It is probably a bit on the early side to predict the demise of the 5th largest US tech company. With a market cap of $2.1 trillion, they probably have some sort of plan for coping with changing search behaviours. Nevertheless, when the tipping point at which generative search overtakes organic search arrives, how will Google react?
Currently, traditional organic searches on Google return a Search Engine Result Page (SERP). Nothing more than a list of website links that Google thinks contain content that answers your query. This process is really only the beginning of the search, as you are then required to visit as many sites as needed to find the information. That already sounds longwinded, archaic in fact!
By contrast, AI driven “generative” searches on platforms such as ChatGPT and Google AI Mode, can return a full answer to the query – requiring no further research. Furthermore, ChatGPT offers a set of potential next steps or suggestions to enhance or elaborate on the subject at hand. Now that sounds more like it.
Right now, one might argue that Google has some ground to make up on ChatGPT, which, for the record, stands for generative, pre-trained transformer.
Use of “generative search” is growing exponentially and once tried, many users are hooked on this new way to unearth the information they need. Arguably, although Google denies it, this threatens their dominance of search and pay-per-click revenue streams.
If generative search is about to become the new norm, then a new wave of optimisation will be needed to help websites fight for attention.
Techniques known as generative engine optimisation (GEO) or answer engine optimisation (AEO) seek to ensure that text and information from websites feature in the answers provided by generative searches. The objective is to guide AI comprehension, and therefore help the large language models used by AI to understand and use your website content in its answers.
For help in this complex area, please get in touch with Neil at Blacksmith today!
