Last week, Google launched AI Overviews (formerly known as SGE).
For the past year, we have been observing SGE and its impact on search in a beta environment. While we’ll need time to observe nuances with the full rollout, we wanted to share our current observations and recommendations.
Current Observations:
1/ We view AI Overviews as an evolution of featured snippets. Featured snippets had a noticeable impact on top-of-funnel terms but had a small effect on transactional queries. So far, we have seen a similar pattern with AI search results.
2/ AI Overviews is showing up for high-stakes categories. We had initially theorized that YMYL categories, such as health and finance, would have a lower risk of disruption. However, we have observed that searches in these industries, such as “how to raise your credit score” and “symptoms of rsv”, are triggering the AI snippet.
3/ While AI Overviews has the potential to be highly disruptive, it also presents new opportunities for growth. The search journey is changing with the integration of AI into the SERPs. Companies that can figure out how to optimize more effectively for this journey will have opportunities to outperform their competitors.
Graphite Recommendations:
👉Resist overcorrecting or pivoting without clear data. There is little reward in trying to predict what will happen.
👉Expand your view of the landscape. Collect more data and stay up to date with the latest changes. Here are some examples:
*Increase your attention on competitors and which of their keywords are being affected. Target competitor keywords that are not being affected.
*Observe CTRs for keywords at different stages of your funnel. Validate whether or not CTRs for top and middle of funnel keywords that trigger AI results are declining.
*When Google releases better reporting, be the first to build out dashboards that enable your team to make informed decisions.
👉Build more agile ways of working. The search landscape will likely become increasingly volatile in the coming months. Teams that succeed will be more adaptable and able to react quickly to changes.
👉Continue to focus on unique, informative, human-written content with a clear POV. This is the most defensible and sustainable long-term SEO strategy.
👉Double down on conversion-based goals. If your team was previously measured based on traffic goals, shift to metrics further down the funnel.
Below you’ll find some specific types of queries and pages and our current assessment of risk:
Product Marketing Manager | PLG Enthusiast
2mo👏👏👏🚀