Understanding the Impact of Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT on SEO Content Strategy
For years, when marketers have looked for ways to get more eyes on a page or a site, our first instinct has been to consider how to rank our content as highly as possible on Google.
With its search engine processing more than 8 billion searches a day, Google is still the top digital destination for users researching any topic. As a result, search engine optimization (SEO) content strategies remain one of the top marketing tools available.
Google’s search index is essentially a constantly updated library of web pages, images, books, videos and more. When a user queries the search engine, Google’s automated systems sift through the information in fractions of a second to present the user with what it believes to be the most useful results.
Admittedly, that’s a very basic description of how Google Search works. But the search engine is always evolving and looking for ways to improve the user experience.
Google AI Overviews is one of the most recent examples of this ongoing evolution.
Google AI Overviews and SEO
Google AI Overviews incorporate results powered by generative AI. These results feature an AI-generated summary area at the top of the window. The summary is commonly followed by sponsored links, organic links, the featured snippet, and “People Also Ask” (PAA) dropdowns.
Below is an example of a Google AI Overview experience for the search term “outcome based marketing.”
According to Google, “With AI Overviews, people are visiting a greater diversity of websites for help with more complex questions. And we see that the links included in AI Overviews get more clicks than if the page had appeared as a traditional web listing for that query. As we expand this experience, we’ll continue to focus on sending valuable traffic to publishers and creators. As always, ads will continue to appear in dedicated slots throughout the page, with clear labeling to distinguish between organic and sponsored results.”
As with other changes to the Google experience we have seen over the years (like featured snippets), AI Overviews impact SEO by changing the way content is presented to the user. From testing Google AI Overviews, we’ve learned that the feature seems to present information from sources that it truly believes to be the most relevant. In other words, it’s common to see information from websites that do not rank highly in organic search for the target (broader) keyword phrase.
Instead, Google AI Overviews look deeper into queries to understand what other long-tail keyword variations could be related to the core search. This is done to anticipate what the user is looking for at that moment, and potentially what they are looking for next.
While it’s critically important to understand the potential impact Google AI Overviews will have on SEO content strategies in 2024 and 2025 (and how users find information online), there are other tools, like ChatGPT, that have caused us marketers to once again evaluate how we develop content and market our website content.
ChatGPT and SEO
OpenAI’s ChatGPT (and other natural language processors) will undoubtedly continue to grow in popularity and serve as a destination for users to obtain information about a given topic, including when researching products or services. In fact, ChatGPT has routinely eclipsed 1 billion users a month in the past year.
While not all users treat the tool exclusively like a search engine (often using it for tasks like writing code or content), brands don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to appear when a potential prospect searches for their products or services.
So, how does the tool serve up information? According to the company, “OpenAI’s large language models, including the models that power ChatGPT, are developed using three primary sources of information: (1) information that is publicly available on the internet, (2) information that we license from third parties, and (3) information that our users or our human trainers provide.”
While ChatGPT is a powerful language model that can generate human-like text, it relies on inputted data by the trainers that can potentially lead to biases. Additionally, ChatGPT faces challenges with serving up the most recent and relevant information on a given topic in some cases as a result.
Adjusting Your SEO Content Marketing Strategy to Better Suit Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT
With Google continuously updating its search engine experience, and newer players like ChatGPT entering the search market, SEOs and content marketers need to ensure they are covering all their bases so their websites are primed to succeed across a diverse set of search tools.
Before we discuss how to “future proof” your SEO content strategy, let’s make one thing clear: How we search is going to change, but why we search is not.
If you use this lens when developing your strategy, your content marketing efforts will not be negatively impacted by current and future changes in the way users get information.
As mentioned, websites can appear in Google AI overviews even if they don’t rank highly for the original query, presenting an opportunity for additional visibility. As a result, SEO strategies need to focus on owning authority and relevance in their niche to adapt to changes brought by AI-generated overviews.
It’s important for brands to place an emphasis on their key themes and business objectives, and build out pillar content strategies, where a central theme is supported by many other content assets that assist in driving a potential “conversation” between the user and search engines or AI chatbots like ChatGPT.
As SEO content marketers, we need to be laser-focused on providing authentic, conversational interactions. This involves understanding search intent and addressing genuine questions from prospects and customers. In essence, SEO has become marketing in its purest form.
While primary (broad) keywords remain important, the emphasis should be on rich, natural, long-tail keywords that offer detailed insights into the searcher’s intent. Always think about ways you can provide the website visitor with an answer or more information to the next question they might ask. This strategy will ensure they stay on your site and progress down the funnel.
When it comes to creating (outlining and drafting) content, you always need to make sure you’re standing out from the sea of sameness. In the past few years, and with the rise of tools like ChatGPT being used as writing assistants, we see so many brands and websites churning out content that is being written for machines (Google and ChatGPT for example) first, and the user second. If you are writing for machines first, your strategy will very likely fail.
Further, we’ve seen website engagement metrics become more of a ranking factor, and to achieve higher engagement metrics, you need to create content that keeps the visitor on the site with the intent to learn more.
Finally, you need to make sure your website is speedy and features a blend of creative like images, videos, and more — these are all factors that can positively impact your site’s organic ranking power.
Walker Sands’ Talented SEO Content Marketing Team
At Walker Sands, our demand generation team is dedicated to staying informed on the latest ways digital users are finding their information, and how we can best position our clients for success online as the landscape evolves. We would love to connect with your organization and begin a conversation about how we can be a trusted SEO content strategy partner and bring your brand to new heights amid an uncertain future.