I’ve seen a fair few “SEO is dead” posts on LinkedIn with Google’s upcoming Search Generative Experience (SGE) changes to the SERPs, but I think people need to relax a bit! I just want to quickly and very simply break down why SEO is still going to be very important once SGE is fully rolled out.
What is Google’s SGE?
Search Generative Experience is the name given to Google’s new AI powered Search Engine Results Pages. Google will be using AI in a similar way to ChatGPT by allowing users to ask questions which SGE will then generate a response to by collating information from multiple sources across the web. Find out more information about SGE here: https://blog.google/products/search/generative-ai-search/amp/
Will Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) kill SEO?
In this humble SEO Consultant’s opinion, No. Think of it this way…
❓Will a change in the look, feel and functionality of the SERPs mean people don’t want to buy your products or services any more?
❌ No.
❓Will people still need to visit your website in order to buy your products or services?
✅ Yes.
❓Will you still need good SEO in order to appear in the right places in Google’s SERPs?
✅ Yes.
❓Will your website lose some of its organic traffic through its blog?
😮 Possibly.
❓Will that negatively impact your business in the real world?
🤔 For the most part, probably not. Publishers who make their money through ads may well be impacted, but for businesses selling products and services, most blogs have pretty low conversion rates (massive generalisation I know). People who are searching with “commercial intent” (the buyers) will still want to visit your website to check you out properly first. Your most valuable traffic (the part that converts) should be pretty safe.
Of course I don’t know for certain how things will play out (being in the UK I can’t access SGE yet), but I definitely don’t feel like SEO is going to be dying any time soon.