This extract is from SEO in the Gemini Era by Marie Haynes ©2024 and reproduced with permission from Marie Haynes Consulting Inc.
There are changes on the horizon that all SEOs should be aware of that are also closely related to AI. Search Generative Experience (SGE), which is now renamed to AI Overviews, and Gemini are already changing how people get their information.
And, if we are to believe Google DeepMind’s creator Demis Hassabis, within the next decade, Google will achieve their goal – building artificial general intelligence, AGI.
I do believe Demis. And I am excited.
Let’s talk first about the immediate changes to the search landscape that every website owner should be aware of.
This is a general overview as many of these features and what’s important to know about them are changing rapidly. Much of this section will likely be dated by the time you read this book!
Google’s Search Generative Experience/AI Overviews
Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai has said that SGE is the future of Search.
Image from author, July 2024SGE started as an experiment that could be opted into at labs.google.com. This is now in Search in some countries, with a new name, AI Overviews. They can have several different components, or a combination of them, including:
An AI generated answer that appears to be stitched together from multiple websites like a large featured snippet.
Carousels Of Websites
I have been calling these “helpful content carousels” because they generally contain the type of content we have been talking about throughout this book. I have since heard them referred to as “link cards.”
(I like helpful content carousels better!)
Image from author, July 2024These carousels are appearing in regular searches and also in Google Assistant responses. You may see similar carousels peppered throughout search labeled as “Perspectives,” “Forum Discussions,” and other labels.
Image from author, July 2024
Image from author, July 2024We will see more evolution of these features over time. Google is learning with each search whether people are finding AI Overviews helpful. They will continually learn how to improve.
Here’s more reading:
- Google’s documentation on SGE.
- Google’s June 2024 documentation on AI Overviews.
- Google’s announcement about SGE.
- You can also find all sorts of examples of SGE in action and community discussion on what it is rewarding in the Search Bar.
Google Gemini (Formerly Bard)
Google’s naming of products is confusing! You may have noticed that throughout this book I refer sometimes to Bard, and sometimes to Gemini. This is because in early 2024, Bard was renamed to Gemini.
Gemini is also the name of the language model behind the system. Gemini essentially is everything that is AI at Google.
Gemini the chatbot is not a search engine. But people will likely use it as one. It is a way to get information, and the more it improves, the more helpful it becomes.
Gemini will become Google Assistant, and be available at a quick touch or voice command on most phones that can pop up over top of other apps.
It is continually improving via a process called reinforcement learning. If you used Bard a few times and gave up because you found it unhelpful, I’d encourage you to try out Gemini.
Ideally it’s worth signing up for the most advanced version of Gemini publicly available, Gemini Advanced. As I write this, Google is offering a two month trial.
In the short time since Bard upgraded to Gemini I have been thoroughly impressed with its improvement. It feels like it improves daily.
In February of 2024 Google quietly announced an upgrade to Gemini called Gemini 1.5 that gives it an entirely new architecture based on something called a Mixture of Experts model.
This type of model is not new, but DeepMind says that the type of MoE model they use for Gemini is a brand new version of MoE. The changes made to Gemini made it significantly more efficient, accurate and better able to understand the data it trains on.
Gemini 1.5 greatly improves Google’s AI capabilities across the board. And creates a framework for them to continue to improve at a fast rate.
Here are some helpful links to learn more about Gemini:
- Use Gemini.
- Google’s announcement re Bard.
- How Google’s multimodal Gemini model makes Bard much better.
- Could Bard One Day Replace the Google Search Box?
- On Bard extensions.
- Challenge: Can you get your site to surface in Bard’s double-check response suggestions?
- Some thoughts on Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) and how Google’s search results are structured to make Bard better.
If you read one thing on Gemini, make it this:
Google’s blog post called “Assistant with Bard: A step toward a more personal assistant.”
I thoroughly believe Gemini is the way of the future. It might not seem like it if you have used it a few times and run into a few hallucinations and made up answers.
After reading all of the above, hopefully you will see what I see and that is that Gemini is poised to be the future of how we interact with information online.
A lot will likely change in the world as this happens.
How? It’s hard to predict. I think that many people will be affected like I have been. The more I use LLM’s, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more knowledge I have. Then I can take those ideas and brainstorm them with Gemini or ChatGPT.
This has led to me being able to understand a lot about how Search works and to develop my skills in almost everything I do in my work at a faster pace. The more I do this, the more I learn how to learn and also to get the most out of the LLM tools that are available to me.
People who are good at their trades will get better with the help of AI. Those who know how to use AI will start to develop significant advantages over those who do not.
Imagine if you were living in 2024 and did not use a phone. You could certainly live, but you would be at a disadvantage compared to those who do use technology.
I believe we may face a dangerous divide in our civilization as this happens. I am beyond excited for those who are at the cutting edge of learning how we can improve the world with AI. But what will happen to those who decide to avoid its use at all costs?
Fortunately, Google’s CEO has said that this transition in how we search will happen over the next decade. We hopefully have some time to adjust.
Business Integration
In Google’s earnings calls they have mentioned that one of Gemini’s strengths is business integration. We haven’t seen it yet. But eventually, we should see it get easier and easier for businesses to not only integrate Google’s AI capabilities, but also make money from it.
Pay attention to how AI is changing Google Ads as well. I have not written about Ads in this book, but can see all sorts of future opportunities here.
Let me share what I think could happen. Imagine a searcher is looking for information on a recent traffic drop. They converse with Gemini, who tells them the world’s general advice about what to consider and then recommends perhaps some websites to read.
I could see Google offering paid positions that say, “Talk to Marie Haynes’ AI Assistant.” It’s an Ad that then connects the searcher with a chatbot on my site.
This chatbot would be grounded with my recent writings. I would be incentivized to continue to create great, helpful content because this is what will make my chatbot useful.
It’s possible I could charge money for this chatbot. Or, perhaps I might choose to make it free and where appropriate, the chatbot would recommend my resources and services.
In that case, I could see Google inserting my Chatbot right into the search results.
When businesses start to make real money from Google’s AI, we will see some more acceleration!
Notes
[1] Demis Hassabis on Chatbots to AGI | EP 71 Hard Fork Podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwUARJeeplA
[2] Google’s Vision for Search in 2023 and Beyond – Analysis of the 2023 Earnings Call. Marie Haynes. https://www.mariehaynes.com/googles-vision-for-search-in-2023-and-beyond-analysis-of-the-q2-2023-earnings-call/
[3] Gemini Advanced. https://gemini.google.com/advanced
To read the full book, SEJ readers have an exclusive 20% discount for Marie’s book, workbook and course bundle. The discount will be applied automatically by following these links:
- SEO in the Gemini Era book
- Put Yourself in the Shoes of a Searcher Workbook
- Full course bundle (includes the book and the workbook)
More resources:
- AI Has Changed How Search Works
- Google SGE Organic Traffic Impact Divided By Verticals [Data Study]
- Leveraging Generative AI Tools For SEO
- How To Adapt SEO Strategies To Better Appear In Google SGE
Featured Image: ArtemisDiana/Shutterstock
