The world’s biggest search company, Google, is in the process of rolling out a new search experience that will change the search engine landscape forever. AI Overviews are Google’s latest attempt to join the artificial intelligence (AI) scene. So what is SGE, and how will it affect your website and the SEO industry going forward?
What are Google AI Overiews?
Google AI Overviews aim to blend Google’s search results with their generative AI to create a new Google Search experience that will be able to summarise what users are searching into a more contextualised response relevant to their search inquiry.
In conclusion, this means a simple search such as “Why do I need to market my business?” will first return an AI overview before showing you traditional search engine results (SERP) on the web
At the bottom of the result, it will indicate where Google’s AI has pulled the information from to generate the response it has given.
What are the impacts of AI Overviews?
Foremost, it is expected to result in a lower number of outbound link clicks to traditionally high-ranking websites as search users are predicted to exit the search results once the AI has answered their query.
AI Overviews also could potentially result in incorrect information being portrayed to users. There have already been instances of AI Overviews giving misleading results, including telling users that dogs have flown planes, eating one small rock a day is recommended, and that parachutes are as effective as backpacks when jumping out of planes. We don’t know about you, but we would assume skydivers would disagree that a backpack is as effective as a parachute.
Google’s own AI agrees and has this to say when asked about SGE (previous name for AI Overviews) and their impact on SEO.
What does this mean for SEO?
The impacts on SEO and Google Search as a whole are still to be seen. In the short-term, it means that for some query-related searches, usually those stemming from questions, pages and content that usually sits 1st or 2nd on Google, they will be displayed further down the page as a result of the AI Overview taking preference. Another factor that is yet to be seen is the effect on website clicks. Will consumers read the AI result and then leave the search? Will they perhaps click on the content the AI result shows? What content is Google’s AI looking for? At this stage, there is not enough data to tell us.
As a result, SEO agencies will need to adapt to focus on showing AI-driven results to keep conversions and website traffic coming to their client’s websites. What we do know is that Google is currently seeking helpful, reliable, and people-first content. This is something the company has been pushing heavily messaging-wise in their latest round of Core Updates. So it can be presumed that the AI is looking for similar content to use when generating AI responses. This means that if – just like it currently is for SEO – your aim is to show up as a linked source, prioritising knowledgeable and authentic content is vital.
When will we see AI overviews in Australia?
The good news is that Google’s AI Overiews are yet to launch in Australia. The US-based tech company first launched the product in the US as a test market before slowly rolling the experience out to select users across the globe. SGE is now available in 120 countries, but this is yet to include Australia and New Zealand. There is no set time on when we expect to see this launched in Australia, which may sound like a good thing, but it merely means it is even more important to focus on appealing to Google’s algorithms and to ensure you are producing content that Google wants to display.
In the meantime, we recommend familiarising yourself with Google’s Gemini App. By asking Gemini questions regarding your business and industry, you can better understand how your business and industry are portrayed through Google’s AI.
Is your business worried about AI and its impact on your SEO strategy? Are you seeking to develop a plan to deliver a proven SEO strategy with an SEO Agency that is on top of the latest trends and industry changes? Contact the team at Daisy Digital today to see how our SEO experts can assist you.
