week to break down in plain English right here in the newsletter (sometimes with a video, sometimes with a step by step, but always with your team in mind). No names, no judgment — just helpful insights based on what real agencies are asking.

We built Adaptify to make your life easier. Help us shape the next set of Training Corner topics so we can do exactly that.

It's Time to Fan Out...

Google might be expanding every query behind the scenes, but your agency doesn’t need to scramble to keep up. With the right foundation such as fast sites, intent-driven content, and a strategy built for AI, you’ll already be where the answers are.

Have questions, feedback, or want to talk through your strategy? Schedule a demo or visit Adaptify.ai to see how Adaptify can support your agency.

Until next week,

Best,

Dominic, Hans, Bethany

Automate your Agency (by Adaptify SEO)