AI-powered Search experiences are on the rise. In this article, we are uncovering four predictions on how those AI-Search Experiences will change and revolutionise marketing.
1. Gartner predicts that organic traffic decreases by 50% or more due to Gen-AI powered search
Here’s the quote from Gartner
By 2028, brands will see their organic site traffic decrease by 50% or more as consumers embrace GenAI-powered search.
The impact: The rapid expansion of GenAI in search engines will significantly reduce organic search traffic for brands, as individuals obtain information directly from AI-generated results. CMOs must prepare for the disruption to revenue and lead generation by adapting channel investments and focusing on conversion-focused keywords, gated content and potentially repositioning traditional channels like email.
What’s our take?
ChatGPT’s release in November 2022 led to a massive hype and interest in conversational, AI-powered user experiences. LLMs are now everywhere and are powering many of our tools already. On the consumer side early adopters made the switch to ChatGPT, and many of us even upgraded to ChatGPT Plus leading to skyrocketing valuations of OpenAI.
However, the real world has not adopted ChatGPT massively, and Google’s market share has not decreased really since November 2022.
https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share#monthly-202101-202402
2. Increased time spent on Google’s search results pages
SearchEngineland predicts:
Looking ahead, we can predict that users will become more comfortable engaging with AI-generated content and chat threads.
In the future, users may spend more time on the SERP within Google or Bing, engaging in entire conversations with AI-driven chats.
SGE will revolutionize how users navigate topics within the search engine and make the search experience more efficient.
What’s our take?
Google is pushing for Generative AI answers in the SERP. You can read more here (https://blog.google/products/search/generative-ai-search/) and you can see AI-powered answers via Search Labs. Google is pushing those answers to the top of the search engine result pages, leading to more visibility for them (and less visibility and traffic for organic rankings). The impact is potentially huge, and at this point, it’s unpredictable how Google will revolutionize its search experience. Obviously, Google Search Ads are among the core business’s revenue, and we believe that Google doesn’t want to threaten their customers (Paid ads customers) and traditional SEO. At the same time, Google has to keep up with customer demand. And if customers adopt AI-powered conversational search experiences, Google has to follow suit.
3. AI Startups – like Perplexity.ai – are challenging Google Search and gaining traction
There’s not one specific statistic powering this prediction, but more of an overall trend. The trend is new Google Search competitors. Yes, ChatGPT could be seen as a Google Search alternative, and I personally find myself using ChatGPT interfaces for certain use cases that used to be Google Search queries in the past. But most recently, we are fascinated by Perplexity.ai and how you can see and read lots of buzz about them taking on Google.
It’s called Perplexity. The year-old search engine, whose founders previously worked in A.I. research at OpenAI and Meta, has quickly become one of the most buzzed-about products in the tech world.
4. Brands adopt monitoring tools to protect their brands and content from AI
Gartner predicts that with the increase of AI-generated content, also brands and marketing teams need to make sure that their content is appropriately protect and safe:
By 2026, 60% of CMOs will adopt measures such as content authenticity technology, enhanced monitoring, and brand-endorsed user-generated content to protect their brands from widespread deception unleashed by GenAI.
Ultimately, that is also the reason why we built Otterly.AI as a solution to monitor brand and content on various LLMs. Go check it out today for free.