One of the most exciting and innovative developments on the digital marketing landscape is Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE). In this article, we will explore how to optimize your content for SGE. We will start with an overview of what it is and how it works, and wrap-up by looking at some important limitations of this emerging — and amazing — technological advancement.
What is Google’s SGE?
In essence, SGE is Google’s early-stage effort to enhance the conventional search experience with leading-edge generative AI. While the back-end technology driving SGE is excessive — and for most people, incomprehensibly — complex, from a user’s perspective the experience is straightforward and designed to provide more organized and relevant results from a single search. We take a deeper look at these advantages in the next section.
Key Benefits
Through SGE, users are empowered in ways like never before to:
- Ask more complex, detailed, and nuanced questions, and get extremely accurate and relevant results (e.g., “is there a store near me that is open late and has skim milk on sale?”).
- Discover key considerations and product information, so they can make purchase decisions faster and easier.
- Make smarter buying decisions by being presented with a snapshot of noteworthy factors to consider, as well as a range of product options.
- Get unprecedented up-to-date product information. This is possible because SGE is built on Google’s Shopping Graph, which is the world's most comprehensive dataset of constantly changing products, sellers, brands, reviews, and inventory.
- Dive deeper into a topic of interest simply by tapping or clicking “next steps,” which brings to the surface relevant information or questions they may not have thought about.
- Create drafts of content (e.g., cover letter, memo, proposal) and generate images (e.g., photos, stock images, vector graphics) simultaneously while searching, and without having to open a new window/tab.
- Engage in a dialogue with Google by asking conversational follow-up questions to generate even more relevant results (e.g., “does the store also deliver, and if so what is the minimum purchase required?”).
The core themes that run through all of these benefits — and the essence of SGE — are relevance and user experience. As much as businesses leverage search to get new customers (or more precisely, to get found by new customers), the vision of Google is not to help businesses grow sales and profits. Rather, it is to provide users (a.k.a. searchers) with a convenient and relevant way to get answers, information, and solutions — whether that means going on a vacation, or as in our example, getting a carton of skim milk.
In this context, SGE intends to be the next level of Google’s relentless focus on relevance and user experience. Simply put: the more people who like and trust Google as their go-to search engine, the more money Google makes by selling other services — namely at this time, its incredibly popular and profitable paid search platform called AdWords. In this sense, although Google does not make a cent from users, they are the chief benefactors of SGE. Yet with this being said, of course businesses will also stand to benefit by connecting with more customers, both through organic (unpaid) search, and paid (AdWords) search. Everyone wins — including, of course, Google!
Oh, and one quick thing in case our reference to AdWords has some businesses worried that it may be disappearing: fear not. Even after SGE is fully-implemented, search ads will continue to appear in dedicated ad slots throughout the search engine results pages.
Optimizing Your Content
Now that we have looked at the fundamentals, we can focus on how to optimize your content for Google’s Search Generative Experience. While SGE is new and a work-in-progress, some best practices have emerged including:
- Leverage keyword research and other customer and marketplace data to focus your content on search intent. Remember: SGE is going to take search relevance to a whole new level. If you clearly understand what your customers are searching for — and why they are searching for it — then you can use your content to make a connection and grow the relationship.
- Speaking of keywords: SGE is making long-tail keywords even more vital! These are search terms that are not common, but are typically made by people with very specific search intent. Knowing which long-tail keywords to include in your overall SEO strategy — and which ones to keep off the lists — will go a long way to determining whether you flourish or struggle with SGE.
- As discussed earlier, a key piece of the SGE puzzle is creating a more dynamic and conversational connection with users. Google wants users to see search as their personal concierge rather than some nameless, faceless, third-party entity like an ATM machine. In light of this context, it is critical for your content to look, sound, and feel as if it was written by an actual human being — not an emotionally-empty robot. Not only does generic and blatantly artificial content turn off users, but it will also negatively impact your search rankings if your competitors have dialed up humanity and you are left behind.
- Do not slow down — and certainly do not stop — the content engine. Merely posting one or two blogs a month (or maybe even a year!) is a non-starter. Keep in mind that content is the channel that SGE will use to connect you with your future customers. If you ignore this, then you will lose the spotlight to competitors who may be inferior to you in every way but one: they have better and more content.
A Word of Warning
We urge you not to get caught by the “sunk cost fallacy” and convince yourself to do nothing with your content or SEO, because you made investments in the past. Times have changed, and SGE is shifting the paradigm. We say “shifting” because it is not a total re-invention or re-imagination. Search is still search. However, the context is changing, and so are the tactics and strategies it takes to win.
