SEOs chasing ChatGPT mentions may be optimizing for the wrong surface. That is the argument from Ontario search consultant Marie Haynes, who told readers on October 29 that Google’s Connected Apps Platform “will be one of the most important things we will work on over the next few years.”
A small number ends a big debate
Haynes has been blunt: generative engine optimization, or GEO, is a distraction. Her evidence is a 12-month GA4 analysis from 100 websites covering more than 145 million sessions. ChatGPT delivered 0.62% of Google organic sessions, converted at 13.8% versus 3.02% for Google, yet Google still drove 96.5% of conversions.
Her conclusion, quoted from the newsletter: “The real opportunity in AI Search is going to be with people engaging with your business right from Google’s Search results.”
What Google actually launched
Google opened a preview of the Connected Apps Platform on October 28. Developers connect cloud-hosted MCP servers or Android integrations to make services available in Search and Gemini. But the current Search footprint is small.
- Search runs in AI Mode only, in the US, in English, and for signed-in users.
- Five connected apps are listed: Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music, Yahoo Fantasy Football and Sleeper Fantasy Football.
- Gemini lists more than 60 apps, many from Google or phone makers.
- Launch partners Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton are due in Search within weeks.
The current version is not “never leave Search”
Haynes says users will act without leaving Search. Google’s help page is more limited: AI Mode may send users to the connected app to finish a task, such as Instacart checkout or Canva editing. Developer design guidelines point toward tasks completed inside the interface, but that is not the full reality yet.
Engineering, not rankings
Google’s John Mueller called connected apps an exciting search platform, while noting it is his personal view. For SEO teams, the shift is real: success means running software Google reviews, not just content and links. Apps need OAuth with Google Account Linking, publicly reachable MCP servers, low error rates, and a description under 30 words.
Selection by the model’s planner is not a published ranking system, and Google’s policy forbids attempts to influence it.
Start with one agent-ready job
Haynes’s practical advice is to brainstorm what a business can let an agent do, then practice building it. Pick a single service, define at least three capabilities and three example prompts, and test it against Google’s developer prerequisites. You do not need to abandon SEO. Treat connected apps as a parallel product track before the preview widens.
Source: PPC Land
