Google is changing the way we will use Google search. This is big, no it’s actually huge, and this change will likely have a dramatic impact on your website traffic.
Unless you have been hiding in a box over the last couple of months you can’t have missed the fact that everyone is talking about the future of AI.
Luckily for you, we have been watching and researching the changes for you so you don’t have to. We covered ChatGPT recently on our blog, a conversational AI software that can answer your questions in depth in as much detail as required. Now Google is integrating conversational AI into the search results of all of its users, making even those apprehensive of AI a user of it in their everyday life.
Here’s what you need to know about Google’s new AI integration in search results and what that means for your business and SEO.
Googles users (you and I) will be experiencing a change in how we view search results for our chosen search topic. You will soon see a different search result layout with generative ai results showing first and foremost on the page, followed by organic results with a priority still being held for Google Ads and PPC advertising. This is called the Search Generative Experience.
The search generative experience or SGE as it is known is currently in Beta testing over in the US but will shortly be rolled out here in the UK. It’s not an ‘if’ scenario, this is simply a matter of when, and that won’t be far away.
Previously you may have seen Featured Snippets where Google would showcase a snippet of text that answers the search query or a bulleted list etc at the top of the search results. This information would have been taken from a website and would be a generic response to the search term. Now, with the new search generative experience, this will be replaced with an AI response on the top left, while on the top right, you may see 3 websites that corroborate the text from the AI response.
Below this will be the option to ask follow-up questions, essentially drilling down deeper into your search topic to help you build a bigger understanding, quicker. Google will also suggest follow-up questions to help you further tailor your search.
By offering these quick AI-generated responses to your search query they are reducing the need for you to leave Google and utilise websites as they have already tailored your responses and done the leg work for you in most cases. Simplifying the search process.
Shopping on Google will be different too, now you will get ideas of things to consider such as shipping costs and suggestions of products that match your search, get more specific with the follow-up questions and you will barely have to enter a website to find an item that is exactly right for you. Potentially saving you the time of diving in and out of various websites to track down a suitable item in the right colour and size at the price you want with shipping that works for you! Read more about it here.
For those not interested in the AI results and happy to delve deeper into the websites in the search results, a user can simply scroll past the SGE section to the standard search results.
Bad news for your website traffic
This is likely to mean a huge difference in the amount of traffic your website generates as users have less of a reason to enter your site thanks to Google attempting to provide a fully rounded response, quickly.
What you can do
The good news is that without websites that are providing top-quality content that answers the questions and search terms, then the AI will have no content to draw its response from. Therefore, while this new update to how we search the web is changing, we are all looking for answers, and so by ensuring that you continue to answer the questions your target audience has, utilising your website, video, blogs, and social media, you could be a valuable source to the AI results (and therefore potentially increase your traffic).
SEO is possibly going to be even more critical than ever to ensure you are able to maintain your ranking or ideally increase your search position with Google.
How will the changes affect Google Ads
One thing that won’t be changing will be the potential for generating paid ads traffic to your site. Ads are a massive revenue stream that they are not going to jeopardise by implementing the new search generative experience. You can rest assured that they will still want and need to direct traffic to your website via Google ads and these will still be displayed prominently throughout search results. If you hadn’t considered Google Ads previously in your marketing mix, then now might be a good time to discover more about them to help maintain traffic to your site while you are likely to see a decrease in your standard organic traffic. Read how we can help with your Google ads management.
Other things to consider
Other options to consider to maintain a presence in the new Google search results include:
PR has always been beneficial to help raise your business’s presence but now more than ever having an article in a publication could show up in the new SGE. find out who your local reporters are, and your regional or national publications and submit articles, press releases etc to them. Ensuring you follow up. You might just get your article published!
Reviews are possibly going to be an important factor in search results and AI results. Where ever possible encourage customers to leave you a review and you might find it isn’t just your next consumer you are impressing but Google too, meaning they will share you with their customers.
Another new feature will be a filter for Prospective content. This is content that may be from Reddit, Tik Tok, short or long-form videos from Youtube etc. This can be a great area to work on in your business marketing to enable you with the best chance of showing in the prospective content results.
Overall we all need to embrace ai, in fact as you will have read here we will shortly have no choice but to embrace it into our lives. But, by ensuring your website content continues to put your customer’s questions and needs at the forefront of your mind then Google will recognise you above your competitors that are focussing their efforts elsewhere.
We might be in for a bumpy ride but generative AI is here to stay, what can you add to the conversation?