More and more companies have embraced AI in recent years. Google is hard at work on artificial intelligence too. The search engine is introducing a generative Google Search AI. In our new blog we explain exactly what that means.
What is Google’s generative AI?
AI has been in the news constantly over the past few months. We got to know ChatGPT: an AI that can type out almost anything for you in a matter of seconds. That is a form of generative AI: using artificial intelligence to create content such as text or images. Google’s generative AI brings about a different way of searching. Google has many parts, but the search engine remains essential. With the arrival of ChatGPT, that search engine faces more competition. And Google is responding to that with its own version of generative AI.
Google also has the chatbot Bard, for example. That is separate from the new generative AI, though.
With generative Google Search AI, a search query is still the first step. But where you used to split your query into several questions and hunt around for the right information yourself, this new way of searching lets you ask your whole question at once. Take a question like ‘What are the best hiking shoes for a five kilometer walk on sandy roads?’ Instead of the familiar list of blue links with perhaps an extra piece of information (a featured snippet) from sites like Wikipedia, you get a new, large panel with an answer or explanation for your query or question. Alongside it are links to websites as evidence that the information shown is actually correct.
Do you not have the complete answer yet, or do you have other questions? You can also ask follow-up questions. Google Search AI is less like other software such as ChatGPT or Bing: there is no conversation mode. On top of that, Google still shows ads alongside the search results.
The benefits of Google’s generative AI
This generative Google Search AI makes searching the web even easier. Getting a clear answer to your questions quickly takes even less work and effort: the AI gathers information from sources on the internet and gives you an answer that way. You understand topics faster, discover new angles and get your work done sooner. For complex purchases in particular, generative AI is a useful tool.
What is the impact of generative Google Search AI on SEO and CTR?
Because of the new information panel, the regular search results are less visible. And the panel already answers your question, so why would you still click through? These are so-called zero click searches: queries where Google provides the answer itself and you do not click through to an external website.
All in all, that means less website traffic and a lower CTR through Google. Even so, it is less pessimistic than it sounds. There are a few reasons why people will still click through, and why Google will keep focusing on clicks to websites:
- The reliability of the information The information AI provides does still contain factual errors from time to time. That makes it quite likely that people will click on external websites after a search anyway, just to verify the content.
- The AI needs sources The AI’s answer is based on sources created by other people. Google Search AI needs that information to form an answer. That is why Google will keep supporting creators and keep the focus on website traffic.
- It is revenue for Google A large share of Google’s revenue comes from Ads. Those remain visible alongside the generative AI. Websites want to keep receiving traffic, and advertising is part of that. Website owners do not want their ads sitting below an AI generated answer while still having to pay a lot for them. This applies to Search ads as well as display ads (bidding for ads on high-traffic websites).
- Sometimes there will be no generative AI answer This concerns topics for which there is simply too little quality information available, which would make the AI’s answer less reliable.
A highlighted block of information at the top of the search results is nothing new, by the way. It already exists in the form of featured snippets.
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When will the AI be available to us?
At the moment the generative AI, which Google calls Search Generative Experience (SGE), is only available as a test in the United States on Chrome desktop and in the Google app for Android and iOS.
