Intro
Recent research by BrightEdge, a leading enterprise search marketing company, has revealed significant shifts in the keywords that trigger Google’s AI Overviews, as well as emerging trends in the AI-driven search landscape. The study shows that while Google maintains a dominant market share, other AI search engines, such as Perplexity, are growing rapidly.
Shifting AI Overview Keyword Triggers
The BrightEdge study, utilizing their proprietary BrightEdge Generative Parser™ (BGP) tool, found that the frequency of AI Overview triggers for certain keywords has been rapidly changing. For example, keywords containing the word "best," which were common triggers in June, have become less prevalent in July for product-related searches.
Notable increases in AI Overview triggers were observed for the following keywords in June 2024:
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"What Is": Increased by 20%
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"How to": Increased by 15%
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"Symptoms of": Increased by 12%
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"Treatment": Increased by 10%
Additionally, there has been a significant rise in the prevalence of ecommerce keywords showing AI overviews, with a notable 20% increase in early July compared to the last week of June. This trend includes a 66.67% increase in product searches that feature pros and cons, indicating a growing emphasis on providing comprehensive information to consumers.
Impact on Search and SEO
Jim Yu, founder and executive chairman of BrightEdge, emphasized the ongoing importance of Google’s actions in AI for businesses and marketers globally. Despite new players like Perplexity making strides, Google continues to drive approximately 92% of organic search referrals, highlighting its continued dominance.
Interestingly, the research noted a dramatic decline in referrals from user-generated content (UGC) platforms like Reddit and Quora via Google’s AI Overviews. Citations from Quora decreased by 99.69%, and Reddit saw an 85.71% drop, reflecting Google's shift towards prioritizing established, expert content over forum discussions.
Market Trends and Competitor Growth
While Bing has seen a modest increase in market share from 4.2% to 4.5%, Perplexity's monthly growth rate of 31% signifies a notable trend, even though the actual numbers remain small. In contrast, traffic from chatbots like Claude and ChatGPT remains minimal, with OpenAI's use of the rel=noreferrer attribute complicating traffic tracking.
BrightEdge anticipates that referral traffic from large language models (LLMs) will become more significant over time, potentially influencing how brands optimize for different search engines.
Conclusion
The dynamic nature of AI Overview keyword triggers underscores the importance for marketers to stay informed with up-to-date data and trends. BrightEdge's real-time data capabilities offer a valuable resource for making informed decisions in an ever-evolving digital landscape. As AI continues to shape the search environment, staying agile and adapting to new trends will be crucial for maintaining visibility and competitiveness in the market.
