How AI's Search Generative Experience is Shaping the Future of SEO and Digital Marketing

How could artificial intelligence impact the way links appear in search engine results and direct traffic to websites?

One of the main drivers behind increasing visitor traffic to websites designed through AI or human programming is search engine optimization (SEO). AI technology can help promote relevant keywords and add data to a website's content so that it can be more easily found in browsers' search engines. As reported by The Verge, in early 2024 Google launched Search Generative Experience (SGE), which prioritizes AI-generated content in its search results. SGE may, however, enable bad actors (or unethical competitors) to take advantage of the new technology.[1]

With the aid of artificial intelligence, it's easy for content producers to generate keywords and duplicate similar web pages so that their new content can override another website's organic content. Although content publishers have a way to block Google from training its chatbot, Bard, to scan their work, there's currently no way to opt out of SGE without also disappearing from the original Google Search results.

Assessing the Impact of AI on Search Engine Marketing

Has there been a noticeable lull or drop in your website's traffic patterns? AI could enable a competitor to create a website that resembles yours, reproduce your content, and use the same keywords that would have drawn visitors to your site. Reviewing other links and images that appear next to your website in search engine results can reveal clues that shed light on how effective your website is at generating online traffic.

There is an art to deciding which keywords are the most applicable and useful in helping a website appear in search results. While AI can automate the process, it may not always make accurate connections between its chosen keywords and a business's products or services. This can lead to frustration for business owners relying on website clicks coming into their websites. It can also be disheartening to see AI-generated content raising competitors' websites to the top of search-result pages.

Shifting SEO Priorities Based on Results Generated by AI

Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) displays AI-generated answers front and center, placing them above the organic search results when users input questions. Google has experimented with ways to cite the sources its AI tool is pulling from, but SGE takes up valuable display screen real estate on the results page, which pushes down the standard search result links.

SEO experts have already begun thinking about how AI-generated search results might change the content they produce. Online publishers could, for example, "double down" on creating content in categories that Google won't include in SGE's responses, such as health and finance, where the risk of getting it wrong could have negative consequences. Like its predecessor Search, Google SGE sets a higher bar for ranking in topics such as health and finance.

SOURCE:

[1] Sato, Mia. "The Perfect Webpage." The Verge, 8 Jan. 2024,
https://www.theverge.com/c/23998379/google-search-seo-algorithm-webpage-optimization