Think of it like professional sports. If you watch an old football game from the 1960s, you’ll notice something very strange: the goalposts were on the goal line! In 1974 this changed, the goalposts were moved to the end line, where they remain today. This change dramatically changed how teams could score touchdowns (no more worrying about bonking a pass off the goalposts!), and it also made field goals 10 yards longer (much to the chagrin of kickers!). It was still fundamentally the same game, but the adjustments changed the dynamics and experience.
In a similar way, SGE is not changing the core essence of search. But it is most definitely changing search dynamics and experience. Businesses that resist the call to embrace this change — regardless of how much time and money they may have spent in the past — will soon find themselves (if they are not already) on the outside looking in. And the longer they take to get into gear, the more expensive and complicated it will be to get back in the game down the road.
Some Important Limitations about SGE
There is plenty to like about SGE, both from a user’s perspective and, in the big picture, from a business’s viewpoint as well — because a more relevant and accurate search experience means better quality traffic (or what folks in marketing call “marketing qualified leads”). This ultimately translates into more sales and higher lifetime customer value. However, SGE is not a magic wand, and there are some important limitations as well. For example:
- Language issues: In some cases, SGE has been found to slightly misinterpret language-based inputs (as opposed to text-based inputs), which have resulted in inaccurate results. While this is apparently not a widespread problem, it is nevertheless a concern that Google is in the process of resolving.
- Fake News: SGE can sometimes misrepresent facts, which is obviously a big problem. However, to be fair, this is something faced by all platforms that us a large language model (LLM).
- Bias: Perhaps the most well-known limitation of SGE is that it can produce biased results. This is a next-generation application of the old adage “garbage in, garbage out.” In other word: SGE can only be as smart and useful as the data sets and data patterns that it relies on. Ultimately, these sets and patterns are the result of human input (or in some cases, lack of input). Even though these people (and it is teams of them, not one or two individuals) usually have good intentions and are not deliberately taking short cuts, the fact remains that SGE — like other AI technologies and applications — can skew results. For example, an SGE-driven inquiry into “sports teams” could generate results and suggestions that lean towards men’s sports vs. women’s sports.
- Too much personality: This is an interesting problem! We noted earlier that in order to optimize your content for Google’s Search Generative Experience, you need to ensure that your content has an all-important “human element.” Basically, you want people to feel as though they are communicating with a wise and trusted advisor (or better yet, a friend), and not some distant, detached computer. Ironically however, SGE is facing criticism that individuals also face: there are instances where the output reflects subjective opinions — rather than credible, objective facts — which can obviously lead to questionable (and in some cases, just plain bad) information and advice.
- Duplication and contradiction: This is another interesting problem. As we noted earlier, SGE is integrated with paid search (Google AdWords), and the two are supposed to live side-by-side on the results pages in peace and harmony. However, there have been cases where SGE-generated results have duplicated and contradicted the paid search results (and vice versa).
These limitations are significant, and while they do not undermine the value of SGE, they do remind us that as remarkable as this technology is (just imagine going back 30 years and trying to tell someone what’s on the horizon!), it is still a work-in-progress.
With this being said, you definitely do not want to wait to optimize your content for Google’s Search Generative Experience. The sooner you get started, the better off you — and your growing roster of happy, loyal, and profitable customers — will be!
Learn More
To learn more about updating your SEO and content strategy in the SGE era, contact Noble Webworks today. Your consultation with us is free, and there is no risk or obligation.
FAQs
Question: How do I optimize for Google SGE?
Answer: To optimize for Google SGE, focus on high-quality content with clear, direct answers. Use structured data, prioritize user intent, and enhance content readability. Ensure your content is authoritative and trustworthy.
Question: How to prepare for SGE SEO?
Answer: Prepare for SGE SEO by updating your Google My Business profile, optimizing for long-tail keywords, and ensuring your content is clear and directly addresses user queries. Use schema markup to help Google understand your content.
Question: How do I optimize for search generative experience?
Answer: Optimize for the search generative experience by creating content that directly answers user questions, improving content readability, and using structured data. Focus on building authority and trustworthiness in your content.
Question: What is SGE optimization?
Answer: SGE optimization involves enhancing content to meet the needs of Google’s AI-generated search results. This includes using structured data, prioritizing user intent, and ensuring your content is authoritative and trustworthy.
Question: Is SGE replacing SEO?
Answer: SGE is not replacing SEO but rather evolving it. Traditional SEO practices are still important, but additional focus on structured data, long-tail keywords, and authoritative content is necessary for optimizing AI-generated search results.
Question: What is the SGE strategy?
Answer: The SGE strategy includes optimizing above-the-fold content, improving readability and directness, using long-tail keywords, and building authority and trust through high-quality, structured content. It also involves regular updates and monitoring of content performance.
