How to Protect Your Website Traffic from Google's AI Answers

Jun 13, 2024

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In recent years, Google has been making significant changes to how it provides information to users.

Instead of just listing websites for a search query, it is now using artificial intelligence (AI) to directly answer questions.

This new "AI answer engine" has raised concerns about the future of websites and content creators.

The Main Issue

The main issue is that Google uses content from websites across the internet to train its AI models.

With this training data, the AI can then provide answers to questions without users ever needing to visit those original websites.

This shift has significant implications for the digital landscape.

Impact on Creators and Websites

If people don't need to visit websites for information anymore, many sites could lose a significant portion of their website traffic and revenue.

According to a recent study by SparkToro, 63% of all US web traffic referrals come from Google.com. (Source).

This change could force some smaller sites to shut down completely.

Moreover, it could negatively impact content creators, small businesses, and the diversity of information available online.

For instance, niche blogs or local businesses may struggle if their target audiences get answers directly from Google's AI.

AI engines are already being used by companies like Netflix and Amazon to personalize content recommendations, indicating the technology's potential to impact content marketing and search.

There are also concerns that AI-generated content could be biased, inaccurate, or plagiarized, highlighting the need for robust fact-checking processes.

Generative AI Bias

The study on generative AI bias by UNESCO revealed alarming evidence of discrimination against women.

For example, when describing roles in AI-generated text, women were more often assigned domestic roles like 'domestic servant' or 'cook.'

This contrasts with men being described in professional roles, highlighting the persistence of gender stereotypes in the language models. (Source).

Adapting Strategies

To survive this shift, content creators and businesses may need to adapt their strategies.

Rather than relying solely on search traffic, they should focus on building strong brands, creating high-quality thought leadership content, and exploring alternative monetization models like subscriptions or e-commerce.

As John Reuter, Chief Strategy Officer at Kyndi, notes, "Enterprises must provide both trusted answers and transparency. They simply cannot afford to rely on tools that provide inaccurate information" (Source).

Ethical Concerns

However, using website content to train AI models without consent or compensation raises ethical and legal questions.

Critics argue Google is exploiting websites' content, potentially leading to major traffic and revenue losses for sites that rely heavily on search traffic.

The Future

As AI integration into search and information access continues, striking a balance between user experience, content quality, and the sustainability of creators/websites will be fundamental.

Navigating this complex landscape requires careful consideration of the trade-offs.

To stay ahead, content creators should prioritize engaging, high-quality content that builds brand reputation and audience loyalty.

Encouraging discussions and sharing insights will also signal content value to search engines.

As highlighted in this report by Software Reviews, "Marketers need to adjust their content strategies to focus on answering specific questions and rethinking the impact of gated content".

Recommendations for Marketing Professionals

Content Strategy:

Tailor content to answer specific user questions.
Use diverse formats (videos, transcripts, audio) to drive discoverability by answer engines.
Ensure content is accessible for indexing by public AI models.

Websites as Content Sources:

Websites may see reduced direct traffic but can still serve as content sources for answer engines.
Future regulations may require answer engines to cite sources, potentially driving traffic back to original websites.

Gated Content:

Gated content may not be indexed by answer engines.
Provide accessible summaries to attract users to more detailed content.

And That’s It

The rise of AI answer engines represents a significant shift in how we access information online.

While it offers convenience, it also poses challenges for content creators and website owners.

They can navigate this new landscape successfully by adapting strategies and focusing on high-quality, engaging content.

According to a study by HubSpot, 82% of marketers believe that creating engaging content is the most effective SEO tactic.

Content creators can thrive in the era of AI answer engines if they prioritize quality over quantity and adapt to user intent.

What do you think about Google's AI answer engine and its implications? Share your perspectives in the comments below.

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