New research conducted by enterprise search marketing company BrightEdge has unveiled significant shifts in the sites appearing through Google’s AI Overviews search feature. Despite maintaining its search market share, the data indicates that AI search engine Perplexity is rapidly gaining traction.
The study reveals that the keywords triggering AI Overviews are undergoing rapid changes. Some keyword trends observed in June have already evolved by July. For instance, AI Overviews were triggered 50% more frequently for keywords containing the term ‘best.’ However, Google appears to have altered this behavior as these phrases, particularly when related to products, no longer seem to activate AIOs in July.
Other notable AIO triggers in June 2024 include:
- ‘What Is’ keywords saw a 20% increase in triggers
- ‘How to’ queries experienced a 15% rise
- Queries with the phrase ‘symptoms of’ surged by approximately 12%
- Queries featuring the term ‘treatment’ grew by 10%
A spokesperson from BrightEdge highlighted the growing prevalence of AI in ecommerce, with nearly a 20% uptick in ecommerce keywords displaying AI overviews since the start of July. Additionally, there was a substantial 62.6% increase compared to the last week of June. Alongside this growth, there was a notable 66.67% rise in product searches containing both pros and cons, indicating not only increased AI integration in ecommerce search results but also the provision of more comprehensive information to consumers.
Utilizing its proprietary BrightEdge Generative Parser™ (BGP) tool, BrightEdge identified key search trends that could impact digital marketing for the remainder of 2024. The BGP tool collects extensive search trend data and transforms it into actionable insights. According to their research, each percentage point of search market share equates to $1.2 billion, underscoring the immense value even minor gains hold.
Jim Yu, the founder and executive chairman of BrightEdge, emphasized the enduring dominance of Google and the significance of its AI developments for businesses and marketers globally. Yu also acknowledged the emergence of new players in the evolving landscape of AI-led multi-search environments. As AI continues to advance, marketers are urged to leverage insights to monitor, prepare for shifts, and adapt effectively.
Despite Google’s continued dominance as the primary source of search traffic, the evolving trends in AI search engines suggest a dynamic future for digital marketing strategies.
