After many months as a Google Labs experiment, Google has officially launched AI overviews in US search results with more countries to follow. This is a massive change to the SERP landscape and is bound to cause shake ups in the traditional SEO strategy for websites.
While AI overviews won’t appear for every search on Google, they are starting to become more prevalent as people use Google to ask more complicated queries. A recent Search Engine Journal article found that most verticals can show AI Overview answers 80-90% of the time, with ecommerce getting an SGE answer 87% of the time in its study. With this change in the search ecosystem, it can be a challenge to figure out how to stay ahead in organic search. That’s where we are here to help.
What is Google SGE?
Google SGE, or AI Overviews, are responses in the search engine results page that Google’s AI thinks can be especially helpful in answering your query. The answer is sourced from multiple websites and Google’s Knowledge Graph. These AI overviews appear as a card at the top of search results.
In the example above, Google answered my query “what is google sge” with an AI overview, sourcing multiple websites and giving a general answer to my question. This card appeared at the top of the SERP, with an option to expand with further information. It’s important to note that the AI overview was the very first result, pushing down organic results that would have normally shown.
How is Google SGE used for eCommerce queries?
AI overview makes perfect sense for those moments when you need to know how to get a stain out of your couch or roast some sweet potatoes. It can quickly answer your question so you don’t need to visit a website. But how can AI be helpful on your purchase journey? What would Google SGE for ecommerce look like?
I decided to put one of my own purchase journeys to the test. My one year old, Max, is starting to walk and needs a good pair of shoes for his adventures. As a first time mom, I had no idea where to start. I figured, if anyone knows where to start, it’s Google. I asked Google “What should I look for when buying shoes for a one year old?” After scrolling past a few Google Shopping and Google Ads Search results, this AI overview was generated:
The AI overview gave me all of the basics that I should be looking for in my future pair of shoes, and even linked out to articles from Babylist, What to Expect, Emma’s Diary, and the Cleveland Clinic. Interestingly, the articles linked to in the AI overview were different from the normal organic listings. For example, the Babylist article “The Best Baby Shoes for New Walkers” was ranked fourth organically, and required a lot of scrolling before I saw it. Another interesting feature was a summary of recommended features and brands at the end of the overview, which sourced its information from multiple parenting blogs.
This result was extremely helpful as someone in the discovery phase of my shopping journey, but I wondered how the results would change if my search was more generic. Next, I searched a very basic query, “toddler shoes” and was impressed with the result.
In the screenshots above, the AI overview changed to be more shopping focused. It included a small overview of what to consider, but then showed 8 shopping results that it thought I might be interested in. These shopping results showed a variety of brands, colors, and merchants. Each shoe prominently featured multiple product images, shipping information, reviews, and more. I now have a great idea of what shoes are going to be a good fit for my son (we’re going for a cool kid vibe with a pair of Converse, btw) and know where I can buy these shoes when I'm ready.
How can my ecommerce website optimize for AI Overviews?
Optimizing your ecommerce website for Google SGE follows a lot of the same standards as ranking for traditional organic listings. Google’s main goal is to give users the best possible user experience, so it will rank websites higher if they can better address user needs. Factors like EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) and well optimized product description pages (PDP’s) can go a long way in helping your products show for AI generated results.
Optimize your Product Pages
As is the case with more traditional SEO strategy, your product description pages go a long way in making sure organic reach is maximized. Using thorough product descriptions, showing detailed uses or instructions for the product, and providing plenty of product images is a great way to signal to Google that you have a quality product.
Increase Customer Reviews
Google’s last few algorithm updates have put a heavier emphasis on search results that provide value and feel more human to those searching. In the ecommerce space, customer reviews are often the deciding factor in a purchase decision. A focus on increasing customer reviews on your site can help positively influence the user journey, which will signal to Google that your site and product are worth showing.
Get Your Structured Data in Order
If you haven’t spent time optimizing your schema markup, take this change in the SERP as your sign to work on it. Structured data on the website helps Google’s crawlers quickly understand what they are reading. The most important structured data to have on your ecommerce site are product, price, availability and reviews. These should be added to each PDP.
Supplement With Paid Media
In every ecommerce result we encountered, Google prominently featured ad results above the AI overview for both the mobile and desktop experiences. Having a strong presence in Google Shopping & Search ads can ensure impressions on important queries for your business. As an added bonus, well optimized product listings for Google Shopping can also work well for organic efforts.
The new wave of Google is officially here. It’s time to seize the day and make those website optimizations before your site gets left behind.
Photo: © sabthai