{"id":120041,"date":"2025-03-08T13:02:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T13:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/apple-2\/searchgpt-will-force-google-and-seo-to-innovate\/"},"modified":"2025-03-08T13:02:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T13:02:22","slug":"searchgpt-will-force-google-and-seo-to-innovate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=120041","title":{"rendered":"SearchGPT will force Google, and SEO, to innovate"},"content":{"rendered":" \r\n
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OpenAI<\/a>\u2019s entrance into the search space with SearchGPT<\/a> was both a surprise and something expected.\u00a0 And as generative AI continues to upend the world of search, the expectation is that Google\u2019s decades-long hold on the space might change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, search and search engine optimization (SEO) experts said Google won\u2019t die. SearchGPT and Perplexity do represent a change for Google and for the search world in general: competition and the need to innovate.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott Gabdullin, CEO and founder of SEO and marketing company Authority Factors told VentureBeat that generative AI began pushing Google to try new things like its controversial AI Overview feature and SearchGPT will force Google to try new things.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s competition now, and it\u2019s always good for the industry when there is competition because that is where innovation takes place,\u201d Gabdullin said. \u201cThe monopoly on search is shifting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, Google has dominated search, with almost 82% of search traffic<\/a> in 2024 so far. If companies want to have a presence in the search engine and be at the top of people\u2019s minds when looking for information, they must play by its rules. Companies began finding ways to rank higher on Google and reach the top of the results page. This inevitably led to the rise of sectors like SEO and the gamification of internet search, which many believe is why finding information on Google is so bad these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other AI-powered search engines, like Perplexity, have begun taking some traffic share<\/a> from Google, though it hasn\u2019t made a very large dent yet. Nevertheless, Google began rolling out AI features to its flagship product. It released AI Overview in May but immediately began attracting controversy<\/a>, and site owners believed it was taking traffic away from them. Perplexity itself got into hot water for allegedly ignoring opt-outs<\/a> from websites.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabdullin believes Google must stay ahead of the curve and continue to develop features that outperform competitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, experts believe it takes the larger power of OpenAI to push Google\u2019s buttons.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOpenAI is very well-positioned currently. They have brand recognition, they\u2019re integrating with Apple iOS, and they offer functions like conversational search and visual answers,\u201d said Jim Yu, co-founder of SEO platform BrightEdge<\/a>, in an interview with Ve<\/em>ntureBeat.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that OpenAI has a \u201cbig opportunity to disrupt not only how people search, but also how brands and companies market their products online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEO experts said that it seems OpenAI is learning from the missteps of Google and Perplexity in launching SearchGPT. Yu said SearchGPT and other AI-powered search platforms also function differently from Google by encouraging follow-up questions, a feature he said Google removed from AI Overview. Additional questions help narrow down information for users.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabdullin pointed out that, unlike Google\u2019s AI Overview, OpenAI wants to let publishers know it\u2019s directing search traffic to their websites. It\u2019s also actively seeking partnerships with publishers to allow them to use their web crawlers and index these sites.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make things more difficult for Google, OpenAI is making deals with large companies like Apple to bring its products to a sizeable captive phone market.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf SearchGPT starts to complete any Siri request, imagine the number of new potential users who will be introduced to search results without ads,\u201d said Christian Ward, chief data officer of Yext.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, Google won\u2019t give up search market share that easily.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGoing up against a behemoth like Google is no easy feat,\u201d Yu said. \u201cA newer AI-first engine like Perplexity likely has more to lose at this juncture, but this could also be seen as the first step to SearchGPT becoming a meaningful threat to Google.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEO gets better<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Google\u2019s search platform is not the only one that needs to innovate. Gabdullin believes SearchGPT will make brands diversify how they reach customers, and that includes not relying on SEO too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSEOs are now realizing that it\u2019s not enough just to be an SEO; you have to be a marketer,\u201d Gabdullin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Figuring out the best SEO keywords to dominate Google search results became a bit of a game, but Gabdullin said AI-based platforms like SearchGPT or Perplexity index data from websites and do calculations fast. This lets SearchGPT focus on new factors like a site\u2019s quality and rank that higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGaming starts to become more difficult now that the computation is so much more powerful,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has forced SEO companies to use AI tools like Ahrefs<\/a> or Semrush<\/a>, which use AI models to predict search and keyword rankings.\u00a0<\/p>\n