By 2028, brands’ organic search traffic will decline by 50% or more as consumers embrace AI-powered generative search, a recent Gartner report on marketing predictions has revealed. The rapid adoption of GenAI in search engines will significantly alter CMOs’ ability to leverage organic search to drive sales, he said.
It surveyed 299 consumers in August 2023 and found that consumers are ready for AI-enhanced search, with 79% of respondents expecting to use it by 2024. Additionally, 70% of consumers expressed at least some confidence in GenAI-powered search results.
Emily Weiss, senior principal researcher in Gartner’s marketing practice, notes that CMOs must prepare for the disruption that GenAI-powered search will bring to their organic search strategies. “Marketing leaders whose brands rely on SEO should consider allocating resources to try other channels to diversify,” he added.
Before artificial intelligence even became an industry buzzword, traditional Google search was a go-to for anyone who needed information. It was almost like a default action of almost every individual with internet access. However, after a year of AI taking over the world, the question now is: Will Google and the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) remain the reference for searches when chatbots powered for LLM can dig through the web with context and offer them? nuanced orders directly to us?
Probably the tech giant itself has realized that adapting and evolving with the world is extremely necessary in this dynamic landscape. So even Google searches are powered by AI now. For example, if we go back to May 2023, a Google blog introduced Search Labs, which brought to light the new generative search experience powered by AI.
Mitesh Kothari, co-founder and CCO of White Rivers Media highlighted Google’s AI offering and mentioned that the whole world is witnessing new technologies and behaviors. “It will redefine search forever,” he added.
Increase SEO
All this, however, sounds good if we look at it from the user’s perspective. Get to the other side of the table and look at it from a brand perspective. Weiss’ wise words pointing to SEO’s reliance continue to resonate.
Industry experts agree that as brands, to survive in a world where search is powered by AI, you need to up your SEO game.
Rahul Vengalil, CEO and co-founder of tgthr says, “Going forward, brands will need to double down on their SEO game and make sure that whatever listings are currently happening, regardless of indexing or content being is doing, still has to exist. The effort that goes into on-page optimization, off-page optimization, content creation, is still there because for Gen AI to pick it up, the content is still it has to index. The better it’s indexed, the higher the mark on Gen AI’s response,” he explained.
Initially, if 1 user for 1 search was going to 10 different websites to make a decision, now it could be reduced to 3 or 5 websites. “So certain brands that don’t index properly will lose opportunities. It all comes down to how a brand can tell Google that the content they’ve created and displayed is relevant to the information the consumer is looking for,” Vengalil said. .
Metadata change to content aligned with intent
As the industry saying goes, Content is King, and Kothari also explained why the need to create content will continue. He, however, noted that the type of content in the future will have to change.
“Previously, the content of a Google search methodology was created with a metadata reflection process, which would allow you to index much higher on Google pages. Brands may now have to end up creating content aligned with intent, because AI will bring context and intent together to give you a more relevant response. So, from this perspective, companies should modify their SEO tactics,” he said.
Kothari also believes that while SEO will be one of the most important skill sets, it will undergo a fundamental shift. “A significant percentage of people are moving towards AI practices, and this paradigm shift can have an impact on organic brand traffic. The practice of SEO involves optimizing content for search engine algorithms, but the rise of Gen AI may change the content discovery dynamic,” added Swati Nathani, co-founder and chief business officer of Team Pumpkin.
According to Kothari, to remain visible, relevant and competitive, marketers will need to stop publishing generic content articles, which have keywords. “This is going to end. This is a Google SERP methodology, which even Google has been changing over time. Putting unique elements will provide an additional option in search discovery for the brand,” he said.
Abhinay Bhasin, Head of Product Marketing at Profitwheel also highlighted that there will now be a heavy reliance on creating relevant content at scale. “Generative AI will have a huge impact on improving SEO to a large extent, but there will also be a huge need for checking human intervention, content relevance and ensuring that a lot of content is not flagged with nuances in certain rules and guidelines of the industry. search engines,” he mentioned.
Increase in zero click searches
However, looking beyond content, experts believe the future of search could also see an increase in “zero-click” searches, where users will get answers directly without necessarily having to click to go to a page or inspire no action
“While this may be great for users, it will affect businesses [especially smaller ones] rely on ads to increase discoverability,” Bhasin said. Speaking of alternatives, he said: “In adapting to the changes, marketers will need to focus on ways to keep users engaged once they arrive at their site, since this can be reduced. Focusing on targeted ads through other media to reach users at moments of relevance could also be a key strategy adopted.”
Eyes beyond AI
Even if generative AI is out of the picture, SEO remains a key priority for brands, experts say. Especially in a world where search is no longer limited to Google, but has also been growing in e-commerce.
Shradha Agarwal, founder and CEO of Grapes, echoed a similar sentiment and mentioned that SEO will become one of the most effective spaces for brands. “India is a growing economy, all brands are coming to India, which means the number of ads you see in a day will also continue to increase. Amidst so many ways to advertise, such as influencer marketing or video ads, etc., SEO will stand out as the most organic result you can get. SEO indexing will become one of the most important aspects, not only on Google but also on YouTube and Amazon,” he explained .
That said, it seems that not all brands have been able to crack the code with a good SEO game yet. “While tech or digital brands like blinkit or MakeMyTrip have been able to crack it well, unfortunately standalone brands have not been able to,” added Agarwal.
To be sure, experts are of the opinion that SEO is undoubtedly one of the best marketing practices for organic traffic. But, as Nathani says, in this constantly evolving landscape you need to be ready for the next challenges and open to learning.
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