SEO + search generative experience (SGE)

This year in search

How can marketers shore up existing content to survive the new search storm? What should they create next? And how much will SEO change?

SEO practicalities

“Prepare for Google's SGE by strengthening your E-E-A-T score - and using multi-media. With Google’s Search Generative Experience (S.G.E.) around the corner (estimates for go-live are Q2 / Q3 of 2024) it is worth preparing for what many (including myself) anticipate to be a game changer.

At Semetrical we’ve already started testing out the S.G.E. output for some of our key clients and have noticed some initial patterns that are worth working on ahead of the big go-live date. One of our key findings is just how important it is that Google trusts your site and brand if you’re going to be used in the SGE AI summary.

This means you need to build trust that your content is trustworthy and written by people with expertise in the space.

If you haven’t already done so, highlight all of the key people in your business and why they are experts in their field. This can be done using the About Us page, the author bios/page, or even within content that’s written.

Ultimately, having content that is accurate in the data it presents and links to will also help improve your E-E-A-T score so a fresh review of your content including updates to ensure there is no wrong or outdated content will yield results moving into 2024. Also worth noting is that Google now includes videos in the GenAI summary of SGE. If you have useful content be sure to create videos and use engaging images on your pages. It will serve you well in the new SGE world.”

Kapwom Dingis,
Senior SEO Manager at Semetrical

"Working in SEO, my number one thing for marketers to focus on in 2024 is what Google does. I think the next year in search will be very volatile. All sorts of rumors are swirling around about major updates to search and Google's UI, and whatever they decide to do will have a big impact on SEO. So keep your eyes and ears out!

Personally, I think that this time next year, Google search will look a lot more like ChatGPT and its rivals. These AI chatbots have stolen a lot of Google's thunder and no doubt they'll want to reclaim lost ground. So search will become a lot more conversational. I predict there'll be AI-generated snapshots of pages and follow-up questions before you even get to the blue link results.

While the interface will change, I think the basics of SEO will stay the same. I don't think Google will want to rock the boat too much. You'll still have to rank for keywords, but the types of keywords that bring in qualified traffic will also evolve. AI summaries will answer short-tail top-of-funnel queries perfectly well, so long-tail, conversational, high-intent keywords will be the most successful ones in this new era.”

Joe Barron,
Senior Content Manager
at Cognism

Key takeaways

SGE aims to deliver experiences that are more relevant precisely because Google’s main objective is and will always be, to serve a great user-first experience.

Use and collaborate with experts
Engage with video and images
Use long-tail keywords for specific queries