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How To Rank For Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) Update

September 27, 2024
Search Marketing Search AI
How To Rank For Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) Update

Google's new Search Generative Experience (SGE) is more than just a fresh coat of paint—it’s a whole new way of presenting and ranking information. 

With SGE, Google is introducing a more interactive, AI-driven search experience, prioritizing relevance and clarity over some of the old-school SEO tactics we’re used to. If you want your content to keep showing up in search results and driving relevant traffic to your site, you’ve got to adapt your strategy to fit these changes.

In this blog, we’ll dive into what you need to do to rank well with Google SGE and land in AI Overviews, including optimizing your images, tapping into Google’s Knowledge Graph, and more.

1. Optimize Your Visual Content

In Google SGE, AI Overviews (the generative AI-generated summaries at the top of search results) are likely to include visual content to create a richer search experience. This gives you a chance to shine, especially if high-quality visuals are hard to come by in your niche.

As Google starts weaving more visual search features into its search experience, making your images and videos SGE-ready is more important than ever. It’s not just about making your content pretty; it’s about giving users another way to engage with information in search results.

In SGE, your visuals are a core part of the experience. Here are some ways to optimize your images and videos for Google SGE:

  • Go for original visuals: Skip the stock images if you can. Google’s algorithms love unique content, so using original images and videos can help you get into Google AI Overview.
  • Make your file names descriptive: Make sure your images and videos have file names that describe what they’re about, and don’t forget to add relevant keywords. Meanwhile, alt text should be clear and concise to help search engines understand your content.
  • Compress for speed: Slow-loading visuals can hurt your Google SGE performance. Compress your images and videos to make sure they load quickly without losing quality.

2. Use Conversational Language

SGE’s AI-driven results are powered by large language models (LLMs) like Gemini and MUM, which prioritize content that’s easy to understand, quick to read, and straight to the point. Writing in a conversational, chat-like style can boost your chances of being featured in AI-generated summaries.

To keep up, your  SGE content needs to be more conversational, clear, and to the point. Here’s how to make your content more chat-like:

  • Use basic language: Write at an eighth-grade reading level to make your content accessible to a wide audience. Tools like Hemingway Editor can help simplify your language and structure.
  • Make information readable: Deliver your main points in short answers and consider using bullet points or numbered lists to make your content easy to digest.
  • Go straight to the point: Ditch the jargon and keep your sentences straightforward. The clearer your content, the better it fits with the AI’s goal of providing useful, direct information.

3. Ride on Third-Party Sites

Ranking directly in SGE’s AI-powered summaries is great, but you can also boost your visibility by being featured on third-party sites that rank well in Google AI Overview. Searches with terms like “best” or “top” often return results from third-party sites that compile and review products or services.

If your business or content is featured on these sites, you can benefit from their high rankings in SGE search results, even if you’re not directly listed. How can you get into these third-party sites?

  • Make your content shareable: Produce SGE content that’s unique and relevant that other sites within your niche will want to link to.
  • Connect with top review sites: Provide trusted review sites with products or information to review. Positive reviews on these platforms can drive traffic back to your site.

4. Tap into Google’s Knowledge Graph

With Google SGE, even with traditional SEO, you want to establish your site as a reliable source of information. Google’s Knowledge Graph plays a big role in achieving this. This massive database includes billions of data points generative AI uses to create accurate and informative search results.

Being featured in the Knowledge Graph signals to Google that your business or website is a reliable source, boosting your chances of appearing in AI Overviews. To get optimized for the Knowledge Graph:

  • Work on your Homepage and About Us: Clearly describe your business on these pages and include relevant keywords that define what you do.
  • Leverage your social media: Make sure your business has active profiles on major social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and link these profiles back to your homepage.
  • Attract quality backlinks: Focus on earning backlinks from reputable sites within and outside your niche. These backlinks signal to Google that your site is a trusted source of information.

5. Leverage Transactional Content

Because Google SGE is so good at generating thorough, AI-crafted summaries, if your strategy relies on surface-level posts, you might find them getting overshadowed by more in-depth content. So, what’s the solution? Turn your attention to extensive transactional content.

  • Craft in-depth transactional content: Create content that helps consumers make purchasing decisions like buyers’ guides, product usage guides, product demos, and feature breakdowns.
  • Write an insightful FAQ: Include a comprehensive FAQ section that addresses common questions and concerns.

6. Add Schema Markup

If you’re looking to optimize your content for Google SGE, schema markup is something you don’t want to overlook.

While it’s valuable even in traditional SEO, only one-third of websites are using it. But what exactly is schema markup?

Schema markup is a bit of code you add to your website to help search engines understand your content better. What are some ways to implement it and make sure it’s helping your SGE performance?

  • Follow the basic standards: Schema.org has a set of standards for implementing this type of structured data, and following these guidelines can help increase your visibility in SGE results.
  • Review your schema markup: Use the Structured Data Testing Tool to make sure your schema markup is set up correctly.
  • Implement article schema: Don’t forget to implement article schema markup for your articles and blogs to increase your chances of being featured in the AI Overviews and suggestions.

Schema markup is valuable not only for gaining enhanced visibility on SERPs, such as featured snippets and voice search results, but it also improves website content for Ask Engine Optimization (AEO). Schema markup helps AI provide users with optimized, relevant answers to their questions at the precise moment they need them by anticipating their queries.

Start thinking strategically

Adapting to Google SGE is about more than just tweaking your existing SEO strategy—it’s about embracing a whole new way of thinking about search. With these tips, you’ll be well on your way to maintaining—and even improving—your visibility on Google’s search result pages as SGE continues to roll out.