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‘Answer engines’: How artificial intelligence is upending how we search the web  

James Pham, Digital Innovation Lead on Oct 25, 2024

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Since the early 2000s, “looking something up online” has been synonymous with using the Google search engine (sorry Bing – good hustle, though).  

It makes sense – over the years, ‘Googling’ has emerged as the default, most trusted entry point to the internet and its billions of pages. It’s nearly impossible to imagine a world where we don’t rely on Google to find what we’re searching for. 

But that’s changing. And it’s going to affect your marketing. 

In fact, the revolution is already underway. People (especially young ones) are lower-case-G-googling within social media platforms. According to one research firm, 45% of Gen Z are “more inclined to use social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram for recommendations” in place of Google.  

But it’s not just social search that’s changing the tide. A huge shift in users’ search behaviour is imminent, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). 

Screenshot from Guide to Collecting on the Web – Summer 2000 (Krause Publications)
Above: Screenshot from Guide to Collecting on the Web – Summer 2000 (Krause Publications). Remember life before Google? Did anyone "dogpile" the internet for answers? 

The shift from search engines to ‘answer engines’ 

Imagine if, instead of digging through Google’s countless links and pages, you could get direct, specific and (presumably) accurate answers to your most complex questions – instantly.  

That’s the promise of an AI-driven (rather than SEO-driven) environment. 

By using bots to crawl sites in much the same way Google does, AI does the searching for you. And because it functions like a chatbot, you can ask the AI follow-up questions, provide deeper context to your inquiries, generate visuals and much more.  

The result: you get served curated answers, not search results you have to parse yourself. Which is why some industry insiders like Perplexity have coined the term “answer engines” (the jury’s still out on whether the term will stick). 

While this technology isn’t being used everywhere yet, it’s on the way. In the U.S., Google has already launched Gemini. ChatGPT is releasing SearchGPT. Microsoft has Copilot (formerly Bing Chat – love that hustle, Bing!). And, in stark contrast to Google’s chokehold on the ‘search’ space, there are new contenders like the aforementioned Perplexity and Claude gaining steam. 

Among and around – How changing search behaviour impacts your marketing 

To date, the best practices for writing content for your website and other owned channels have prioritized search-engine optimization (SEO) – that is, using keywords and familiar phrases to increase your site’s chances of being one of several sources suggested for a user to reference to find the answer they’re looking for. The name of the game has been, get as high on the results list as possible (as our CEO likes to say, the best place to hide a body is the second results page on Google).  

As audiences rely less on Google, trying to appear on search engine results pages (SERPs) will no longer be an effective approach for increasing brand awareness. The new goal will be to be among and around the cited sources the AI has used to generate its answer: sources that many AI-driven search engines will cite, via link, for the responses they generate. If your site manages to be one of those sources, it’ll effectively position your brand as a trusted expert on the subject. Ultimately, this is one micro-moment you’ll want to stay on top of. 

But the changes go even deeper than how audiences search, and the results they’re served. Because audiences won’t be driven to your site as often by topic-related searches, you can presume that those who come to your website directly are more likely to be further down the sales funnel. Which means you’ll want to revisit who your website is tailored towards, and how its content is written. 

What about those audience members who aren’t as deep in the sales funnel, who are researching topics relevant to your organization on AI-driven search platforms? Even when they pivot to AI-driven search, you can still get discovered. 

Show up where it counts 

Don’t panic: if you’re following current SEO best practices, you’re still on your way to showing up in AI-driven ‘answer engines’. However, there are some distinctions you should be aware of. Here are some strategies to help you become part of the answers. 

Allow AI crawlers to access your site 

With a few tweaks to your site’s code, you can ensure that AI-driven bots can gather content from your site. Keep in mind that not all AI-driven search engines are the same. Here are the steps for permitting OpenAI’s search bot, for example. 

Create content that’s reliable, relevant and authoritative 

Like Google, AI-driven search engines will likely prefer newer, timely content to help ensure it doesn’t provide dated answers. They’ll also need to ensure the information is trustworthy, especially to overcome concerns surrounding AI’s credibility.  

For this reason, we recommend publishing human-made/AI-assisted content over AI-generated content. In other words, don’t fight AI with AI. 

To give your pieces more credibility, consider attributing your articles to authors, or writing a line like “Article fact-checked by humans with ideation assistance from AI” near the top or bottom.  

Depending on your organization, having customer and/or client reviews could be another effective way to show AI crawlers that your site is trustworthy. 

Know how AI sites find you  

Here’s another reason authorship matters in an AI-driven search environment. Unlike Google, which uses keywords to surface information, many AI-driven search engines are using Large Language Model prediction – the same technology that drives predictive text when you draft a text message or an email. LLM tries to predict the next token (i.e., word) that will be likely to follow a word or phrase. 

So: if a user searches for a topic, and your brand or team member’s name appears on multiple editorial pieces, news pieces, blogs, social posts, etc. on the topic, that name/authorship becomes weighted more heavily in the AI’s LLM. It can even eventually show up as the next predicted term when users input their search.  

There’s an analog parallel: it’s a public relations/earned media play. PR practitioners earn their keep in part by making sure the right trades, publications, bloggers, reporters, podcast hosts, etc., are talking about, interviewing, and citing their company when they talk about issues impacting their industry. 

Think of  the LLM working in the same way: by ensuring your authorship is credibly and consistently linked to topics you want to be found for, the LLM starts to favour you as a source in the answers it provides. 

Make information AI-friendly 

AI technology is better at reading sites than typical Google crawlers. It won’t just look at text and alt-text on a page, but also text on visuals, image content, captions on videos, etc. Ensuring everything is clear and useful will increase the odds of answer engines using it. 

Be ready to advertise 

In time, there may be opportunities for your brand to have sponsored content in relevant answer engine results, just like you can today with Google Search Ads. Marketers can advertise on Copilot, Perplexity is exploring doing the same, and others are likely to follow.  

If you’ve struggled to dominate SERPs in the past, don’t worry. Unlike people, AI-driven search engines will look at pages that aren’t top-ranking on Google. They’ll dig deeper through various websites to find the most relevant info possible, meaning you can have a stronger chance of being referenced. 

It pays to be early 

Where does this leave Google Search and display ads? Should you still bother with them? 

For now, the answer is yes. It’s still too early to ditch these tactics, especially if they work for your organization.  

But be ready to adapt. The budget for these ads might soon need to be shifted toward rethinking some of your site, generating new content, and building your social media presence in anticipation of the ‘answer engine’ environment. 

While it’s true that AI-driven search won’t drastically affect your marketing efforts today, there’s no question that staying ahead of the shift is better than scrambling to catch up. We’re already thinking about how they’ll fit into broader marketing strategies, and you should too. 

In the meantime: we’ve seen the internet, compressed video streaming, and social media all revolutionize how brands and people interact. And we’ve seen late-adopters and late-adjusters lag behind – and never catch up. 

Without hyperbole, this is the next big thing. And it’s at our doorstep.  

If you want to be ready when that door opens, we can help. Let’s talk.