Google makes a constant effort to keep updating itself to improve user experience. Google’s main motive is to find new ways of showing personalized search results so that users can easily and quickly find whatever information they are looking for. Now, the main problem is that marketers may find it harder for their brand or products to reach their potential customer’s search results with Google’s latest adoption of AI-driven iteration.
What is SGE?
SGE stands for Google’s Search Generative Experience. It’s an AI-driven method of delivering search results, recently adopted by Google. To put it simply, from now on, Google’s AI will crawl existing websites to generate search engine result pages (SERP) displaying AI-generated answers to user’s queries.
With this recent change in Google’s algorithm, businesses are facing serious threats as the goal of SGE is to provide users with all the necessary information on the same page, rather than directing them to other sites, (possibly yours). Studies have shown that surprisingly 77.8% of searches had SGE result until November 2023. And the number is expected to keep growing.
How does SGE work?
SGE results are now powered by Google’s AI. Google uses Pathways Language Model 2, a large language model (LLM), to deliver user-friendly results to people’s SERO. Once you type a search, Google will automatically find and present relevant information for you within fractions of a second. However, Google has different display states for each search. The three major variants of SGE-generated results are:
Collapsed result: According to BrightEdge’s data, a leading SEO solution platform, SGE showed collapsed results at the rate of 16%. Google shows part of the SGE results while prompting users to click on the Show More button to view the rest of the results.
Opt-In results: As per studies, Google showed opt-in results 68% of the time. This result is not that intrusive compared to the other states. This is how it works- it gives a prompt asking users if they would like to generate SGE for their query. While the rest of the page displays traditional SERP.
No results: About 15% of searches do not generate an SGE display. These SERPs show users results based on site listings, rich snippets, etc., all of which we are accustomed to seeing. This kind of display is found when users search for straightforward questions related to some products or services.
The limitations of SGE:
Despite the amazing capabilities of AI tools, they are still not that perfect. SGE still possesses some issues or flaws that affect the Google search experience:
- The results are not always accurate:
According to Search Engine Journal,
- Generative AI sometimes produces false facts. The phenomenon is known as hallucination.
- LLMs can’t be trusted as information retrieval systems. Complete retraining is needed to add new information.
- LLMs are not efficient at cross-checking false AI results.
- Poor results:
Sometimes, SGE delivers poor results for some queries. Such results confuse users and are not at all helpful.
- Lack of trust in AI:
There are some people who choose not to trust AI-driven results completely. Some people are skeptical of how accurate AI-driven results are. Hence, Google may be excited to fully embrace AI, but not most of its users believe that all AI generated results are factual.
How can SGE affect your website?
People can expect a decrease in organic traffic:
Business owners might experience a drop in organic traffic due to the following reasons:
- SGE displays complete and whole information about topics so much so that users don’t anymore need to click on any other links for further guidance.
- Traditional organic listings might be pushed down further, causing users to scroll down in search of well-ranked pages.
- Most customers have shifted to ChatGPT or other AI chatbots instead of using Google.
- The pages that used to rank well in search results will not show up in SGE. As per data, only 94% of SGE links are not the same as organic results.
Take extra care of your YMYL keywords:
Google is also aware that SGE is not competent in showing 100% authentic and factual results all the time. Hence, Google is extra careful about Your Money or Your Life keywords, which are essential for accurate and trustworthy results. The topics that fall under this category are:
- Health and Safety
- Medical information
- Financial advice
- Legal advice
- News and current events
- Information related to law.
As these topics are of sensitive nature and can largely impact users’ lives, SGE prioritizes proven sources over average and common sites. Google has provided additional warnings to SGE results pertaining to YMYL topics. Google recommends people to consult experts for serious and official answers and SGE results might lack professionalism.
How can you optimize your website for SGE or Search Generative Experience?
The first step is to prioritize EEAT Standards. You need to exert authority and expertise in your content. Some examples are link-building activities, incorporating positive reviews, and providing case studies. Marketers can also include subject matter experts whenever necessary in their content.
- Make sure that your content provides concise, clear, and succinct answers to your users’ queries.
- As SGE emphasizes more detailed and personalized answers, optimize your content for long-tail queries catering to SGE.
- Write up well-research, original. And quality content that also includes multimedia imagery, unique videos, and infographics.
- Apply structure data so that Google understands and summarizes your content well. Also, schema markup should be used to rank well in Google search results.
Final words:
We are still at an early stage of SGE, and there is still so much we don’t know about it. Also, SGE is constantly modifying itself. Overall, we recommend that content creators or business owners adhere to the above-mentioned best SGE practices. Along with that, make sure your team is:
- Constant monitoring of the latest SGE trends to adapt to these changes.
- Prioritizing the collection of first-party data.
- Planning to expand to diversified channels.
