October 2024 Update – Searches in AI-generated chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google Gemini are becoming more common. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) has emerged as the name for strategies to optimise website content so it’s referenced and prioritised by AI-driven search engines. You can learn about GEO in this post: What Is Generative Engine Optimisation? & How to Rank in New AI Search.

May 2024 Update – Google has officially released its Generative AI feature for its search engine, called AI Overviews (formerly the “Search Generative Experience” covered below). You can learn how AI Overviews work in this post: How To Rank in Google’s AI Overviews.

Something HUGE is coming. You’re probably no stranger to AI and have seen its increasing integration into marketing life. Google’s AI integration into SGE (Search Generative Experience) is likely to impact ALL businesses significantly with a reduction in organic website traffic of between 15 and 64%!

At Thinkplus we win business (and awards) for our clients through digital marketing. It’s our job to be ahead of the search game – read on to learn more about the future of search or request your free digital marketing and website review video.

Search in 2024: Businesses Could Lose As Much As 15-64% Of Website Traffic

In May Google started testing one of the biggest changes in Search Engine history. As an award-winning global digital marketing agency, we’re used to big changes – but this one takes the cake.

We’ve marketed through some of the most radical moves Google has made. We’ve rescued businesses from the wrath of Panda, the clutches of Penguin, and the interrogation of Medic. Yet even through all of this, Google’s new AI-powered search engine, SGE, is set to take the crown for unprecedented changes to how businesses make money online.

The move to SGE is modelled to be significant with many businesses being heavily impacted. Although Google are yet to give a launch date, Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s announcement to investors in Q2 and an ‘end date’ for the test of December 2023, let us know that the launch of SGE (or its bigger brother or sister) are not many steps into our future.

What is it?

Google’s SGE (search generative experience) is the integration of generative AI into Google’s search engine.

Why will SGE mean my website traffic decreases?

Google’s SGE provides answers to a visitor’s search directly on the search engine results page. Using generative AI, Google can present a fully formed answer, using websites only as a means of ‘corroboration’. This changes the way that visitors interact as Google’s goal is no longer to send its visitors to the best-fit page. Instead, it provides the answers directly.

The potential impact of this on businesses is huge. With a steep reduction in the number of visitors needing to click on a website for their information, businesses will experience drops in their page visits when this rolls out. Analysis suggests that the drops could be anywhere between 15 and 64%, depending on the type of search, the industry, and how many key searches SGE shows up for.

Traffic drops of this magnitude will not only put marketers in a tricky position, but also will likely impact the number of visitors who convert on websites from a very ‘top of funnel’ informational search. Fewer visitors will need to visit a website to get the answer to their questions, and so fewer visitors will be exposed to the calls to action businesses rely on to collect leads and nurture new sales.

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The looming launch of SGE is likely to mean stark reductions in traffic for many businesses, less business generated from informational terms and a ‘shake up’ in which businesses are winning in the search engine results. 

Marketers are left with a choice: prepare or risk the impact.

At Thinkplus we have been preparing our clients for SGE’s launch and we have tested and identified how to rank in SGE. Though we anticipate that SGE will continue evolving before its launch, there are steps you can take now to help prepare. The first is to register for your free digital marketing and website review where one of our marketing consultants will assess your digital marketing and where your focus should be. They’ll assess your site’s preparedness for SGE and let you know what you should do next.

If I rank well currently, I’m safe – right?

Although businesses who are currently well placed on search engines seem to be referenced more in the SGE results, it is by no means a guarantee that the bot will reference them. 

In our experiments we have found that in some cases even websites who hold the Featured Snippet and Position 1 in the ‘classic’ listings, were not referenced by SGE’s answer. So despite the classic algorithm seeing a website as an authority on a particular topic, it is not at all a guarantee that SGE will make the same calculation. 

This extends even to searches for some brand names not ensuring that SGE uses the brand’s website as the corroborating link.

How do I rank on SGE and Bing Chat?

The good news is that our experiments so far suggest that the work you do to help SGE understand and cite your website, also positively impact how you rank in Bing’s Chat.

Just like classic SEO, there is no ‘one size fits all’ but there are a number of things we have discovered about how to rank in SGE. At Thinkplus, we are one of the few agencies that has both played with and understood how SGE works. We’d even go so far as to say we’ve cracked it! We’ve identified several ways to rank in SGE and have shared this piece on how to do it. We anticipate that it will continue to evolve as it is tested further and as with all Google products, there will be iterations. 

At Thinkplus we set out to be the leading example of how a digital marketing agency should be. For us, this definition includes staying ahead of the trends, sharing what we know and preparing our clients for changes before they land. 

If you are looking for help with your SEO and to be in the arms of an agency who knows how to prepare you for this, the first step is to request your free digital marketing and website review. One of our Marketing Consultants will analyse your website and will share the priority actions needed to get your website on top, if it looks like we’re a match, they’ll share with you how we might be able to work together.