Offering quick, conversational responses, answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini bypass SERPs, removing organic page clicks (as we know them) from the search process.
Without a nimble, future-ready digital strategy, your hard-fought-for rank on Google and other search engines could start to lose value as these AI tools grow in popularity.
In this post, we explore how answer engines, are influencing search behaviour, how the marketing industry is reacting, and what you should know to stay on top of key changes.
What are "answer engines"?
Answer engines respond to user queries with a direct answer. They generally take three forms:
- AI chatbots are generative. They are also commonly referred to as LLMs (large language models), generative engines, or even AI search engines.
- Voice assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri
- Database query engines scour a database to find information and present it verbatim to the user. They are not generative.
In many ways, answer engines act like a search engine:
- A user poses a query
- The answer engine tries to figure out the reasoning (or intent) behind the query
- The answer engine searches a sprawling database for relevant information
- The answer engine responds to the user’s query
However, the nature of the response is what sets answer engines and search engines apart.
Search engines provide a list of websites their algorithms suggest may contain relevant information. Users then search for the information they need from this list.
By contrast, answer engines do the searching for the user. If they have generative capabilities, they then use a process known as natural language generation (NGL) to generate a direct, conversational, and contextual answer to the query.
Side note - Google’s Rich Answer SERP feature also technically performs as an answer engine. But it differs from AI chatbots and voice assistants in that users cannot actively choose to use it; it is either served or isn’t served. Therefore, we do not consider it a factor in the changes in user behaviour discussed in this post.
Are people using answer engines instead of Google?
While there haven’t been any sudden or sizable disruptions to the search industry following the rise of the answer engine, there is evidence of small, gradual change.
Below we focus primarily on ChatGPT usage due to it currently being the most popular answer engine — and thus being the most researched. Other answer engines accounted for, the overall shift in user behaviour may be slightly more pronounced than the following statistics suggest.
UK answer engine use
As of October 2024, only 3.75% of ChatGPT’s global use is attributable to the UK, so change in information search behaviour is minimal and yet un-surveyed. But it’s worth noting that in January 2024 the UK accounted for only 2.1% of ChatGPT’s global use — so it is gaining traction.
We can’t say how many of these users are choosing ChatGPT specifically for tasks usually reserved for Google. However, it stands to reason that an increase in general popularity would coincide with an increase in users exploring AI chatbots as viable alternatives for searching information and addressing queries.
Global answer engine use
A survey published in mid-2024 showed that, globally, roughly 31% of Gen Z internet users consider ChatGPT and other AI tools in their top 3 methods of searching for information. 31% of Gen X-ers agree but prefer voice search over “chatbots”.
Older generations are slower to convert, preferring to find information using traditional search and social media.
US answer engine use
According to a recent Evercore survey, 8% of 1,300 US respondents claimed to use ChatGPT as their go-to search engine, an increase of 7% from a baseline survey carried out a few months earlier.
Google, however, went from a baseline of 80% to 74% in the same timeframe. The entire 6% loss can’t be attributed to ChatGPT alone, but as the primary disruptor in search currently, it’s undoubtedly a major factor.
Additional research from 2023 showed that 13 million US users used AI as a first step for search — a figure projected to reach 90 million by 2027.
Why are people using answer engines instead of search engines?
There’s a reason why the new ‘just Google it’ is ‘just ChatGPT it’ — answer engines offer users the following benefits:
Quicker answers
Imagine asking a very knowledgeable friend a question, and instead of answering it directly, they drop several books into your lap and suggest the answer might be somewhere in the pages.
It’s an exaggerated analogy, but this is essentially what a search engine does.
Answer engines, on the other hand, give you the answer you’re looking for directly.
Better results
Studies show that ChatGPT results are generally more warmly received than Google results, even for tasks involving the recommending of websites, which is supposedly Google’s wheelhouse.
Enjoyment
In comparative tests, participants find more enjoyment and value in ChatGPT than they did using Google search. And despite known issues regarding AI hallucination and misinformation, trust levels among users are around the same level for both tools(1).
Follow-ups
Although generative answer engines’ ability to parse natural language is improving rapidly, they may still get the wrong end of the stick.
However, as they’re almost always a conversational platform, users can offer guidance and refine queries via follow-ups. Instead of passively consuming content, answer engines allow users to engage with it.
Short of trying different keywords, there’s no way to reason with a standard search engine.
No (or fewer) ads
As it stands, ChatGPT has no ads, generating revenue from subscriptions alone. The same is true of Perplexity AI (although their ad service is expected to rollout any day now). Even Google Gemini is ad-less for the time being, improving the user experience and establishing trust.
Reduced surveillance
As Seth Godin writes in his June 15th 2024 blog post titled ‘Better than Google’, answer engines like Perplexity AI are ‘more pleasant’ and less ‘corrupted’ by ‘surveillance and sneaky dark patterns’ than search engines.
