Google’s Search Generative Experience on E-Commerce

For folks in my network that aren’t SEOers but are impacted but organic search, particularly those in the e-commerce & SFCC space…

Over the last month, Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) has been a big talking point within the search space.

SGE is Google’s move towards providing AI responses to organic search results, see link here.

Initially, I believed SGE would focus on longer tail queries.

But as users gain and report on beta access, it appears SGE may shift the conventional search engine results page (SERP).

I don’t have early access but some great SEOers have written about SGE in the e-com space & I’m sharing what I’ve learned.

Kevin Indig

Kevin Indig writes AI answers are aggressive within the e-com space, with Google using 2 rows of 7 products on desktop & 2 products on mobile.

He notes that for some transactional queries, attributes are pulled to structure the AI answer, specifically those written within product reviews, onsite or from a 3rd party retailer.

Src: https://www.kevin-indig.com/x-realizations-from-testing-search-generative-experience/#ecommerce

Brodie Clark

Brodie Clark points out some benefits to the SGE AI “product grids”, stating that product listings found in traditional SERPs were below the fold.

With SGE, they’re pulled up within the AI response.

Brodie states its a benefit to brands based on potential click through rate (CTR). We might see CTR increase due to a higher visibility.

Src: https://brodieclark.com/generative-ai-google/

Ryan Jones

Ryan Jones states AI answers can lose top placement for highly transactional queries; in his example, AI lost top position to product placement ads.

It's clear though that the AI is bidding for placement just like everything else. In this example, it lost out to the product placement ads and was shown below them. This tells me it won't always be the top of the SERP. pic.twitter.com/YDBJpe8l8r

— Ryan Jones (@RyanJones) May 26, 2023

Src: https://twitter.com/RyanJones/status/1662091295970455554

Aleyda Solis

Aleyda Solís points out that SGE attempts to emulate a PLP experience, with a product pack, description & related links.

SGE AI answers may result in an increase in traffic for PDPs, Aleyda predicts.

Src: https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/search-engine-optimization/a-few-thoughts-on-my-initial-google-sge-experience/

Summary

There is a lot we don’t understand about SGE, much less, its role within e-commerce.

We don’t know how users are going to react or behave to the stark change of traditional search.

Abner Li noted that SGE is no longer traditional search, as it is a new experience towards information retrieval (https://9to5google.com/2023/05/29/google-sge-hands-on/).

This also leaves me unsure where this will go….

A few good steps forward include,

1. Hold tight. We’re going to be learning more & more as data comes in.
2. Ensure you have well structured relevant Schema on your site including Product, Ratings & Reviews, Org, Local, etc.
3. As mentioned by Brodie, ensure that your product feeds are well managed. Again, the goal is to feed information to Google & SGE.

There’s probably more but if SEOers have any input, feel free to share.

Watch out; you might be seeing SGE soon.