Chatting About Search and Conversational AI

When I started my first consultancy in the mid-90s, I was an ex-TV writer with a dream of becoming a go-to firm for publishers and producers who needed entertainment PR.

Except I didn't have a very big network or past clients to recommend me.

So how would anyone find me?

Three words ... The Yellow Pages.

I submitted my company name and number to the business listings and even used a chunk of my startup budget to buy a small ad. So customers would notice me when they were doing a search.

Except, I missed the printing deadline and had to wait a whole year for that strategy to work!

I'm glad those days are over.

A New 'Mouthpiece' for Word of Mouth

Of course, the Yellow Pages were pushed aside by search engines. Word of mouth changed too, and went from one to one to one to many in digital reviews and on social media.

Now, the game is evolving yet again, as search and word of mouth learn to adapt to a new and more loquacious player: conversational AI.

And a fresh set of challenges and considerations.

• For example, since chatbots are prediction machines and value stats over facts, are they even a reliable option for finding things out? Or will they simply add to the deafening din in the echo chamber of social media?
• What about sourcing and transparency? Showing you where the story came from and why it's true.
• Biased data and algorithms? How will that affect the answers to your questions? Who will benefit and who will lose out?
• Speaking of data, tech companies already have a lot of knowledge about your behavior. How will a conversational layer tuned to your cognitive preferences affect the way you perceive results?
• And will the summaries you get from chat be just enough to stop you from looking further?

That's a hurdle for brands to contend with as they develop strategies to reach their customers.

And this could also lead to a bigger challenge for society at large.

Especially if your request is health-related, financial or any life altering decision. The implications of misleading, harmful or just plain shallow results could be dire.

Slow Down, AI Moves Too Fast

For a long time, we relied on media to provide the context behind news and other stories. Background information that took you beneath the surface and attempted to explain the why.

Social media changed that and supercharged the speed at which we consume information.

AI chat in search results has the potential of pushing that up to hyperspeed, by replacing detail with bite-sized and easy to digest summaries. All neatly packaged and personalized to your individual tastes and quirks.

Content will soon have a smooth and glossy sheen that may seem perfect at first glance, but becomes opaque and murky if you try to peer below.

So how can you deal with the glut of fast info and not fall prey to its allure? By donning a reporter's hat and digging for facts.

Here are five media literacy tips to get you started:

1. Slow down. AI is fast, but you still need time to read, reflect and think. Find your own pace and don't fall prey to the speed of machines.
2. Dig deeper. Most people aren't going beyond the first page of search right now. And AI will likely reduce that to a paragraph or two. But which sites will it draw on? Are they organic or paid? Click on a few to see if the web references jibe with the AI's response.
3. Know what it takes to earn your trust. What sources do you believe and why? Have any of them been included in the summary? If not, visit those sites to see if they offer a different slant.
4. Reformulate your request. Try posing your question from another angle or rephrasing it, then compare results.
5. Repeat for every search. Sure, it's more time-consuming than talking with a bot. But you get to stay in the driver's seat, weigh different options and not fall prey to a persuasive, but impenetrable AI.

From a brand perspective, you'll need to figure out how to get your content included in AI results. By crafting stories that help, inform and build trusted relationships with your customers. So if your digital marketing is spammier than it should be, now's a good time to adjust.

Having a Conversation About Search and AI

Chatting with a search engine is the topic for this week's Digital Marketing Trends video. I look at what the main players—like Bing and Google—are doing. And I introduce some of the upstarts including Neeva and You.com. I also discuss the importance of transparency and the implications of paid results.

Have a watch and let me know what you think.

Follow Me on LinkedIn

And now it's time for the conversation we're having in issue #76 to come to an close.

Before I go, I encourage you to?follow me on LinkedIn. This newsletter comes out every two weeks. But between issues, I share shorter daily posts with my take on digital marketing and the latest on generative AI. It's another way to stay on top of the trends.

I also want to let you know I reached another milestone this week: 400,000 subscribers! Woo hoo!

So thank you again for reading, commenting, subscribing and sharing my newsletter! It's great having all of you along for the ride.

How do feel about conversational search? Are you content with a summary or will you dig deeper? How will you do that? Please add your thoughts in the comments below.

Be sure to reach out if you have questions about any of the videos in Digital Marketing Trends, or my other?LinkedIn Learning courses.

You can also visit?my?my website?and send a message or a question.

Talk to you in a couple of weeks.