Despite the fact that Google announced in 2023 that SGEits Search Generative Experience, o Generative Search Experience would be ready in 2024, the truth is that we are facing the second quarter of the year with more doubts than certainties about this new functionality.
Driven by artificial intelligence, Google SGE is primarily intended to help users find what they are looking for (even) faster. It is still in experimental phaseand still has not landed in SpainWe are aware of the many changes it has undergone over the last few months.
And the impact of AI on our daily searches was already shaken up at the end of 2022 when ChatGPT became part of our lives. And since then, the career of the IA The pace at which this has become part of our daily lives has only accelerated.
We are witnessing a historical paradigm shift, and giants such as Microsoft and Google are vying for the hegemony of internet searches.
What is Google SGE?
Google SGE is a tool that uses generative artificial intelligence to improve the search for information.
With SGEYou can ask questions in natural language and get summaries, suggestions and links to the most relevant results.
One of the main advantages offered by SGE Google over the conventional search engine is that you will be able to ask questions in a more conversational. Questions, as indicated by Googleyou never thought the search engine could answer".
In this example, the search engine which park do you recommend for a family with children under the age of three and a dog?
Google SGE gives a conversational response that you can continue, with more questions to follow that conversation. But you can also shows results as it has been doing so far.
So we would be looking at Google SGE as a mix between a chatbot (called a "snapshot") and a conventional search where third-party results are displayed.
This snapshot mode will not appear whenever a query is made. But, unlike ChatGPTwill include sources to corroborate the data and to be able to go deeper. Also contextualise previous questionsThis will allow you to refine your search.
Differences between Google SGE and conventional search engines
The biggest difference observed when interacting with Google SGE is its conversational nature.
Normally, when we start a search, we set up a consultation The first step is to look at a more generic approach and fine-tune it after seeing various results. In the example of the family park, in one of the conventional searchWe would have to have visited several websites to make a decision.
However, Google SGE aims to avoid this by showing us the information directly.
Google already currently displays this type of information in its highlighted excerptsThe question is not a "resolution", but it does so in a very "resolute" way, by simply showing a result to the question posed.
SGE goes one step further and plunges you into a conversation in which you might don't end up visiting any website.
A few months ago we wondered whether the SEO would disappear with AIand the emergence of Google SGE will be a barrier to visiting third party websites.
Google and its ecosystem
In this study on BMS from SE RankingAfter analysing more than 100,000 keywords with varied search intentions, they indicate that Google intends to keep the user in its ecosystem for longer:
- Prevalence of SGE in searchesA significant majority of the analysed keywords result in an SGE response or feature a "Generate" button, indicating that Google is actively prioritising these AI-generated responses. for a wide range of queries. This underlines the importance of optimising content for these features.
- Extent of SGE contentThe average length of text in a SGE snippet is considerably long, suggesting that the search engines favour detailed answers and comprehensive and likely to provide added value to the user.
- Links within SGEThe fact that the the most common number of links in an SGE response is 8.and that a large majority (85.5%) of these snippets link to domains within the first 10 organic resultshighlights the tendency for search engines to offer answers that serve as an information hub, possibly keeping users in your ecosystem for longer.
- Top linked domains: The most linked domains within SGEincluding knowledge platforms and maps, indicate areas of content that are particularly valuable and reliable to Googleunderlining the importance of domain authority and the content relevance.
- Content nicheThe fact that the food and beverage niches generate more SGE snippets compared to news and politics may reflect user query patterns and the reliance on automatically generated responses for less sensitive issues or more static.
- Presence in SERPsThe joint appearance of fragments SGE and highlighted excerpts in the SERPs suggests a strategy on the part of Google to offer multiple response formatsimproving the overall search experience.
- Key words long tailThe greater likelihood of triggering AI-driven responses with longtail keywords may indicate greater precision and relevance in specific responses, underlining the importance of a diversified content strategy.
- Relationship between BMS and advertisements: The varied presence of ads in the SERPs with SGE snippets reveals a complex monetary strategywhere ads can be both direct competition and complementary to AI-generated content, potentially affecting the visibility of organic content.
But if there is one thing we know SEO is how to adapt to all the changes that this fast-paced race is presenting us with. All is not lost.
Google SGE will continue to show links to websites so that we can continue to search as we have always done.
It also continues to value the quality content and the page authorityThe positioning factors that are crucial to improving the user experience and the reliability of the information provided.
