Are generated search results good?

Even though I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, I’ve gathered some thoughts based on what I’ve read around on Twitter and Linkedin on the new Search Generative Experience. I wrote the same piece in Norwegian, on Semway’s blog ⤴.

Previous hypes like voice search and BERT have had minimal everyday impact.

Voice search hasn't been used as extensively as expected and BERT may have been unnoticeable to consumers. However, SGE is set to be quite noticeable and above the fold to everyone who uses Google Search.

What does that mean?

For SEO professionals, website editors, and others concerned with rankings, SGE could mean fewer clicks on their websites and a new approach to handling website content.

For consumers, SGE can change the way you search, retrieve information, or buy products. It can provide more accurate and relevant answers to questions, allowing for more interactive and natural conversations during searches.

Brands may need to reassess what content they put out. They will need to focus more on the quality and originality of the content they produce and I believe having a strong focus on EEAT would be good.

Some other thoughts

• Consumers might spend more time on Google's own platform, continuing the trend of more zero-clicks ⤴.
• Google has said they're showing fewer FAQ-rich results ⤴, which I didn’t notice until i checked some GSC reports. Possibly to make room for SGE in search results.
• An AI-generated answer does not always appear in the "new Google", but it does for questions where AI can potentially enhance the search experience. This in my mind makes it more of a highlighted and interactive featured snippet.
• There are plagiarism concerns, where SGE and Bing chat have used excerpts from websites without clear source attribution. This is likely to change, and sources will be more clearly cited.
• Replicating what's already at the top of search results with duplicate content won't get you anywhere. It's (still) more important to add new facts, opinions, angles, and perspectives to justify being a source for the AI-generated answer.
• Google wants to display author information where they can. Brands should build authoritative profiles for their writers and experts to accommodate for EEAT. This will most likely play a key role in perspectives Google highlights.
• Google will place greater emphasis on quality and originality for product comparisons and online shopping. Ideally, you'll see more pages based on firsthand experience or created by someone with deep knowledge of a given topic. This has been emphasized with multiple review updates ⤴ recently.
• Currently, Bing Chat pulls a lot of information from review sites and guides when asked about product comparisons. This isn't always beneficial or reliable. For example, if a user is looking for a light backpack for running, a top ten list from a seller could be manipulated based on their inventory and the products they want to sell. If Google can provide unbiased information, that would be great.
• Looking 10 years ahead, Google may become more of an answer machine than a search engine, where the list of websites disappears and the answer box with the generated answer is displayed.
• The point of Google in my opinion is to show results on the web and not to povide answers, so the function of referring searchers to other websites should still be there.

To sum up, it's still important to follow traditional SEO principles.