More in LearnAI Overviews
Everybody is talking about AI Overviews in Google Search, so what are those? AI overviews are Google’s way of leveraging artificial intelligence to deliver more sophisticated and relevant search results by summarizing content from multiple sources and presenting concise, informative responses to user queries.
AI overviews synthesize information using advancements in natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML), offering search users a quick, reliable answer to complex or multifaceted questions.
They differ from traditional search results, where users would need to sift through multiple links and snippets to piece together information manually. Now, Google's AI can generate a comprehensive answer at the top search results.
While it is a hot topic, it’s still fresh, which is why we’re not going to go in-depth explaining it all…but we will touch base on a few key points.
In layman's terms, Google's AI overviews use NLP models like BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) and MUM (Multitask Unified Model) to understand the intent behind a search query. These models go beyond keyword matching by interpreting language's context, semantics, and nuance. Once the intent is identified, AI pulls data from multiple web sources, collates it, and presents the most accurate and comprehensive answer as an overview.
For example, if a user searches for "best ways to market a new eCommerce website," Google can pull information from top articles, blog posts, and industry reports to provide an overview of the best marketing strategies. Instead of opening multiple articles, the user gets a clear, AI-generated summary at the top of the search results.
People no longer search for basic, short phrases; instead, they ask conversational, detailed questions expecting well-researched answers. AI overviews cater to this growing trend by providing comprehensive answers in real-time. Our eCommerce SEO guide talks in length about the current state of Search and marketing and SEO and what you can do.
One of the challenges presented by AI overviews is that fewer content pieces may surface on the first screen of search results. If an AI overview effectively answers a user’s query, they may not scroll through / click the rest of the search results. Both effectively reduce the traffic potential for sites that do not contribute to the AI summary.
To combat this, you need to focus on becoming one of the top sources from which Google’s AI pulls when creating its overviews. How to do that is up for debate, but one thing is certain: a commitment to producing valuable, well-optimized content seen as an authority in its niche is a good way to start.
AI Overviews in Google Search and Search Generative Experience (SGE) are related but not the same.
- AI Overviews are concise summaries of information extracted by Google's AI from multiple sources to answer user queries directly on the search results page. They synthesize content, offering users quick, factual responses.
- Search Generative Experience (SGE) is a broader concept that enhances Google’s search capabilities using AI to provide more interactive, conversational, and context-aware results, often integrating multimedia and real-time updates.
While both aim to improve search outcomes, SGE focuses on a more holistic, AI-driven user experience.
AI overviews in Google Search are expected to be a significant leap forward in how search engines interact with content and deliver it to users. For marketing and SEO managers, this development is both an opportunity and a challenge, and we’re yet to see how big of a leap it is.