It is also worth noting that many of the population using this search engine are not as experienced in embarking on a search engine conversational search. And that, let's face it, we are very impatient.
The average search time that a user spends before clicking on a result is set at approximately 14.66 seconds.
So if the results you offer us Google SGE are not displayed quickly, we are likely to end the search in the "classic" way, i.e. by going to the conventional results.
There is a challenge ahead Google in which you will not only have to give us a good response (or responses), if not to a breakneck speed.
We believe that, for these reasons, and at least for the time being, the two types of search will coexist in the same environment.
Google SGE in local search and shopping
In searches with local intent, Google SGE aims to provide a greater context, giving us the opportunity to be able to compare options when we are looking for a local business.
In this type of search, Google SGE will give more context about the businesses and more detailed information so that you can make more informed comparisons between the different options.
However, the real "firecracker" is intended to be in the searches related to shopping.
Google SGE is deploying multiple functionalities to fighting giant marketplaces as Amazon o AliExpress. Thus, in this example, where one wants to buy a bicycle, the Generative AI recommends aspects to take into account when buying this type of product.
According to a study by Nightwatch on 88% of queries containing the term "cost" trigger SGEas well as the 79% of queries including "Amazon"..
Google is able to collect all the structured data of each site and display them, highlighting the most relevant features within the context of the purchase.
For this purpose, it uses Google Shopping Graph, a tool based on artificial intelligence that allows you to know, at a glance, the main characteristics of the products you are looking for.
Google Shopping Graph has an immense database which collects both product-specific information (colours, sizes, availability) and user reviews, or pros and cons.
All this information is updated in real time and draws on information from the Merchant Center where major brands and retailers publish billions of products.
Making a purchase and using the typical filters to fine-tune it may be a thing of the past. "We'll talk", for example, with the IA and we will ask for a women's short down jacket, which is lightweight and has a fleece hood.
And as well as showing us the purchasing options, thanks to the Generative AIWe will see user reviews, and available stock.
A good blow to the big boys marketplaceswhich, however, are being put in place The pilas not to be left behind.
Forums replaces Persepctives in SGE
After several months of testing, the "perspectives" option, which displayed information from other users' personal experiences, has been replaced by "forums", which will display, in a separate SERP, information from forums such as Reddit or Quora.
According to Search Engine LandA Google spokesperson stated that the word "forums" is more intuitive and users can use this filter to focus on results from hundreds of forums across the web.
It is very interesting to be able to give voice to the public (as is the case with the Google reviewswhich are so useful in our day-to-day lives), that is why "Perspectives" is not going away.
Other types of content such as short videos and User Generated Contentwill continue to be accessible for relevant queries such as carousels, groupings and traditional web page listings on the search results page.
With these functionalities, Google It also offsets the feeling that many users are beginning to have that "everything" is generated by artificial intelligence. In this way, it gives you a layer of reality and trust with experiences told in first person.
This utility can be a great help in blow to affiliate websites who are unable to demonstrate that personal experience which rewards so highly Google.
Ads on Google SGE
Because, let's be honest. Google wants us to have a satisfactory experience, but it's the advertising what keeps this giant going.
And where, in what way, do the advertisements in a future where getting a click is going to be more and more difficult?
According to Google (although this is, of course, subject to change) the ads will still appear as part of the text, but will be labelled as "sponsored" content.
This way of displaying paid content raises new ways of doing things. PPC.
During the month of November, Google has also been experimenting with new ad formats within Google SGE.
When users ask the search engine follow-up questions, the search engine displays an AI-generated response along with sponsored content titled "you may also like"
With all these changes, it is highly likely that the CTR decrease (figures of up to 30% are being bandied about), so brands will have to keep an eye on all these changes, as Google has been testing for several months now and details have not yet been confirmed as to whether it will be definitive, and above all, which CPC will have every such advertisement.
What is clear to us is that 2024 holds many surprises when it comes to the ads within Google SGE and we will keep our eyes open.
SGE while browsing
With the functionality "SGE While Browsing"You will be able to see definitions of concepts you don't understand by simply hovering your cursor over the word. It will make you summaries of complex concepts to understand them more easily, or help with coding tasks.
In this interesting video, the SEO Lily Ray takes a look at this functionality and explains in detail what you can do with it.
Generative AI within search
Google has started testing the Generative AI so we can create images directly from the Google search engine.
