E-commerce showing -22.1% shift in top citations
Education observing moderate -7.3% adjustment
Healthcare maintaining stability at -1.5% shift
B2B Tech recording -0.4% change
6. Patterns In How AIO Cites Content
The volatility patterns give an early tentative indication of what kinds of queries Google is giving priority in this update. Again, these are real-time results that are subject to change as new parts of the update are rolled out.
BrightEdge’s Insights From Volatility Rates:
“Educational content maintaining stronger stability
Product-focused content showing higher volatility
Research-oriented sites demonstrating resilience
Industry expertise appearing to gain prominence”
Takeaway From Real-Time Volatility
BrightEdge gave Search Engine Journal their interpretation of what the real-time data might suggest for future AIO citations:
“Prioritize genuine user value in content creation over keyword optimization
Don’t ignore the importance of your content that may not be on page 1 for your target keywords
Carefully monitor your AIO citations as the data suggests there could be some fluctuations”
Reason For Optimism?
There’s a lot of negative sentiment to this update that is easily understandable because 2024 has been a bad year for many publishers. For example, a common complaint on X (formerly Twitter) is that Google shows too much Reddit content.
Google’s AI Overviews has not been welcomed by publishers at any level or in any industry because it’s brutal to see your content reworded by Google’s AI then added into a summary that includes reworded content from competitors, with just a tiny hard to see link for the citation.
Frank Pine, executive editor of Media News Group and Tribune Publishing (a network of 68 newspapers) was quoted earlier this year by the New York Times as remarking that Google’s AI Overviews is “cannibalizing” content and harming publishers.
The Times quoted him:
“It potentially chokes off the original creators of the content,” Mr. Pine said. The feature, AI Overviews, felt like another step toward generative A.I. replacing ‘the publications that they have cannibalized…’”
At this point in time it doesn’t do anyone good to sit around and grumble. Keep an eye on the search results to monitor changes as this update rolls out and follow the data.
Read more about the November 2024 Google Core Algorithm Update and learn more about AI Overviews here.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Inkley Studio