TLDR -- Apple will add AI search partners to Safari as Google usage falls. This development has profound implications for SEO professionals, demanding re-evaluation of established strategies and exploration of new ways to drive online visibility that offsets declines in CTR from search.
Recent rumblings in the search landscape suggest a significant shift on the horizon. Apple's potential move to integrate AI-powered search partners directly into its Safari browser, coupled with a noticeable dip in traditional Google search usage, signals a potential shift for how people seek information online.
As the dominance of traditional link-based search results potentially wanes within Safari, SEOs must prepare for a future where being the source of truth for AI-driven answers takes center stage.
- Potential Shift in Search Behavior: a recent drop in Safari searches suggests users are already turning to AI-powered alternatives. Integrating AI search directly into Safari could accelerate this trend, meaning users might rely less on traditional search engines like Google within the browser.
- New Avenues for Visibility: AI search engines prioritize direct answers and summaries, traditional SEO focused on ranking in link-based results might become less critical for some types of queries. SEO will need to adapt to focus on being included as a source in AI-generated answers.
- Importance of Comprehensive and Trustworthy Content: AI search engines often emphasize extracting information from reliable sources. Websites with well-structured, authoritative, and comprehensive content could be favored as sources for AI-driven answers. This means we have to invest into quality top-, mid-, and bottom-funnel content
- Focus on Natural Language and Context: AI search aims to understand the intent behind user queries. Optimizing content for natural language and providing clear context could become more important than just targeting specific keywords.
- Potential for New Ranking Factors: The criteria AI search engines use to select and synthesize information could introduce new "ranking factors" that SEO will need to understand and adapt to. These factors might include the clarity of information architecture, the trustworthiness of the source, and the comprehensiveness of the content on specific topics. Taxonomy of the site and content discoverability will be extremely important.
- Impact on Google's Dominance: If Safari users increasingly adopt AI search within the browser, this could reduce the volume of searches going through Google (the current default), potentially impacting Google's search market share and advertising revenue. This shift might also influence the importance of ranking in Google search for reaching Safari users.
- How to measure SEO impact in the age of Gen-AI: this one warrants a separate post (it's coming), but aside from traditional visibility tracking -- such as BrightEdge DataCube or Ahrefs SEO Dashboard to provide ranking insights (and being very specific on monitoring Branded and Non-Branded performance) -- various new tools are now available to help understand how you show in Gen-AI. Tools like BrightEdge AI Catalyst, Ahrefs AI Brand Radar and Hubspot AI Search Grader are must-have.
Coda (a more musical way to say "conclusion")
The anticipated integration of AI search partners within Apple's Safari browser represents more than just a change in default settings; it signifies a fundamental evolution in user search behavior and, consequently, in the practice of SEO.
While the principles of providing comprehensive and trustworthy content remain key, the focus for SEOs will expand to encompass optimizing for natural language understanding, ensuring clear information architecture, and establishing authority as a reliable source for AI-powered summaries.
The potential impact on Google's search dominance, particularly among Safari users, underscores the urgency for SEOs to adapt to emerging AI-driven search. Staying ahead will require a proactive approach to optimizing sites.
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4dI'm already getting inbound leads from ChatGPT for ConciergeBot - I'm impressed at the quality of the matching which seems to be done with greater context and relevance as to the fit of our product to their needs than traditional SEO/social media. Generative AI is going to be a game changer once it becomes a driving channel for organic inbound lead generation.
Head of US Business Growth | Pi Datametrics
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