We have all heard the buzz surrounding Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI), but recent popularity aside, do we truly know the implications of this new technology? We actively observe Gen AI being integrated into our lives and used in the medical sector, factories and even Tesla’s groundbreaking Optimus Robot, just to name a few examples. However, have you also stopped to notice that it has affected the way we search for information? Our favourite search engines such as Google and Bing are being immensely impacted by these technological advancements, and as innovative marketers, we ought to seek relevancy in our campaigns. As such, I will discuss how Gen AI could be a double-edged sword and more importantly, how to capitalize on this next best thing.
The Good
If you think zero-click searches were convenient for your users, think of more interactive, more personalized searches. This is what Gen AI brings to the table for your company. As a result of the vast amounts of information exposure, there has been a trend of impatience when it comes to searches. Consumers do not like to wait, and at the same time, they also wish to find what they are looking for quickly. This is where Gen AI searches come into play to address the needs of people who are searching for more complex questions and looking for specific answers. It gives users of the search engine a more customized response and also summarizes key findings from the entire web 3.0. Embedded in these responses are also links to webpages that information was extracted from and in general, Google (2024) claims that these websites get more clicks and conversions compared to the conventional way of searching. Hence, the possibility of satisfying consumer needs, and streamlining the search process.
The Ugly
On the contrary, it could backfire on your company by providing misinformation or potentially dangerous suggestions to its users. In a recent case, when asked how to keep cheese from falling off a pizza, Google’s AI overviews recommended using glue as one of the methods, which would have been harmful to the human body. Of course, there were many other instances of viral failures made public, which displayed how unreliable and inaccurate information produced by Gen AI could be. This is because as a new advancement, Gen AI search technologies are unable to distinguish between right and wrong sources of information, which includes extracting data from untrustable websites such as Reddit (Estes, 2024). If your brand inadvertently gets involved in this controversy, it will suffer from negatively public perception and the unforgiving cancel culture that exists in today’s era.
What’s next?
As marketers, it is important to stay aware of breakthroughs that will be relevant to our target audience. Now that this article has painted a clearer picture of what Gen AI has to offer, I will discuss how you and your brand can finally emerge victorious in this never-ending fight for consumer’s time.
Here are 5 tips to help you achieve your search engine optimization KPIs. I have turned them into the acronym C.R.A.F.T (McCoy, 2024) for your convenience:
1. Cut the fluff
Remove any content that you foresee to be insgnificant to your target audience. Instead, align your content and writings with the established Google’s Search Essentials and you will come out on top.
2. Review, edit and optimize
Always put your target audience first. Don’t find random keywords that are relevant to your brand but thinks about strategic intent when formulating keywords. This will help you strike a balance between keywords that your users are actively searching for and what you can offer them.
3. Add images, visuals, media
Gen AI are still machine learning software after all, they will require visuals from time to time. To boost your chances of your landing page being successfully integrated into Gen AI answers, you could use alt tags and clear visuals to enhance the machine learning process and user experience at the same time.
4. Fact check your content
Fact-checking creates authority which is important for traditional SEO building. It also combats misinformation, which mitigates the possibility of your brand being incriminated in any Gen AI controversies.
5. Trust-building
Apart from investing in SEO keywords, it would be great to diversify your company content by including blog articles and video content to increase your chances of getting shortlisted into the AI algorithm.
References
https://blog.google/products/search/generative-ai-google-search-may-2024
https://www.vox.com/technology/357247/why-are-ai-search-engines-so-bad