Google AI Overview vs SearchGPT: What AI Generative Means for Your Website Ranking
Remember the days before the pandemic when AI felt more like a distant concept than a daily tool? Fast forward, and here we are, with 52% of people using generative AI more frequently than ever, according to Salesforce. The rise of AI presents a golden opportunity for innovation, especially with the launch of Google Search Generative Experience (Google AI Overview) and SearchGPT. These advancements are set to shake up the search game quite a bit, affecting how your website performs. Let’s dive into what these changes mean for your content strategy in the months to come.
What is Generative AI in Search Engines?
Generative AI is an algorithmic tool that creates new content—be it text, images, or videos. Imagine asking ChatGPT to craft an outline for your next campaign on sustainable fashion. Instead of laboriously researching the best approach, you get a neat, concise answer tailored to your needs. Google is now taking this to the next level by incorporating AI to offer fluid, direct answers in search results, going beyond from just listing high-authority websites.
Not to be outdone, ChatGPT has rolled out SearchGPT, which works similarly by answering questions with a conversational touch and citing sources. The goal is to eventually integrate this search feature into the ChatGPT itself.
How AI is Flipping the Search Game
Gone are the days when search engines were all about stuffing keywords. Now, it’s about delivering precise, relevant, and conversational responses. This shift changes the game for content creators, wherever you may be. Your content must now be easily picked and understood by Google, making it likely to be picked up for these new AI-driven search results. So, make sure you use the keywords in the most coherent way to your message.
So, what’s the impact on your website? Will it lead to more traffic or better rankings? As AI generative models change how users interact with search engines, expect increased ranking volatility. Watch out as it could be a rough ride! Google’s emphasis on content from real-world experiences and opinions adds another layer to consider.
While OpenAI’s partnerships with major content outlets might make it seem like the little content creators are left out, there’s still hope for you to leverage this new addition to search engines. Google’s AI Overview tends to favour a variety of perspectives, giving smaller creators a chance to shine if their content is deemed useful. On top of that, Google being a huge database holder where creators are contributing with contents each time - allows Google to consider such a perspective whereas OpenAI needs to directly feed each information to their features, limiting them from adding never-ending content.
Tip - Don’t Let Generative AI Write Your Entire Content
Sure, AI has made it easier to churn out content, but don’t get caught in the trap! Google is clear: originality and high-quality matters. Using Generative AI to brainstorm ideas and enhance your work which are equipped with a clear and pre-determined objective is one thing but handing over your creative job entirely to ChatGPT is another. AI-generated content that’s spammy or duplicative won’t get you far and may even hurt your site’s authority. Google’s AI Overview is prioritising more in-depth, quality information for their answer input. AI Overview will take up significant space on the search result page making less links to be seen. Therefore, the competition to appear on the first page tightens up. And let’s face it, how often do we click past the first page? A study done by Backlinko revealed that links on the first page get 27.6% of all clicks, whereas less than 1% of searchers would click on something from the second page.
Therefore, start shifting your focus on producing genuinely valuable content. To make it easier, you can start with finding out industry trends and write with your audience in mind. Industry news is one way for you to immerse yourself into the discussion. People learn something not only from news outlets, but also through blogs that independent content creators like you create. On top of that, considering giving updates about your activity and giving out some key takeaways makes a difference, as it shows that your business is evolving. A few well-crafted pieces can do more for your site than heaps of low-quality, AI-generated content.
Human Creativity Still Rules
While AI is transforming search engines, it doesn’t mean we should hand over all creative duties to machines. AI can simplify research and learning, but it can’t replace authentic, insightful content that resonates with people. There’s still plenty of scepticism about AI’s accuracy and potential biases, making human oversight crucial. On top of that, in order for your content to be cited by AI Generative tools like Google AI Overview, you’ll need to create insightful content instead of copy-paste content.
At Click Creative Digital Agency Melbourne, we’re all about using SEO and CRO to optimise your site’s performance. Whether you’re refining an existing platform or building a new one, we’re here to help turn visitors into loyal customers. With our experience across different platforms– whether it’s Shopify, WordPress, and or even the totally custom Silverstripe.
