The Google Search Central APAC 2025 conference kicked off with groundbreaking revelations that are reshaping how we think about search optimization. Held at Bangkok’s Carlton Hotel Sukhumvit, this three-day event brought together SEO professionals from across Asia Pacific to explore the future of search through Google’s lens.
The opening day focused on crawling fundamentals while revealing how AI is transforming user behavior and search functionality. Here’s everything you need to know from the first day of insights.
The Search Landscape Has Fundamentally Changed
Mike Jittivanich, Google’s director of marketing for South East Asia and South Asia Frontier, opened the conference with a powerful statement: we’re experiencing a pivotal transformation in search technology.
Three major forces are driving this change:
AI Innovation at Scale: Current AI developments rival the massive shifts we saw with mobile optimization and social media integration.
User Behavior Evolution: People now expect faster, more conversational interactions when searching for information.
Generational Shift: Younger users approach search completely differently than previous generations.
This convergence means that strategies that worked yesterday won’t guarantee success tomorrow. As Google’s VP of Search Liz Reid emphasizes, “Search is never a solved problem.”
Gen Z Drives New Search Behaviors
One of the most striking revelations centered on Gen Z users (ages 18-24), who represent the fastest-growing segment of search users globally.
The numbers tell a compelling story:
- Google Lens usage surged 65% year-over-year
- Over 100 billion Lens searches occurred in 2025 so far
- 20% of Lens searches now show commercial intent
- 10% of Gen Z search journeys begin with Circle to Search or AI-powered features
This demographic shift demands that SEO professionals optimize beyond traditional text queries. Visual search, voice queries, and conversational AI interactions are becoming essential ranking factors.
Human-First Content Remains Supreme
Despite AI’s growing influence, Google’s message remained clear: human-centered content continues to outperform everything else.
Google’s machine learning algorithms train primarily on high-quality, human-created content. As Gary Illyes explained during his presentation:
“Our algorithms train on the highest-quality content in the index, which is clearly human-created.”
This revelation has significant implications:
- AI-generated content exists in a separate index space
- Google’s ranking systems prioritize human-authored material
- Traditional SEO fundamentals remain crucial
- Quality research and engaging writing still win
The key takeaway? Focus on creating well-researched, naturally flowing content that serves real user needs.
Five Essential Optimization Strategies
Conference speakers highlighted five actionable strategies that emerged from day one:
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Prioritize Human-Focused Content Creation: Google’s models consistently favor natural, expert-written content over artificial alternatives.
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Embrace Multimodal Optimization: Ensure images include descriptive alt text, videos have comprehensive transcripts, and content supports voice search through conversational language.
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Master Crawl Budget Management: Address 5XX server errors immediately and streamline site architecture to help Googlebot navigate efficiently.
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Leverage Search Console Intelligence: Use Google’s guided recommendations feature to improve site usability and performance, especially if you’re not a technical expert.
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Maintain Strategic Flexibility: Long-established traffic patterns may shift as AI features expand. Adapt your strategies based on current data rather than past performance.
AI Integration in Crawling and Indexing
Two technical sessions revealed how artificial intelligence is affecting Google’s core processes:
Enhanced Crawling Patterns: Websites are experiencing increased crawl rates as Googlebot adapts to support new AI-powered features. However, higher crawl frequency doesn’t automatically improve rankings.
Refined Status Code Handling: Only 5XX server errors actually consume crawl budget. While 1XX and 4XX codes don’t affect crawl budget directly, 4XX errors can influence crawling schedules and prioritization.
Cherry Prommawin explained that crawl budget equals crawl rate limit (Googlebot’s speed capacity) multiplied by crawl demand (Google’s desire to crawl your content). Sites with broken links or slow server responses can significantly impact this equation.
Search Evolution Across Two Dimensions
Google Search is advancing along two parallel tracks: expanding query capabilities and enriching result formats.
Query Complexity Growth
User search behavior is becoming increasingly sophisticated:
- Searches with five or more words are growing 1.5 times faster than shorter queries
- Voice searches are becoming more conversational and context-aware
- Visual searches through Lens and Circle to Search are mainstream
- 10% of Gen Z searches now start with AI-powered entry points
Result Format Innovation
Google can now provide more comprehensive answers:
- AI Overviews generate balanced summaries for complex topics
- AI Mode delivers end-to-end experiences for shopping and planning
- DeepMind’s reasoning models power nuanced, multi-modal results
- Results blend text, images, and actionable guidance seamlessly
The LLMs.txt Debate Settled
Gary Illyes and Amir Taboul addressed the ongoing discussion about LLMs.txt standards during a technical session.
Google’s official position is clear: LLMs.txt isn’t beneficial and won’t be adopted. Similar to meta keywords in earlier SEO eras, this proposed standard doesn’t align with Google’s approach.
Instead, robots.txt remains the primary method for controlling crawler access. While you can block AI-specific bots through robots.txt, remember that not all AI crawlers respect these directives.
AI Features Share Core Infrastructure
A crucial technical insight revealed that AI Mode and AI Overviews use identical crawling, indexing, and serving systems as traditional search results.
The same infrastructure handles both blue-link results and AI-powered features:
- Googlebot processes all content types
- HTML parsing, rendering, and deduplication remain unchanged
- Statistical models like BERT continue handling understanding and spam detection
- Ranking signals including RankBrain and MUM apply across all result types
This means AI features are essentially new interfaces built on established search foundations that SEO professionals already understand.
Maximizing Google Search Console Effectiveness
Daniel Waisberg concluded day one with practical guidance on leveraging Search Console in the AI era.
Key insights included:
Data Timing: Finalized Search Console data is typically two days old, based on Pacific time zone. Partial data may differ by up to 1% from final numbers.
Feature Development: New Search Console enhancements follow a predictable path from user needs identification through data availability, design, development, testing, and launch.
Recommendation Tools: The recommendations feature targets non-technical users, providing actionable improvements without overwhelming complexity.
Understanding these Search Console mechanics helps diagnose crawl issues, monitor performance trends, and identify opportunities for AI-driven feature optimization.
What This Means for SEO Strategy
Day one of Google Search Central APAC 2025 reinforced that fundamental SEO principles remain vital while new optimization opportunities continue emerging.
The most successful approach combines traditional best practices with forward-thinking adaptation to AI-powered search features. Focus on creating exceptional human-centered content while ensuring your technical foundation supports evolving search behaviors.
As we move into day two of the conference, these insights provide a solid foundation for understanding how crawling, indexing, and serving processes continue evolving in the age of artificial intelligence.
Stay tuned for comprehensive coverage of day two insights from Google Search Central APAC 2025, featuring deeper dives into indexing optimization and serving strategies.
