The Future of Search: How Generative AI Is Changing the Game
Generative AI is reshaping search, offering direct answers and challenging traditional SEO driven results—pushing publishers to adapt and rethink their content strategies
Search engines have been integral to the internet since Yahoo began improving user experiences by helping people find what they were looking for back in the 90’s. Yahoo opened the door for AltaVista, which in turn paved the way for Google in 19983 to launch its innovative PageRank system that ranked pages based on both the quality and quantity of links.
While Google’s algorithm has undergone many major (core) and thousands of minor updates since then, the basic way it functions hasn’t changed, nor has its dominance diminished. Today, we are so accustomed to using Google that the brand name itself has become synonymous with the act of searching. Despite many challenges, no serious threat has ever fully overtaken Google.
The SEO Arms Race
The purpose of Google's updates is to stay ahead of those trying to game the system to boost their sites’ rankings on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Why is it important to rank as high as possible? Because 70% of all traffic from a SERP goes to the top three results1. This has led to a kind of arms race between SEO experts and Google's engineers, with SEOs (both white and black hat) constantly trying to outsmart the algorithm.
Unfortunately, this has not been great for users. A growing number of people feel that search results are becoming less useful, often filled with poor-quality links and content that's needlessly long, with the actual information they need buried deep. As reported in The Verge2, SEO manipulation has contributed to public frustration over the usefulness of the content they find through search.
Is This About to Change?
Much has been made of the potential that chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard offer since the former launched in November 2022. Early hype claimed generative AI would replace human creativity entirely, though that excitement has since died down. While AI can generate grammatically correct and persuasive text, it often lacks originality and tends to be filled with unnecessary superlatives. Purely AI-generated content rarely reads as well as human-crafted copy because AI works by aggregating vast amounts of existing content, essentially producing summaries of what's already out there.
The Strength of AI in Simple Queries
One area where chatbots excel is in answering straightforward questions. They provide simple, concise answers, which I personally find useful. I have the ChatGPT app installed on my phone and use it both professionally and personally (it’s great for settling pub arguments!). While I’m aware it can hallucinate, I factor that in and cross-check information when needed (unless it settles the pub argument in my favor). However, it often points me in the right direction, and I can then validate its suggestions through a more specific Google search.
What Does This Mean for Publishers?
The implications for publishers, particularly those focused on content aimed at information-based searches, are clear. This type of content will likely see less traffic in the future. Will it disappear completely? No. But we are in a moment similar to what we experienced with print media in 2010, when we saw the clear threat posed by digital media. Print still exists today and has even experienced a resurgence, and I see the same happening with organic search traffic.
What Should Content Creators Do?
Ultimately, this is a significant shift in consumer behavior that cannot be stopped. Standing still means getting left behind. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but there are things you can do, such as integrating your content into the AI Overviews4 that Google is now serving or building communities with your audience to maintain engagement.
If you're concerned about your content strategy or want to discuss how I can help, feel free to reach out. I’d love to chat.
1. https://backlinko.com/google-ctr-stats
2. https://www.theverge.com/features/23931789/seo-search-engine-optimization-experts-google-results
3. https://ahrefs.com/blog/google-pagerank/
4. https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/14901683?hl=en