How to prepare for more declines in traditional Google search traffic

Although Google will continue to offer a list of blue links in response to search queries, a recent update to its famous search bar means users will be less likely to click on them.

In what the tech giant is calling the biggest change to its search function in more than 25 years, Google is expanding its search field to accommodate more conversational questions and introducing AI-powered tools, such as agents designed to assist consumers with shopping or keeping them updated on various topics. Users can also keep the dialogue going by typing follow-up questions into a more accessible and prominent AI Overview.

While Google doesn’t plan to make its AI Mode, which puts less emphasis on links, the default interface of its search box, its latest update is another step in that direction. It’s an acceleration in the decline of traditional search as people know it.

This presents a problem for brands and publishers who’ve relied on referral traffic from Google for the past two decades.

“This is the first really huge public acknowledgement from Google that search, as a base behavior coming from that search box, is fundamentally changing,” said Katelyn Taylor, global head of search at WPP Media.

Below, experts offer advice on what brands can do to prepare for a possible future where all users typing search queries on Google remain on Google.

1. Know where you stand

Before anything else, brands should establish a baseline.

“Brands need to know how they’re showing up right now,” said Courtney Myers, senior vice president and AI-driven innovation lead at Havas Red. “It’s kind of surprising how few brands are actually tracking their AI search performance.”

It’s difficult to build a strategy aimed at arriving at a specific destination when you don’t know the starting point or which direction you’re facing.

“What queries do you think people are going to be typing that you want to answer?” asked Myers.

2. Focus on owned media

After conducting an initial audit, brands should get their house is in order. This means making sure all product imagery and details are consistent across their websites, social channels and webpages on various commerce platforms.

“AI loves really robust data, it loves really accurate data, and it loves really timely data,” said Taylor of WPP Media.

Myers added that AI platforms tend to favor opening sentences, question-led headings and clear, direct answers in FAQ sections. Easy-to-extract content, such as short paragraphs and information arranged into bullet points, also helps.

“AI is essentially trying to answer the question, so if you’ve already answered the question somewhere, it’s going to pull your content,” she said.

3. Focus on earned media

Next, brands should seek to improve their standing in the broader digital ecosystem.

“We know from looking at data across many industries and many clients that the top two spaces that heavily influence what AI thinks about your brand are YouTube and Reddit,” said Taylor.

She advised brands to make plans with creators and influencers to ensure good information is surfacing on those platforms.

PR and earned media in general, Myers added, will only grow in importance in a world where AI supplies the answers.

“It’s what feeds AI because of its credibility and third-party sources,” said Myers.

4. Map out the whole conversation

Since consumers shopping on Google aren’t likely to stop after one or two prompts, brands need to structure their content in a way that answers a series of questions people ask when they’re ready to buy.

As Taylor put it, Google’s search update is “adapting to the new kind of longer form conversational prompts people are searching with.”

In practice, this involves having a strategy to address questions about a product’s quality, price and how it compares to rival products in the same category.

Because Google’s rollout “pushes user behavior away from keyword-based queries,” Myers explained, brands must prepare to participate in more nuanced conversations.

Despite Google’s changes to the search experience, brands are not powerless. Companies that adjust their tactics accordingly can still maintain visibility, credibility and influence, even if referral traffic continues to decline.