Luke Chapman.
The Search landscape is changing and AI has a lot to do with it. In 2023, Google introduced something pretty revolutionary known as the Search Generative Experience (SGE). This AI-powered feature delivers users more direct, summarised answers right at the top of the search results page, allowing users to find information quickly without navigating through multiple links.
While this is a big win for users, it creates some new challenges for digital marketers, particularly when it comes to SEO and paid search. Marketers need to adapt their strategies to secure brand traffic.
How SGE will impact SEO
One of the biggest shifts with SGE is the potential decrease in clicks on organic search results. Traditionally, the listings that appear on the first page of Google get the most clicks, especially those at the top. But with SGE now serving up an AI-generated summary right at the top of the page, users might find the answers they need without ever leaving the search results page.
For SEOs, this means a lot of pages, especially those at the bottom of the first page or on the second page, could see a drop in traffic. As people start relying more on AI-generated answers, the click-through rates (CTR) for organic results might take a hit.
Here’s the catch: SEO is flexible. It always has been, and it always will be. The real challenge now for SEOs is figuring out how to get their content included in those AI-generated summaries or to find other avenues that help them achieve more traffic.
That said, there are still plenty of areas where Google’s AI is a bit reluctant to take over, particularly sensitive topics like health, legal advice, or finance. In these areas, you’ll still see traditional organic search listings holding strong. So, while things are shifting, SEO isn’t going anywhere, it just means marketers will need to adjust their strategies to stay relevant in this new AI-powered world.
The role of paid search in the search landscape
While some may fear that SGE might mean the end of organic search, paid search ads are still going to play a massive role. Those ads are still prominently at the top of the page, above both the AI-generated summary and organic results. So, if you want to make sure your business is seen, ads are still a surefire way to get visibility.
In fact, with SGE shaking up how people interact with search results, aligning your paid search strategy with your SEO efforts is going to be more important than ever. If a brand’s SEO efforts focus on ranking well in organic search, but it's paid search campaigns aren’t aligned, you could miss out on some valuable opportunities. When both your SEO and Paid Search strategies are in sync, you get the best of both worlds: long-term organic visibility and immediate, paid visibility at the top of the page.
Paid ads also maintain their effectiveness regardless of changes in Google's algorithms (depending on bidding and auction dynamics). While SEO must adapt to include AI-generated overviews, paid search will continue to offer immediate visibility. It’s all about balancing both. Make sure your paid and organic efforts work together to target the keywords that ensure your brand stays top of mind for users, whether they click on an organic result or an ad.
What does it all mean?
While the introduction of Google’s SGE may reshape how we approach SEO and organic traffic, it’s not the end of the world for marketers. It just means SEO needs to adapt. The focus will shift to making sure your content is the one Google’s AI selects for its AI-generated summaries. At the same time, paid search will continue to be a critical part of the channel mix, ensuring your brand gets visibility at the top of the search results.
Although the future of search may look different, brands can still thrive by embracing these changes and adjusting their strategies accordingly.
Luke Chapman, Technology Director, Windsorborn