Google is introducing AI-organized search results pages in the United States.
The new feature, set to launch this week, returns a full page of multi-format results personalized for the searcher.
Google’s announcement states:
“This week, we’re rolling out search results pages organized with AI in the U.S. — beginning with recipes and meal inspiration on mobile. You’ll now see a full-page experience, with relevant results organized just for you. You can easily explore content and perspectives from across the web including articles, videos, forums and more — all in one place.”
Key Features
The AI-organized pages will compile various content types, including articles, videos, and forum discussions.
Google claims this approach will provide users with a more diverse range of information sources and perspectives.
In its announcement, Google adds:
“… with AI-organized search results pages, we’re bringing people more diverse content formats and sites, creating even more opportunities for content to be discovered.”
Industry Implications
While Google touts the benefits of AI-organized search results pages, the update raises several questions:
How will the AI-organized pages affect traffic to individual websites? Keeping users on Google’s results page might reduce clicks to source websites.
With AI determining content organization, there are concerns about potential biases in how information is presented.
The new format may require new strategies to ensure visibility within these AI-organized results.
It’s unclear how this change will impact ad visibility.
This update could alter how we approach SEO. We may need to adapt strategies to ensure content is discoverable and presentable in this new format.
Microsoft’s Bing recently announced an expansion of its generative search capabilities, focusing on handling complex, informational queries. Google’s reorganizing of entire results pages appears to be a unique offering compared to Bing’s.
The initial rollout focusing on mobile devices for recipe and meal-related queries aligns with Google’s mobile-first indexing approach.
It remains to be seen how this feature will translate to desktop searches.
Google’s Response to Industry Concerns
In light of the questions raised by this update, we contacted Google for clarification on several key points.
Impact on Search Console Tracking
Regarding how AI-organized search results will be tracked in Google Search Console, a Google spokesperson stated: