Generative AI answers questions better than search; that’s changing behavior where Google was once the new front page it may be losing its influence to LLMs
“LLMs are the biggest innovation in search since Google,” according to Aleyda Solis. She’s a reputable consultant in the search engine optimization (SEO) world. Her words were posted to the Moz blog, which makes software tools for SEO.
Over on Search Engine Land, a leading trade publication, Jason Tabeling noted that LLMs are disrupting search. Where people used to head over to Google to find answers, today they are increasingly headed to generative AI tools powered by LLMs.
Indeed, Google’s share of traffic, which it has dominated forever, dropped for the first time in the last quarter of 2024. While there are still some questions as to whether to not Google is losing traffic to a competitor, or the generative AI, the answer to me seems rather obvious.
Of course, generative AI is the cause. We are in the middle of a sea change. While generative AI has both critics and cheerleaders, there’s no doubt it’s getting pretty good at answering questions.
Now, where have we heard that bit about answering questions before?
Just Google it
Google became so well known for search; its name was virtually synonymous with the term. Like Kleenex became synonymous with tissues, or Xerox with copies, instead of “searching for information,” we all just “Googled it.”
In other words, Google, a proper name and a noun, evolved into a verb. No one anointed it as such – it just happened. That’s probably the most powerful achievement a brand can earn because, at that point, the brand no longer needs an explanation. The education hurdle, and the associated costs, to acquire new customers no longer exist.
And yet no one makes Xerox copies anymore. At least not like we once did. The digital age has rendered photocopies moot – and Google is at risk of having that happen too.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressed concerns over this with his leadership team, according to reporting. More explicitly, as Barry Schwartz, a reporter for Search Engine Land, summarized: ChatGPT from OpenAI is quickly becoming the brand for AI, like Google is for Search.
LLMs as the new front page
The front page of a newspaper – especially above the fold – was once the most desirable place for news. Then Google came along, and the seat of influence shifted. The first page of Google results – the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) – became more desirable.
And for a time, Google was considered the “new front page.” And a whole new industry in SEO was born.
It took a good 10 years before mainstream PR and communications pros warmed up to search. I’ll never forget one fairly senior agency leader telling me at a networking event that SEO was just “keywords.” He couldn’t have been more wrong, but his confidence in his answer was high.
I didn’t have the interest to debate him – doubtful he would have listened anyway. So, I just stood there as politely as possible, and when he was done, I moved on.
Yet for those who embraced it, PR and comms did have an outsized role in SEO. While it still does the sands are shifting again. That’s happening again with LLMs. In fact, by the year’s end, I think we’ll start to see the recognition set in: LLMs are the new front page.
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