Written by: Mackenzie Wilson
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is dominating our lives. There are endless news stories, apps, etc., coming out each week. So, whether we like it or not, AI is here. For us marketers, it is especially important to stay up to date on how this affects our campaigns and other aspects of our clients’ marketing strategies. Rest assured, your Addison Clark marketing team is on it!
One question we get asked all the time is “What do I need to do to show up in the AI search results?”
So, we thought it would be helpful to break down how Google search results are structured and how AI fits into it. For this exercise, we will focus on Google specifically. As a reminder, for any given search, all of these results sections are not guaranteed to appear. The only guaranteed listing is the organic results.
AI Results
This looks like a summary related to your search query. It can often contain references to services, websites, etc. There can also be some additional features depending on the search type. We often see a box on the right-hand side that lists businesses pertaining to the search query. Sometimes, there are even sponsored results in this AI section.
Sponsored Results
These listings are a direct result of paid search. This is a pay to play section of search results that is managed through Google Ads. You set up certain parameters and bid on clicks to appear here. These will always be labeled to let you know they are a sponsored paid ad.
Businesses (Map Listings)
This area will show the top three local business listings. This is managed through your Google Business Profile. It will show your address, reviews, contact information, etc. This is important for local Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Think “near me” or “where is the closest…” type of queries.
Organic Search Results
These are your classic listings that display websites that relate to a search query. It will show the page title and short description to allow the user to see if they want to click the link to explore the website further.
Now that we have defined the various sections of a search on Google, let’s circle back to the AI of it all. Sponsored, Business, and Organic are all pretty well defined about how you can show up in the various results. AI is the new mystery.
Luckily, there are things you can focus on to be successful in AI results., If your SEO is strong, AI will pick up on it. If your Business Listing is good, AI will recognize it. If you pay to play in sponsored results, you can also show up in the AI paid results. But, similar to the algorithm used to form the organic search results, Large Language Models (LLMs) are actively and constantly refining what sources to trust, how to pull information, and when AI results appear where. It’ll be important to treat AI Search as an ongoing priority, similar to Ads, Map Listings, and Organic Results.