Google and Bing’s adoption of generative AI will transform search engine optimization.
On May 10, 2023, announcement of Google unveiled the company’s new AI-powered search. The examples addressed shopping queries and purchase intent, noting that Google would tap its shopping graph with more than 35 billion product listings.
Google said its generative AI search would include products from its shopping chart.
While this shopping-related announcement got a lot of attention from the e-commerce community, a second point is clear: search engine optimization is changing.
New Perspectives
Google’s search engine has focused on text since its inception in the late 1990s. You could certainly find videos, especially from the company’s YouTube platform, but now with generative AI, search results can include “other experiences with more perspectives.”
Google is working to “add new ways to find and explore diverse perspectives in search.”
“When you’re searching for something that could benefit from other people’s experiences, you may see an Insights filter appear at the top of your search results.” he wrote Lauren Clack, Google Search Product Manager. “Tap the filter and you’ll see exclusively videos, images, and long- and short-form written posts that people have shared on discussion boards, Q&A sites, and social media platforms.”
In other words, “You can’t silo SEO anymore,” said Krista Doyle, the SEO manager at AI writing firm Jasper.
SEO needs to expand to include content beyond blogs and websites. The practice will need to extend to social media, groups and forums, public relations and perhaps word-of-mouth marketing, as AI search engines will likely consider all of these sources.
Not dead but different
I suggested in February 2023 that AI would not kill SEO but change it. Google’s recent announcement seems to support that conclusion. Optimizing a web page for top search engine rankings isn’t dying; is adapting
It comes from what search optimizers have experienced for decades: change is constant.
The generative evolution of AI in search should impact e-commerce strategies: retail, DTC, B2B. The main impact could be a shift from keyword-centric rankings to a more holistic approach that prioritizes relevance and user intent, i.e. SEO, combined with broad content strategies.
Optimization of the response engine
AEO seeks to help a site rank on query-responsive platforms such as voice-activated assistants, AI chats, virtual assistants, and now AI generative search.
This variation of SEO is not new. It aligns with what many companies already do when they identify their potential customers’ questions and provide answers in a format understandable to AI natural language processors.
For example, ChatGPT communicates with users in a dialog. He is popular for his ability to understand human questions. As such, websites that optimize for ChatGPT tend to focus on natural language queries rather than specific keywords or entities. It’s similar to optimizing for voice search.
So AEO is not new, but a change.
AEO tactics should be effective in the era of generative AI search, at least initially.
creators
When it includes “new perspectives on search,” Google is presumably embracing the massive creator community.
Content creators on YouTube, TikTok, and more have amassed large and loyal followings that Google and other search engines haven’t indexed. But these sources appear in a video Googe included in its AI generative search ad.
SEO managers are therefore likely to work with their influencer marketing colleagues to recruit TikTokers and their peers to produce “fresh perspective” content.
But SEO managers could assert their own influence and create content on social platforms that drive AI search.
Regardless, creator-like social content could become key to content marketing and SEO.
Traffic quality
A final AI-driven SEO change could be traffic quality. Jasper’s Doyle wrote: “Low or zero-click searches have been here for a while thanks to search results features like Featured Snippets and ‘People Also Ask,’ but Bard could reduce click-through rates even further “.
“Reduced traffic does not necessarily mean reduced returns if the traffic is converted,” Doyle continued. “While traditional conversion rate optimization efforts focus more on big money pages and signup flows, we’ll see many SEOs and content marketers begin to use CRO tactics to ensure that the your content works and readers take the intended action.”
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