This document discusses how generative AI is coming to search engine results and what this means for SEO professionals. It begins with an overview of SEO and how search engines work. It then explains that Google is developing a Search Generative Experience (SGE) using AI to generate search results. The document provides 5 predictions on how SGE will be a good thing for SEO, including that it will require a focus on users rather than search engines, and holding SEO practitioners more accountable for real results. It concludes by offering advice on where SEO professionals can start in preparing for SGE, such as auditing content quality and assessing how AI results impact queries.
SEO is Aboutto Change
Forever– and for the Better
Generative AI is Coming to Search Results: Why
That’s Good News for SEO Pros
2.
Agenda
• SEO Overview/ History Lesson
• What’s Next for the Industry
• 5 Predictions Why Google’s SGE Could
be a Good Thing for SEO pros
• Where to Start
2
3.
Source: Hubspot
Source: BrightEdge
Source:Statcounter
SEO accounts for
$70 Billion
in annual marketing
investment from U.S.
companies.
Source: Borrell Associates
There are an estimated 5.6 billion Google
searches per day.
Websites rely on search for 68% of their traffic
on average.
Google owns 93% market share for search
engines, followed by Bing at 3%.
4.
Crawling Rendering &Indexing Ranking in Search Results
How Search Engines Work & SEO’s Role in the Process
Source: searchengineland.com
SEO’s Role
Search engine bots crawl
the web for content
SEO’s Role SEO’s Role
Websites return content
upon request, and
search bots index URLS
Search engines return
web content believed to
be relevant to the query
Ensure important URLs can be
easily found across the web
Ensure content can be
rendered and is legible to a
search engine the same way
a user would read it, and the
content is indexable
Ensure web pages are relevant
for target queries and of high
enough content quality to rank
5.
Search companies areconstantly improving their products to ensure they’re
surfacing the most useful and relevant results. SEO methods have evolved to match.
2011 Panda
Purpose: To combat low
quality sites
2012 Venice
Purpose: To include
results based on a
searcher’s location
2012 Penguin
Purpose: To discourage
acquiring unnatural
backlinks
2012 Pirate
Purpose: To bar
copyright-infringing
content from SERPs
Source: Yoast.com
2013 Hummingbird
Purpose: To better understand
search queries
2013 Pigeon
Purpose: To improve
local search results
2014 HTTPS/SSL
Purpose: Encouraging site
owners to implement HTTPS
2015 Mobile
Purpose: Encouraging site
owners to think mobile-first
2015 Rankbrain
Purpose: To improve Google’s
understanding of the meaning
behind queries
2016 Possum
Purpose: To improve
localization of search results
2018 Medic
Purpose: To better match
reputable results to
searcher's intent
2018 Mobile Speed
Purpose: To include site
speed as a ranking factor for
mobile searches
2021 Page Experience
Purpose: To highlight pages that
offer great user experiences
2021 MUM
Purpose: To provide answers
to complex questions
2022 Helpful Content
Purpose: To bring more focus
on original, helpful, high
quality content
2019 BERT
Purpose: To further improve interpretation
of the user’s search query
6.
AI-generated search resultsare the next major evolution of search products.
Google’s Search
Generative Experience
Bing Chat
● Search-native AI results
● Available via waitlist
● Based on Google’s history
developing “transformers”
● No rollout plan has been
announced yet.
● Available in open beta
● Chat-based AI results
● Cites websites used to
generate AI results
7.
The SEO industryas a long history of trying
to “game the system…”
… and Google has a long history of patching
those loopholes (proactively).
Consider AI search results the next upcoming
“patch” for algorithm loophole-finders.
8.
… especially ifit’s written by
ChatGPT (topic for another talk).
Reminder: there’s no such
thing as “SEO content”
Content is for users– not
search engines.
9.
We’re better thanthis! >>
Content written only for
SEO makes for a poor
search experience.
Source: The Verge
10.
AI content considerations–from the horse’s mouth:
Spam Policies
“...using automation– including AI–
to generate content with the
primary purpose of manipulating
ranking in search results is a
violation of our spam policies”
- Google
Expertise & Experience
“[AI engines] do not have a true
understanding of the world, they
are prone to hallucinating, and
crucially they are incapable of
justifying their utterances….”