The function will be useful when we want to search for a specific imagebut we do not find it by means of a traditional search.
Users will type in a detailed description of what they are looking for and will be able to obtain up to four AI-generated images that match your application.
The aforementioned functionality is not only restricted to Google's main search engine, but has also been extended to the main search engine. integrated into Google Images.
In this way, when a user searches for a specific image, the Generative AI will provide you with images generated as soon as they match the description provided.
This offers users a faster and more intuitive method to locate the images they need.
In order to prevent misuse and ensure safety on the Internet, Google has established protection measures. It thus seeks to prevent the creation of images that violate their regulations on the use of generative artificial intelligence.
All images generated through this system shall include watermarks and metadata to signal their origin as AI creations.
With this new functionality, Google SGE intends to step into the niche that is occupied by applications that use AI to create images.
The role of SEO with the emergence of Google SGE
A few days ago we saw a simulation of what the SERPs will look like when Google's SGE is at full capacity,
As was to be expected, the conversational searches are going to take up a good amount of pixels.The new search engine, displacing the conventional search results.
The celebrities 10 blue links are going to drop positions in the SERPs and as discussed above, the CTR model will be affected because of this. The click-through curve will be smoother and will probably be more evenly distributed among the top 5 results.
At the moment, this is only speculation, the appearance of the SERPs has not stopped changing in the last few months..
And we are keeping our fingers crossed that the part dedicated to Google Ads and SGE do not occupy the entire above the fold.
Aleyda SolisIn his paper, he made a very interesting analysis comparing the results in the SERPs from Black Friday with the traditional search engine and with Google SGE.
Unsurprisingly, organic results drop in favour of the information provided by Google SGE. These are the product listing pagesor the sponsored articlesthose most likely to suffer when confronted with listings made by Google, the product knowledge panels.
When they are made searches by brandThe product knowledge panel Perhaps a gap will open up for smaller e-retailers?
Whatever happens, we will have to adapt to the new changes that are already a reality, and begin to deploy strategies that will place our web pages in the results that are being produced. SGE.
At the end of the day, the basis of our work will remain the same. Satisfying the intention to search with quality contentuseful for users, while ensuring that Google understand it and consider it to be useful as well.
Optimise your website for Google SGE
Google SGE continued in testing phase and no definitive approach can be taken at this stage, but certain strategies can be integrated gradually so that the final landing of these functionalities does not come as a surprise.
Content optimisations for SGE
- Add summaries for both long-tail and per-user content. Remember that in the SGE era, longtail keywords and UGC will be of particular relevance.
- Considering SGE's preference for reviews, summarise expert or user reviews as a list of pros and cons with short bullet points.
- When creating content, it will be preferable to focus on issues and trends that are not part of the SGE training data set (i.e. recent topics, news). As with Chat GPT and other LLM models, if the information was not available during the training period, writing about a recent topic will increase the likelihood of your content being mentioned as a source.
- Conduct keyword research specifically for SGE. Focus on longtail keywords and question-based searches which are likely to trigger AI-generated fragments.
- If you haven't already done so, you're overdue: pay even closer attention to the EEATshow your expertise, build authoritative links and keep your reputation off the page.
Technical optimisations for SGE
- Given that SGE use multimedia content to enhance their responses, make sure you optimise the image alt tags and the video titles to improve accessibility.
- Use a schema markup to provide structured data that SGE can use to understand the context and the relevance of your content.
- Keep the charging time of the page under 500 ms.
- Make sure your website does not have any problems with indexing o tracking.
- Indexa comments and reviews.
What we don't yet know about SGE
We have the impression that this article will continue to be updated over the coming months as Google shows no intention of taking anything for granted.
No reports have been made of any LAUNCH DATEIn fact, a few days ago Google removed the label of programme completion.
It is clear to us that this does not end in December by a long shot, and during 2024 we will have a lot of Google SGE to talk about..
The aim of the American giant is to be present at every moment of the conversion funnel.
It will accompany the user, conversationallyThe customer will be involved in all stages of the purchasing decision, never leaving his own environment. It is a process that may seem strange to us now, but as has always been the case with GoogleWe will get used to it.
The positions in the ranking will be clearly affected, so we will have to strengthen, even more, our content strategyand abide by the new rules it will impose. Google to quote us.
Good marking of structured data, y personal experiencesas well as a competitive product or servicewill be vital for Google SGE reward us.
