Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) has come a long way since its experimental launch in May 2023.
SGE started by producing simply paraphrased snippets for search engine queries, but now provides more comprehensive summaries and source links.
Essentially, Google's SGE It's interactive Generation function using AI Use existing results to answer your search queries.
Think of this as a chatbot. But Google's organic search results support it.
All indexed web pages included in search engine results pages (SERPs) help teach SGE what it knows.
While this feature is exciting (and partly scary), you may be trying to understand its true potential to leverage it for your business.
How does Google SGE work?
SGE provides comprehensive answers to search queries, similar to Open AI's ChatGPT, but SGE cites sources.
To see SGE in action:
- Go to Google and start searching.
- Enter your search query or question in the search bar.
- Watch multiple search results written as conversational responses to your questions.
Context and other information is added to the results via SGE. This is especially noticeable when compared to the old featured snippets, which only show snippets or sentences without full context.
As you can see, prior to SGE, you could sift through multiple websites and direct the traffic from each result to its own webpage.
SGE now occupies the space where direct results were displayed on the web page. This means that many websites may no longer get the traffic they used to get.
How will SGE change how Google Search works?
As you can imagine, many SEO experts believe that SGE erodes organic traffic from top-of-funnel queries.
There are three main reasons why organic traffic from SERPs can decrease.
- Featured snippets provide only one clickable source, whereas SGE provides many sources. If you own the top position, you may be sharing clicks with multiple sources.
- SGEs take up a lot of space on SERPs and push traditional SERPs below the fold, resulting in fewer clicks.
- You can ask the right follow-up questions, so searchers stay in the SERP instead of going to your site for more information.
That said, as long as your content answers your queries, your page still has a chance of getting traffic.
Pages not in the top 10 of SGE sites
There are many examples where SGE cites pages that don't rank in the top 10 results, indicating that the data is pooled from a larger sample.
However, as SGE moves out of the experimental phase, strategies will need to be adapted.
A recent study found that 49% of consumers are interested in AI-powered search and that AI-generated SERPs are perceived positively.
If Google wants to remain competitive, especially with Bing Search's tough comeback last year, SGE will eventually become a permanent part of the SERP.
What SEO experts say about the impact of SGE on digital marketing
Many businesses, like yours, rely on Google for their revenue. Whether it's in the form of advertising or organic search results, SGE intends to disrupt both of these formats.
How SGE affects organic traffic
On a fundamental level, achieving a top three spot can lead to lackluster results.
Impact of SGE on PPC
On the advertising side, sponsored results appear above SGE, so you might be safe.
However, that only pushes down organic results further.
Some experts believe that SGE is similar to Featured Snippets, but on steroids. His CEO at Collaborator, Ihor Rudnyk, explains:
We find that sites that provide simple, quick answers are losing some of their traffic. That's because users receive these answers directly in the SERP. For example, weather forecasts, exchange rates, and simple facts.
Companies that value short, easy answers and quick information are in the worst position. I don't see how it can be changed without creating added value for the user. However, it's easy to predict that brand awareness and direct traffic will continue to grow in importance.
Additionally, there is a focus on creating pages with depth. It can be in the form of original data, differentiated views, or commentary on trends.
SEO professionals are becoming more focused on quality, which, in contrast to the current definition, is about bringing something new, original, or interesting to the discussion; It will become defined as (code to cover boring). the next person will).
— Patrick Herbert, Director of Singularity Digital
How can you leverage SGE for your business?
So how can you stay relevant in the SERPs as SGE soon becomes dominant?
Here are some tips to get you started.
1. Transition from informational content to transactional content
SGE is the biggest threat to informational content, especially concise content.
Companies that create thin, search-optimized content will be hurt. You may be able to avoid this problem by creating more transaction pages.
Transactional content is more nuanced and requires extensive research, making users more likely to delve deeper into a product/service website.
Not only that, but your company's goal is to appear in SGE for high-intent search terms.
2. Monitor changes in search intent over time
Many marketers will soon shift their reliance on traditional keyword metrics like keyword density (KD) and search volume to search intent.
Even with high KD and search volume, ranking for these keywords can be difficult. Therefore, in SGE it makes no sense to pursue such queries unless you are prepared to create the ultimate detailed guide.
For this reason, you should first check the search intent.
Ask yourself:
- Does the topic have any meaning?
- Can you realistically rank on this topic, or at least get credit from SGE?