Google Says AI Visibility Depends on Content People Really Want to Read
The VP of Google Search, Liz Reid, sat down for an interview where she talked about the relationship between Google and publishers. When asked what the new rules are for showing up in AI search, he said that publishers need to publish content that people actually want to read.
Google Says Publisher Traffic Loss Isn’t Just AI
One of the points emphasized by Reid is that the loss of publisher traffic is not just about AI. He put part of the blame on people looking for non-textual content. His answer was based on what he “had to say to the publishers about the reality of this new era.”
The answer is from Reid:
“I think that first of all, there are, first of all, a lot of things that are happening outside of AI, right? One of the things that we’re seeing is that people are always looking for new forms, right?
They want to see videos, not just text. They often go to social media for content.There was a recent study from Reuters about this, it’s actually just talking about how people are changing, so one of the things I often tell publishers is make sure you’re inventing what users want and how they want it, right?
Google Says Publishers Must Make Content People Want To Read
The next part of his answer to the question of what publishers need to know about the “reality of this new era” is that if publishers want to appear in AI search, they must not create the kind of slop content that is “1,000 copies” of everything else. He put the onus on publishers to step up and make better content that people actually want to read.
He explained:
“I think the second most important thing is that people, to the extent that you produce interesting technical content, we still see that people are interested in that, right?
…And when publishers produce content that’s where they really stand out, what they bring to the table, is that it’s different, it’s not the 1000th copy of the same story, but it’s something that has an interesting take on it. If I think we’ll see that people will continue to click and read that.”
What Publishers Can Do to Get More Visible to AI
The interview hosts circle back to what publishers can do to make content more visible to AI. They tried to get a response about the “new direction” AI search is headed, noting that publishers are concerned.
They asked:
“What can it do, what can publishers or creators do to make their content more visible to AI? If this is something, if this is the kind of new direction that all of this is heading towards, which it clearly is, and publishers are concerned about getting the right eyeballs for their content.
How can they interact with the system to make sure they play by the new kind of rules and get their content promoted in front of the right places at the right time?”
Liz Reid responded that the way it should be seen is to create content that people want to read.
He explained:
“Yeah, I mean, I think I’d probably put it in two buckets. The first is to make sure we can access your content. Like if you block content, that’s not going to work. If it makes it hard to find, that’s hard. We have various tools in the webmaster console that give you controls so publishers can choose. But making it easy for us to access is the first step.
But we’ve also published an updated set of guidelines for website owners and publishers to think about how to create great content this day. At the heart of this is the continuation of, if you want people to click, then you want people to read your content.
That means you need to create content that people want to read, right? So the more you create content that your audience will love, the more effective it will be. The more you create content that you think is designed for the search engine, but not for the audience, people will learn that later.
So if it brings more of your knowledge, that’s the kind of new and important content that people want to know about, that brings that kind of experience, that detail and richness, which is really good.”
The taker
Liz Reid’s comments show that Google values a publisher’s success in AI Search as it depends on two factors:
- Let Google figure it all out.
- Create content that people actually want to read.
That kind of approach ignores the fear of Google Zero that plagues even big brand sites that experience a drop in search traffic. If big brand sites are panicking about declining search referrals, where does that leave small brand publishers who write recipe blogs, product reviews, travel guides, advice, and news?
Watch the interview at about 18 minutes:
Featured image by Shutterstock/Roman Samborskii