- Google Researchers
Uniqueness &
Helpfulness
Per Google, they will continue
“...maintaining a high bar for
information quality and the overall
helpfulness of content…”
11.
Google’s Bard launchdemo cited
incorrect info about the James Webb
Space Telescope
These AI products are still very
much in a testing phase :)
leading to a $100 billion decline in
Google’s market value*
Bing’s chat AI believed it was still 2022
and proceeded to argue about it with a
user who was testing the product
*source: NPR
12.
But if SGEwas to roll out in current state, it would drastically impact SEO
performance and methodologies.
Current Google Search Experience Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) Test
#2 in
Organic
Results
#2 in
Organic
Results
AI generated results–
could include:
● Paid or organic shopping
results
● Brand content (website,
social, PR)
● Local results
● Informational/NORA
query responses
Business intel
& KPI
alignment
Understand
whatusers are
searching for
Give users
what they’re
searching for
Show proof
on other sites
that people
care about us
Make sure
search
engines
understand
the content
Are we
achieving
what we set
out to do?
How can we
improve to
scale?
Know Your Customer &
Their Needs
The basics will still apply: know your customer, what they search for, and the
impact of AI on those results.
1
Be in the Right Place
with the Right Stuff
Continuously Improve
15.
AI search journey:
●Search once
● Ask follow-ups
● Read about products
● Visit a website to purchase
Website traffic from organic search will be more qualified than ever.
2
“Standard” search journey:
● Visit 4-5 different websites
● Compare different products,
prices, features
● Search 3-4 different queries
● Read reviews
● Make a purchase
16.
SEO practitioners willbe held more accountable for real results
(not vanity metrics).
3
#2 in
Organic
Results
Old SEO
Primary
KPIs:
New SEO
Primary
KPIs:
Keyword rankings Organic traffic
Organic
conversions /
transactions
Non-brand
impressions
Non-brand organic
traffic (& quality)
Est. non-brand
conversion value /
revenue
17.
… to holistic,thought out approaches to
content, PR, web development, and UX.
SEO strategies will be forced to
evolve from task-oriented delivery…
4
SEO
PR Content
UX
Web
Development
18.
SEO efforts willhave to focus less on search engines, and more on users.
5
“...using automation– including
AI– to generate content with the
primary purpose of manipulating
ranking in search results is a
violation of our spam policies”
- Google
With the intro of AI, it’s now on content
creators to create a better web– and
work toward a shared goal with search
engines (vs against them) of
delivering quality results.
SEO approaches thatwon’t work for SGE:
● “The only SEO checklist you’ll ever need”
● Rankings as a #1 KPI
● Optimizing only for keywords
● Target word count
● “SEO content”
SEO approaches that will work for SGE:
● Optimizing for users, not search engines
● Incorporating more bottom-line KPIs
● Optimizing for intent
● Appropriate topical coverage based on user needs
● Quality content
21.
Tactical starting points
●Audit your content: is it quality? Written for users, or search engines?
● Assess informational vs mid or low-funnel non-brand traffic impact
○ What would happen to organic performance if you lost all
informational traffic?
● Start playing with the tools
○ Assess your top traffic-driving queries: what do AI results look like?
What role do they play in your customer’s journey?
22.
The remaining unknowns:
●Measurement of engagement with AI results
● Breadth of queries that will be impacted, and to what extent
● When SGE will roll out
● Adoption of AI search results
23.
Bonus Content: High-LevelChatGPT Use Cases for SEO
What ChatGPT Can Do What ChatGPT Can’t Do
ChatGPT is a tool, not a strategist. It is
incapable of justifying outputs with research
or expert opinion, prioritizing tactics, or
developing fully-baked content with
accuracy and precision.
● Optimize content for SEO purposes (natural keyword
utilization and alignment with search intent)
● Provide expert opinions, points-of-view, or
proprietary content that competitors can’t replicate.
● Inform content outputs with SEO research (i.e.,
search volume and competitiveness) without the
use of a premium version or an extension.
With human editing, ChatGPT can:
● Support the creation of new web page outlines
● Small-scale content creation (i.e., article titles)
● Support for technical or code-based tasks (i.e.,
structured data for web pages)
With very specific direction and human
fact-checking, ChatGPT can provide some
efficient support for specific content
creation, technical SEO, or analysis tasks.