In December 2025, the European Union raised its voice against Google’s handling of publisher content, initiating an antitrust investigation. This is a pivotal moment for startups, small businesses, and publishers alike. The crux of the debate? Google’s practices around using content for generating AI-driven answers through its systems, like Gemini, without offering fair compensation or viable opt-out mechanisms. As someone who has spent years navigating digital entrepreneurship within Europe's regulatory frameworks, I see this case as a game-changer for SEO strategists, content creators, and anyone leveraging the internet economy.
Let’s break it down step-by-step: how does this probe impact key areas such as SEO, AI answers, and rights to online content?
What the EU Regulation Questions About Google
Google currently dominates global search activity. Through practices like indexing and ranking pages, it controls how millions of businesses reach users. But training AI systems like Gemini depends on high-quality content sourced from publishers, often without adequate frameworks for consent or compensation. Google provides a feature called "Google-Extended" for publishers who wish to block AI training, yet this does not stop content from still appearing in AI-generated summaries. Publishers argue this leaves them stuck in a lose-lose trade-off: forgo traffic from one of the largest platforms or allow unlicensed usage.
For every entrepreneur or startup relying on search engines to drive organic traffic, this investigation signals a potential rethinking of SEO strategies. It also raises questions about how transparent platforms should be in balancing discovery with intellectual rights.
Changes Coming for SEO and AI Practices
Here is why every business owner needs to care: Google’s movement toward “zero-click” search, where answers surface directly on the search engine without needing users to click through, is reducing traditional website visits. For businesses, particularly startups, this means lower ad revenues for publishers and fewer engagement opportunities for landing pages meant to convert users into customers.
Stats to Consider:
- Recent reports show some industries experiencing 20, 50% traffic reductions from queries now handled by Google's AI features.
- The majority of platform visits start with search: 68% of users globally begin their web navigation via platforms like Google.
- 43% of surveyed European publishers report concerns their content is being “scraped” for AI datasets without consent (Source: European Media Institutes Association, 2025).
When SEO shifts away from linking and toward citation and AI inclusion, businesses must adapt their approach. It’s not enough to craft exceptional content. You need it recognized within search systems in ways aligned to visibility in generative answers, an evolution called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
How You Can Adapt to Protect and Innovate
Business owners must act preemptively to avoid falling behind in this evolving ecosystem. Here’s how you can stay ahead:
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Fine-Tune Robots.txt Files Smartly:
Take full advantage of Google’s publisher settings. For instance, using the "Google-Extended" tool lets you manage AI training data permissions. But don't stop there, keep reviewing alternatives for opting out while retaining visibility. Tools such as schema markup can clarify how your content appears across search tools. -
Invest in Structured Data and Attribution Tags:
Google relies increasingly on structured content for training and generating answers. Adding facts, sources, and metadata clearly to posts ensures AI credits you properly. Soon, attribution might not just be a courtesy but a ranking metric. -
Audit How AI Summaries Represent Your Brand:
Regularly check how Google’s AI summarizes your website. If misrepresented, and it happens frequently, reach out to ensure updates. Tools like Google’s "About This Result" have started offering transparency about their sources. -
Engage Your Audience Directly:
Startups facing lower organic traffic need to build channels outside search dependency, such as email lists and direct apps. For example, early adopters of AI chatbots on their sites have shown improved customer retention metrics.
Mistakes Most Businesses Should Avoid
Not every business adapts gracefully to such major shifts, and many mistakes are common in scenarios like this:
- Relying Too Much on Search Generators: Businesses ignoring the pattern of "skimming" provided by AI summaries risk missing user engagement opportunities. Expand into methods like social referral traffic or affiliate partnerships.
- Forgetting Licensing Protections: Small businesses often neglect safeguards protecting their proprietary work from scraping by third parties. Check copyright protection rules in your country and see how digital AI use fits into enforcement.
- Ignoring Negotiation Opportunities: Trendsetters in publishing such as Le Monde have started negotiating paid licensing deals. If lawmakers enforce similar models, businesses need active participation right now.
Long-Term View from Europe’s Lens
As a European entrepreneur working with cross-jurisdictional ecosystems, I’ve seen how local cultures and evolving regulation expand opportunities where others might see challenges. Look at what the investigation underscores about balance in competition and the growing value of creative ownership. By ensuring fair use agreements, the EU could lead in protecting not just publishers but smaller business-dependent forums too.
Beyond Google, we’re likely to witness upcoming efforts around AI-defined compliance and trust factors globally. At Search Engine Land's article on the EU Probe into Google, related trends suggest smaller engines emphasizing ethical splinters that Google sidelines may gain market share.
In these discussions about regulation, fairness, and innovation, one thing remains clear. The most adaptable entrepreneurs are the ones questioning not just how technologies serve users, but how they challenge gatekeeping structures. This isn’t just a matter of business strategy, it’s about redefining how fair online prosperity should be distributed. Let’s see where this story unfolds.
FAQ on the EU Probe into Google and Publisher Content Rights
1. Why is Google under investigation by the EU?
The European Commission is investigating whether Google has breached EU competition rules by using publisher content to train AI models without offering fair compensation or opt-out mechanisms. Read about the probe
2. What are publishers’ main allegations against Google?
Publishers allege that Google’s AI features, such as Gemini AI Overviews, use their content to generate answers that reduce traffic to original sites while providing little to no compensation or control. Explore publishers' concerns
3. What is “Google-Extended,” and how does it affect publishers?
Google-Extended is a tool that allows publishers to block AI training data, but it does not prevent AI summaries from quoting live indexed content, leaving publishers with limited options to protect their rights. Learn about robots.txt options
4. How does the EU probe relate to SEO strategies?
The investigation highlights shifts in SEO, with businesses needing to adapt to “zero-click” search trends and focus on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), ensuring content visibility in AI answers. Understand the impact on SEO
5. What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
GEO involves optimizing content specifically to be quoted or cited in AI-generative search systems rather than just ranking in traditional SERPs. Learn more about GEO
6. How does zero-click search affect publishers?
Google’s AI Overviews often answer queries directly in search results, leading to 20-50% drops in organic traffic for publishers, as fewer users click through to original sites. Explore the zero-click phenomenon
7. Can publishers opt out of AI tools without losing search visibility?
Blocking AI training with tools like Google-Extended can hurt visibility, as content may still be summarized in answers, offering publishers little recourse without losing reach. Read about limitation concerns
8. Could this probe lead to new licensing and compensation models?
If the EU enforces regulations, Google may need to license content for AI training, creating a new economy around licensed AI search content similar to music streaming royalties. Learn about possible licensing models
9. How should businesses adapt to the shifts in AI search?
Businesses must focus on structured content, brand attribution, and optimize for AI citation visibility, while building traffic channels beyond search engines, like direct apps and referrals. Read adaptation strategies
10. How does this investigation impact global regulations?
The EU’s probe may shape global norms for balancing AI innovation with intellectual properties rights, influencing regulations in AI compliance and competition. Explore potential implications
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.