By now, you've likely encountered a fair share of AI headlines, perhaps following the developments around Sam Altman's hearing—maybe you're even putting artificial intelligence to work for you! Whether you're using AI daily or just starting to explore the field, you (like many) are probably wondering what the future holds for the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
At TFD, we have worked with dozens of publishers who depend on organic search as the largest top-of-funnel traffic source. It is essential to recognize that a shift in this landscape impacts our clients’ reliance on this channel as our primary traffic source and could have a lasting effect on publishing digital content for years.
Before discussing what’s next, let’s rewind: In November 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT. On the coattails of this was Google with the launch of BARD, its LLM that launched in March 2023. In December 2023 (9 months later), Google announced its largest and most capable AI model, Gemini. In May 2023, Google announced Search Labs, a way for Google users to test new products and ideas being explored by Google. Among the first experiments in Search Labs included Search Generative Experience (SGE) – a feature that brings the power of Google’s AI (Gemini) into Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS).
Now that we are up to speed, Next month marks the one-year anniversary of Google’s announcement of SGE experimentation, and many people are wondering if the hard launch of this feature is right around the corner.
As of now, there has been no formal announcement regarding the launch date of SGE. There has even been speculation that SGE will be a paid or premium feature for Google users. Chatter aside, there have been increasingly frequent sightings of Search Generative Experiences by users, including us at TFD. So, while we sift through the speculation of tech influencers and LinkedIn commentators, let’s familiarize ourselves with the characteristics of an SGE SERP.
Let’s check out SGE: Because I have found myself unable to recreate SGE at the drop of a hat, I’m revisiting a query I have seen exhibit SGE historically. The query is, “How long have Beyonce and Jay-Z been together?”
What you’ll notice almost immediately is the option to generate an AI response on top of the SERP.
Once the AI-generated preview is complete, you’ll notice the disclaimer at the top of the SERP: “AI Overviews are experimental.”
Following the populated AI preview, selected articles are “sandwiched” between the content (in this example, you’ll see ELLE and QUORA).
Another recent module that has been added, “Visual Stories”
Beneath visual stories, you’ll begin to see a more familiar SERP layout
Within this layout, notice that a new emphasis has been put on including “perspective-like” content–AKA content that hosts threads, chats, or commenting (Reddit and Quora are seen in this example).
At the top of the frame at :42, you’ll see a deviation in the traditional SERP appearance. We are witnessing related queries automatically populated on the same page as an original query.
The related queries are extensive and go well beyond the original query.
Notice, at the end of the SERP, there is no page 2.
While we could get wrapped up in the bulleted call-outs above, the main takeaway is that an overwhelming amount of information is available for the user without ever needing to click into an article. This is an example of how Google’s Gemini could be incorporated into search.
Next Steps:
As mentioned previously, Google has yet to announce when (and if!) SGE will go live. As we await definitive answers for the future of search, the TFD team is keeping a pulse on the latest news regarding SGE's future. We believe a formal announcement from Google will take place in mid-May during the company’s annual I/O developers conference.
While we did have the opportunity to review a single SGE example, keep in mind that nothing is set in stone. In the digital world, what is here today can be gone tomorrow. There is much to shake out in this feature, including user sentiment. Will users adopt this new experience? Will they want old SERPS? Will this be a paid feature? And if so, how many users will be willing to pay for this? There is so much that is yet to be seen!
In the meantime, you can enable AI experiences as a Chrome user – so go ahead and warm yourself up to the capabilities of SGE (click here to get started – I have found this will work on personal accounts, not work accounts).
As always, if you have any questions or want to discuss anything related to SEO, email me at dallas@twentyfirstdigital.com.