The Current Rollercoaster of The Human/AI SEO Symbiosis.

Like the controversial ending of Mass Effect 3, the idea of a human/AI symbiosis approach to search and SEO has become stronger as the year has moved forward. We’ve come far enough now to know that while Google has added ‘experience’ to their former model of ‘expertise’, ‘authority’, and ‘trust’ in EAT, they are also quite fine with AI generated content as long as it is genuine and helpful. In general, humans should be using AI to assist in content creation, but ultimately be sure that it is always a human created, guided, and reviewed - and above all else, accurate.

Which is why some interesting developments in the world of SEO and search are shining a light on how people are approaching this, or responding to it, to pave the way for how this symbiosis evolves…

What’s Going On With SGE?

Google’s Search Generative Experience is due to be launched in December/January, and has been existing in its experimental form since May this year. Recent reports have indicated that the presence of the AI generated answer in the search results appears to be shrinking. Once a dominant feature that took up a fair amount of page real estate…

…has more frequently been appearing in a contracted form:

For some people it triggers as an ‘opt-in’, and for some, not at all. It is an interesting development this late in the stage of deploying a form of AI on the search results page. Some have dubbed this ‘SGE-Lite’, but could this actually be a test in terms of how SGE functions in the results rather than an option being A/B tested to determine user preferences?

Here are a few speculations about what may be happening, based lightly on issues SGE seems to have when generating an AI answer to a query:

• Too much space. Probably the biggest answer is that the generated response is just too hefty on the overall page, pushing down other organic results, (what used to be the ‘ten blue links’) too far down. While sources are highlighted to the right, essentially replicating what the ‘top three results’ used to cover, many have noted that this does not always align.

• SGE sometimes provides informational content on a different category of search. Related to the point above, some terms produce a different type of AI generated response based on sources that aren’t reflected in the top organic results. An example of this can be seen below where the search term ‘caribbean cruise’, (which would normally provide top links to cruise ship services), generates an informational answer instead, pulled from sites with informational content:

• Nobody likes a cumulative layout shift. SGE is a new feature that still takes time to load. This means that an old browsing pet peeve can creep in; the infamous ‘cumulative layout shift’. We’ve all experienced it as we go to click on our desired link, but then the page shifts and suddenly you’re clicking on something else and heading to a completely different page selling Barney-coin…

• As the generated answer pauses to load, the same issue can occur as elements below the answer gets pushed down further once processed - as demonstrated in this popular tweet:

• Inaccuracy. What has become a common issue with AI content: sometimes the results are just plain wrong. As Google wants to assure that content fits into the EEAT model, even the generated AI answer has to fulfill this reliability. The reasoning here is that perhaps the public perception of AI generated results is currently not as strong as those pioneered by a human.

Google has not come forward to mention whether this reduction serves a purpose related to the speculations above - or whether this is a test of finding the right balance for users when it comes to an AI/human contribution.

Helpful Content and MOFU Content.

Whichever way SGE is finally deployed on the search results page, websites should still be looking at ways to get their content either utilised on a generative response, or to get a user to click through to the content on the website itself to explore further details of their query. A few factors have recently come to light that websites should consider:

• Creating Helpful Content: It’s the recent algorithm update that we have previously covered - and one that has had a massive impact on a number of sites. Remember that the gist of this update is to create content for people, even if it isn’t made by people. That content needs to be relatable, relevant, correct, trustworthy, and come from a place of expertise and experience. It’s Google essentially establishing the standard required to appear on the search results from a user query, and in turn, what they would like to pull into a generated response.
• MOFU Content: This stands for ‘middle of the funnel’ content - the type of content designed to help users who know what they’re looking for. For example, they have an issue and are looking for solutions as they punch in their search query. Content designed as checklists, templates, goods or services comparisons, and even case studies are great pieces of content that can help you stand out for this type of currently popular query. To understand where this sits, ‘top of the funnel content’ usually deals with more broader terms and queries from an ‘awareness’ perspective, and ‘bottom of the funnel content’ deals with those queries almost fully realised, (for example, one step away from the purchase of a product). MOFU deals with a more refined and specialist search, and where websites should place some current attention towards if they wish to stick out in an SGE curation - designed to target an audience very aware of what they are searching for.

In Summary.

The increasing development of AI, especially when it comes to search and SEO, is undergoing a fascinating journey. The technology is there to be used, (and in some cases, abused), but sometimes, in cases like how people use SGE, it all comes down to how users will put it into practice, and how Google wants to assure that queries will be met.

Who knows, perhaps something new is in development and just around the corner? One thing is for sure: the SEO experts will be ready to tango - or to dance along in whatever form to the robotic trends available in pure search symbiosis.