Generative search should force marketers to rethink their approach to both keyword research and content, with more talkative, “snackable” content, writes Reprise’s Callum Steenson.
Google I/O is where the search engine pulls the curtain on its latest innovations, and the May 10th event was no exception – with AI surprisingly taking the spotlight.
The way Google intends to integrate AI-powered technologies into its search engine has been a major topic of conversation over the past few years, with that discussion intensifying in recent months as the industry began playing around with ChatGPT. At the I/O conference we were able to see how AI will affect search results and what that means for SEO.
Google’s SGE
One of the most notable announcements was that of Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), essentially a generative AI functionality that is much better at answering more complex, conversational, and multi-part queries than traditional search. In the future, as shown in Google’s example, you can ask “Which is better for a family with children under three and a dog: Bryce Canyon or Arches” instead of potentially splitting that search into three separate searches: “Day trips with the Family”, “Dog Day Trips” or “Bryce Canyon vs. Arches” as you might expect today.
As part of these results, displayed above the “traditional” search results, users are presented with options to delve deeper into the results and ask follow-up questions – an option that opens up a conversation mode where the user can discuss the topic with an AI chatbot discuss.
A typical search interaction evolves from a relatively simple, often one-sentence, keyword query to a much more immersive experience, such as:
Recommend a dress for a wedding reception in Mallorca that can be delivered the next day.
Results: Formal dresses that are comfortable to wear, even in warm weather, from retailers with next-day delivery options.
What shoes would go with this dress?
Results: Matching shoe options.
The user search experience will change, but so will the content that Google will serve as part of that experience.
Among the features Google demonstrated at I/O was a Perspectives tab, which opens up the search experience across far more media and channels. This can include user review platforms, long and short video content from channels such as YouTube and TikTok, blog posts, discussion boards and forum talks, and social media content.
This makes search results a much more diverse, immersive, and “snackable” experience that is likely to flip the traditional rules of what makes good content on its head in many circumstances.
A game changer for quest content
These developments make it clear that SEO is already (and must continue to) break out of its performance marketing channel silo and is instead evolving into a more collaborative, multimedia marketing experience channel.
These announcements will fundamentally change the way brands and search marketers think about key elements of search marketing strategy, namely keyword research and understanding how their audiences interact with search, products and brands – as well as the content that is needed to to reach them .
The advent of natural language models in search will fundamentally change the way users interact with search engines, and as generative AI becomes more prevalent in search results, it will compare to the traditional keywords or questions we see today , triggering more natural long-tail requests . This puts pressure on brands to understand both the search patterns and keywords, and the audiences behind them.
But it will also change the content brands create to respond to this realization and deliver the search experience users expect. Brands need to move away from traditional methods of content planning and production and create more agile, multi-channel and immersive content that meets user needs and the expectations of Google’s EEAT guidelines. The pure blog approach will not prevail.
Change search indefinitely
Of course, the development of AI-generative search results is still in its infancy, but the direction in which it will go is completely clear. Google wants the search experience to be much more interactive, immersive, and conversational. While that doesn’t mean the end of SEO and SEO principles as we know them, it does change the way brands should try to target audiences through search.
The brands that win will be the ones that put audience and audience experience at the heart of their strategy and truly understand what their customers are looking for.
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