However, it’s important to note that both voice assistants and AI chatbots have their own privacy limitations.
Can you optimise content for AI answer engines?
Yes! Even though answer engines are a relatively new technology, ways of optimising for greater visibility in their responses are already emerging.
There is some concern that the “black box” nature of answer engines (which is to say the algorithmic workings of these proprietary and closed-source platforms are not fully transparent) means it won’t be possible to optimise for them.
But this isn’t as big a hurdle as you might think.
Google, for instance, can be considered a black box platform. And yet SEO exists and can be extremely effective when properly executed.
Much like SEO, current answer engine optimisation best practices have been established through trial and error and rigorous observations.
Approaches to this new discipline have been tested by a team at Princeton University. Their research proves the right combination of targeted optimisations can enhance visibility in answer engine responses by up to 40%.
Futureproof your digital strategy
While visibility in Google Search remains our number one priority, at The Digital Marketing Partners, we’re already adjusting our approach to boost client visibility in generative responses.
Contact TDMP today to discuss the future of your digital strategy.
What does "visibility" in answer engine responses look like?
Citations
Primarily, to be “visible” in an answer engine response means that your website is cited as a source of some of the information.
Users can click on the citation link and visit your website to fact-check details in the response or to learn more about the topic.
As it is on SERPs, visibility is a sliding scale in textual answer engine responses. The higher up in the answer citations are, the greater the chance the associated information is read and explored.
Other variables can impact the value of visibility as well. For instance, the higher the word count of the information attributable to your website, the more space it takes up, showing your website as a rich source of relevant information(2).
This new framework for visibility means that many popular ways of measuring success in digital will need to be reevaluated.
Direct mentions
Depending on the intent of the search and the capabilities of the answer engine being used, your brand, website, products or services may be mentioned directly in the response.
This is most common when users request brand, product, or service recommendations.
Is there a term for AI optimisation in relation to SEO?
As a developing discipline, industry terminology for this kind of optimisation is not yet set in stone. To clear up confusion, we have provided overviews of the variations surfacing:
- AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) is focused on making content clear, concise, and easy to pull directly into the responses of answer engines, whether the engines in question are generative or not. When people use the term “SEO for AI”, they’re really referring to AEO or GEO (covered next).
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is similar to AEO but more specific. It focuses on optimising for answer engines that use generative technology, i.e. those that use their own words to relay the answer
- GAIO (Generative Artificial Intelligence Optimisation) is similar to GEO but encompasses a broader range of strategies and techniques for optimising content across various generative AI platforms, while GEO specifically targets the optimisation for answer engines like ChatGPT.
- LMO (Language Model Optimisation) is mostly used in reference to the optimisation of language models themselves, but in a marketing context, is used similarly to AEO and GEO.
- LLMO (Large Language Model Optimisation) is, for all intents and purposes, the same as LMO, but specifies a focus on large language models. Generally speaking, LMO and LLMO can be used interchangeably in the marketing sphere.
- AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimisation) is related to AEO/GEO but focuses more on technical optimisations to increase the likelihood of content featuring in AI search responses. For example, optimising site infrastructure or fine-tuning content delivery.
- SOMO (Share of Voice Optimisation) is a specific type of brand awareness optimisation. It focuses on getting your brand mentioned in relation to target keywords in content likely to be included in an LLM's training data. This is how to optimise for brand mentions in generative search responses.
Will answer engines replace search engines?
Gartner predicts that search engine use rates will drop by 25% by 2026, but this doesn’t seem to be the trajectory we’re on, especially in the UK.
It’s certainly possible that answer engines eventually become the favoured way to search for information online, especially if Gemini gets pushed front and centre of Google Search(3).
But it’s equally possible that people won’t take to it long-term, or even that a different technology will emerge and take things in a completely new direction.
No one knows exactly how an AI-centric future will shape up(4), but it’s extremely unlikely that search engines will completely disappear.
In fact, answer engines with access to real-time information rely on search engines to function. So the question isn’t really if search engines will die out — but whether they will become sealed into the answer engine, beyond reach for users(5).
Again, this is unlikely.
AI and SEO aren’t as adversarial as some marketers believe; they can coexist.
Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, acknowledges that search engines will still be an essential part of meeting user intent if immediate answers and generative search take the information retrieval throne. Systems similar to Google’s intent-based algorithms would be put in place to redirect users to SERPs based on their needs.
Simply put, users would get what they need when they need it — meaning AI wouldn’t replace SEO, and SEO certainly isn’t dead or dying. Optimising for both answer engines and search engines is an important aspect of digital strategy.
If this did turn out to be the case, organic traffic via SERPs will decline, but brands with nimble marketing strategies will rise to the challenge.
Update your SEO strategy with TDMP
Effective digital strategies evolve in tandem with the search industry. At TDMP, we closely monitor the latest trends and updates to provide our clients with the most relevant and impactful advice.
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