In the modern world whenever we have a question, whether it be checking a fact or looking for a restaurant nearby - our first port of call is Google. It’s become such an institution that terms like “Googling” and phrases like “Google it” have become ingrained in our culture, and it’s easy to see why – it’s how we find answers, discover new things and explore the digital world.

While Google’s vast empire now includes Chrome, Maps, YouTube, Gmail, and much more - their search engine is still pulling in mindblowing numbers like; 5.9 million searches a minute, 354million an hour and 8.5 billion searches per day. While these figures are impressive to say the least, in recent years a new wrinkle has been introduced which is set to change the search landscape - the rise of AI.

The growing popularity of ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and other AI tools are giving users attractive alternatives to search engines, and while the impact to search traffic is low for now, the momentum is building, prompting the question – is this the end of search as we know it?

How SEO works

To keep on top of the billions of daily searches Google receives and to provide users with highly relevant, accurate results, the search engine employs a series of automated tools known as crawlers or spiders, these intelligent tools scan the internet, collecting data about content, page performance and other metrics – these factors are all then taken into account when websites are ranked on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). This where Search Engine Optimisation comes into play, SEO involves refining and enhancing a website to make it rank higher on the page, ultimately leading to more visibility and site traffic as a result.

How Paid Search works

While SEO priorities organic rankings over time, Paid Search(sponsored search results) offers a quicker route to visibility – appearing as targeted ads that appear at the top of search results pages. As you might expect, Paid Search costs money, with brands bidding to appear in the top rankings for specific keywords. The Google Ads platform functions as areal-time auction each time a search is made, factoring in bid amount, relevance, ad quality and expected click-through rate (CTR) to determine which ads appear and in which order.

The impact of AI & GEO

Although Google has had its own generative AI platform ‘Gemini’ since 2023, it wasn’t until May last year that they introduced an AI Overview feature into the search engine itself. This emergence of AI- generated search results has given rise to Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), a newpractice focused on optimising content to appear within AI summaries and responses.

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Since introducing the AI Overview feature, it’s unsurprisingly had an impact on both paid and organic search results, reshaping the SERP. One key change has been that in some searches; users no longer needto click on any of the search results – as the overview already concisely answers their query. The introduction of the summary at the top of the page hasalso pushed paid and organic search results further down - reducing visibility,click-through rates and impacting ad impressions. This is already beginning tohave a knock-on effect for website traffic, with the reduction in Googlereferrals set to grow as the platform changes.

Research on the impact has found that when AIOs appear, both organic and paid CTRs are lower on average. Alternatively, when a brand is mentioned within the AI Overview, the CTR rises – placing an even greater emphasis on gaining top organic and paid rankings (to appear on the page) and highlighting the benefits of appearing within AIOs.

The result of these combined factors has put Google in a tricky position, their ad model for Paid Search is largely built around keyword searches and clicks – so if users stop clicking the sponsored search results, their ad revenue is going to fall. This reality is undoubtedly what’s holding Google back from fully leaning into AI search, but they have been testing the water within certain industries – a small but clear sign of what the future may hold.

What’s next?

It’s no secret that AI is set to have a huge impact on most industries, as it becomes both increasingly intelligent and further integrated into our businesses and lives. Generative AI is already being used to power SEO keyword research, website content generation, predictive analytics and so much more. The impact of AI is still early days at this point, but patterns across organic and Paid Search are already beginning to emerge, the growing popularity of ChatGPT and other platforms are steering users away from Google results and towards AI generated suggestions.

With search set to evolve significantly in the coming years, ultimately those marketers and brands who are ready to adapt their strategies and embrace change will fare best – a truth that remains consistent, even as everything else shifts.

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Interested in learning how you can stay competitive with your SEO and Paid Search strategies? Get in touch with us today to discover how we can help.

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