AI is changing the way people interact with the internet. Impressions may be up but clicks have crashed. The future of search may seem bleak, but there is a way out.
Exploration remains a deep and embedded desire for all of us- it is a search for knowledge and creating new things from the old.
And everyone has been getting very good at searching- Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has made it a trillion-dollar business. Search is at the core of people’s reason- It gives us answers and feedback to make better decisions.
To create things from a unique perspective and build empires that serve need, no wonder we’ve entered the knowledge era. And to bolster efforts, engineers have created AI- an intelligence that searches for us and gives us accurate results, though this is still in doubt.
AI search is so all-encompassing that Google, the biggest and most used search engine, has decided to integrate it into every facet of search. And make no mistake, this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.
AI isn’t just transforming search but how we search in the first place.
What does AI search mean?
There are two perspectives here- one for the user and the other for businesses- and a hidden one that we’ll dedicate an entire section to.
But for now, let’s take a user-centered approach to search, which is, in essence, our interaction with the internet.
Why do users search?
The term users here is a blanket term for people from various backgrounds.
One of the most fascinating aspects of modern life is being able to get knowledge that has been passed down from centuries. Any question the user has can be found online, and the answer is either paid or available for free, depending on the question and its source.
This transformation of knowledge paved the way for the knowledge work people do today. And with it increased the need for problem-solving.
Every developer, marketer, plumber, carpenter, architect, engineer, designer, etc., faced problems that they couldn’t solve by themselves. Here, the age of knowledge provided relief; there was a chance that the problem they encountered had a solution online.
Or.
That someone smarter and more experienced than they could come up with a solution. This is why search proliferated- our shared knowledge has a place to grow and be appreciated. The effect was so vast that people created consultancy services from these abstract and everyday problems.
AI’s role in User Search
But every good thing has its downside- bloat filled the internet. Search queries with large search volumes were flooded with generic, flat, and soulless information, and the worst part was that people couldn’t distinguish what was useful and what was not until it was too late.
Blogs, once a haven of information and personal growth, became full of corporate jargon because they ranked and brought business, and Google rewarded this generic content because the format was long, expansive, and deep, but it had no actual information.
And as we all know, people hate goose chases. The allure of AI, like social media, was to give quick and personalized answers.
This is where it had everyone. It was a no-brainer, an intelligent machine that can think and reproduce ideas based on the best ones would be the greatest encyclopedia ever created.
And so AI was integrated into search to extrapolate and spell out the nuances of the information the users are seeking.
First, knowledge was at the fingertips. Today, it’s an assistant wrapped in software- one with instantaneous answers based on centuries-old intelligence.
To Google, something is going to change, and it will change how knowledge is consumed by everyone. And businesses are going to be at the brunt of this vast change.
Search in businesses
Businesses have used SEO to rank and get discovered for specific queries. There’s a reason why businesses created blogs- more than to inform, it was to drive relevant traffic to their sites.
Everything went digital-first for businesses; it was lucrative, and they could target different geographies.
Organic traffic could be used for lead generation, and behavioral data could be used to create segments.
Unfortunately, AI has killed this. Only a few businesses are ranked on Google. The rest are delegated to the dark corners of the internet, one with dusty corners, directly impacting discovery organically.
This happened because businesses gamed SEO and created content that did not add value to relevant topics. Although they cannot be entirely at fault, SERPs reward certain content types over others.
AI means zero-clicks.
Business owners and users are frustrated by the quality of information available to them. The sources are not authoritative and feel like rehashes of each other. That’s why most people go back to information sources that work for them.
That’s why publishers like HBR and the New York Times are still successful; they have opinions and data. People who know what they’re talking about.
And now, search has become snippets- even Google shows an AI overview of the user query with specific links. AI search is zero-click.
Everything you need is there. Now, it’s up to the user whether they want to click or not, and the number says it’s steadily increasing- in Datos’ research, they found that from the UK, US, and EU, the total zero clicks is 53.3%.
- 27.2% for the UK and EU.
- 26.10% for the US.
These numbers are for desktop users.
Then there is this stat from Seer Interactive
- While the volume is low, conversions from ChatGPT are almost 16% compared to Google Organic, 1.76%
This means that search is under a massive shift. And brands that aren’t careful will fall behind.
How to create value in an AI-dominated world?
AI, it seems, can create everything. It has all the data in the world. And it is becoming accurate, errors are reducing, and it can write programs and content. Some of it isn’t bad.
Soon, AI will be able to analyze consumers and create hyper-specific contextual content. Even more so than today. But this opens up avenues for marketers.
Value-based interactions will take precedence, including touchpoints like events and meet-ups. There’s already precedent that this is happening. But you do not need to spend thousands or millions of dollars on events yet.
What you must do is create value by solving your consumers’ pain points. And there are many that AI won’t be able to touch.
One pain point is this: AI is killing traffic.
However, this value needs to be delivered by owning channels. Not just co-opting them. In Datos’ research, you will be able to see just how important YouTube and Pinterest have become.
Value is relational
YouTube might be the most popular streaming site and most used, but it is underutilized. Many brands treat it as a second thought and a lead-gen machine. This is an outdated thought.
Many brands, like Figma and Notion, are capitalizing on YouTube- they are forming communities based around their product and culture. But their products are tangible and provide value by themselves.
What about the service-based industry?
This is where things become complex; the service industry’s organic traffic helped me get a boost. People would search for a service, and they would receive links to blogs and the services offered. Agencies have felt this pinch the most.
But agencies and service-based companies must not fall back. Instead, proactivity is where they can shine. Value needs to come from solving specific problems. It’s in gathering data and presenting it to the world.
AI cannot replace your data gathering and communications with people. It is agencies that know what goes on the ground level. This is where value must be created from. Real problems and experiences- not ones searched on Google.
Acquiring AI equity
You have now created value, but is the brand being mentioned on LLMs? That’s the deciding factor. And the way AI is determining what brands to mention is by noticing if the brand is constantly being mentioned.
What a wild loop. To earn AI equity, brands will need to: –
- Have value in their offers- tangible value.
- Be mentioned by others in their niche.
The second part is quite complex. Imagine the number of brands vying for these spots. The only way to fix it is to create value and deliver it consistently.
What are the channels to deliver your content?
One of the most powerful things a brand can have is owned media.
That’s their-
- Blog
- Advertisement
- Brand Image
- And Email
These will be drivers of growth in the future and the present. Owned media helps build trust and spread the value you have painstakingly created.
Zero-clicks demand value where your potential buyers are.
AI search and Organic Search are now one.
SERPs will slowly lose relevancy. Not in a bang, but with changing consumer habits. Google search will still dominate for a while. However, Google is interested in promoting its ‘AI mode’ and sponsored posts.
LLMs, on the other hand, can be personalized and tweaked. They are perfect for the buyers who need to research, which is most of them.
AI will become the new organic. All you need to do is create value. And to do that, you need experience. Failures and successes to learn from.
