Last year, I wrote an article about how I used to appear at the top of search results, swallowed by AI overview and knocked down on the page. Google finally tweaks how it references sources and adds links more prominently next to individual paragraphs.
While publishers seem to be focusing primarily on the wave of AI search tools that otherwise would go directly to online information sources, some marketers have found that visitors who end up landing at their promotional venues are of higher quality. “We’re sure to see the traffic you get more involved,” said Jim Yu, founder and CEO of SEO platform Brightedge, marketer. “By the time they interacted with AI and then clicked on my website, they were much better qualified. So engagement metrics (such as field time and conversion rates) have risen.”
For Lily Ray, head of SEO strategy at marketing agency Amsive, the idea of higher quality fewer visitors remains insufficient, and it poses an existential threat. “How do publishers, content creators and people who make money in the future through display ads and traffic?” she asked. One potential answer is partnership. Connected publisher Conde Nast has reached a commercial agreement with OpenAI to make articles available in Chatgpt’s search answers. The company has no comparable deals with Google.
Despite Lei’s attention, her initial impression of the AI model was quite positive. “By my so far, I do find it better than AI overview,” she said. From a Ray’s perspective, the beta version of the AI model is more successful than the AI overview to understand the problem and provide accurate answers. From my initial impressions, it did improve to be able to ask follow-up questions about similar topics. However, I did get an error during the test.
I asked the beta version of AI mode “Giants Win” to see how it will answer potential common and regional sports questions. “Yes, the San Francisco Giants lost to the Colorado Rockies,” it answered unequivocally. Even more worrying, the AI model cites X’s social media posts as it repeats research on racism and denials about IQ in African countries.
“Sierra Leone has a very low average IQ score compared to the global average,” the test results are. “The average IQ in Sierra Leone is 45.07.” This is a very specific number, from the debunking research that white supremacists locked in and spread online. Google shut down AI overview answers for national IQ search queries after a wired survey conducted last year showed similar numbers appearing in answers to multiple AI search engines. At the time of testing, it has not taken the same precautions in the beta version of AI mode.
I asked Google to comment on my concerns about the accuracy of its generated AI search experience and received a reply. “The accuracy of AI overviews is comparable to other well-established search features such as featured snippets, which have provided useful information for a decade,” said Google spokesman Craig Ewer. “We continue to make further gains in areas such as facts, and these improvements inform how we approach AI models.”
Because Google has long dominated the search engine market, the company has also shaped the Internet to match the rewards of its algorithms. Even if they are frustrated by these changes, many publishers think they have no choice but to keep playing if their website continues to appear at the top of Google search results. Google may eat further, as it relies more on search results generated by AI. The rapid transition could further impact online publishers, many of whom are already in a stance of financial erratic position and rely on Google search as its main traffic driver.
“This is the future of Google search, so we have to adapt to publishers and searchers,” Schwartz said. “I want to embrace change.”
