We need to have a conversation about KPI search and AI.
I’ve seen many SEO experts on LinkedIn and at conferences talk about “ranking No. 1 on ChatGPT” as if it were the same as the No. 1 ranking. 1 on Google:
For Google, being the first result is often the golden ticket.
Going from No. 2 to 1 in Google searches will often result in a 100%-300% increase in traffic and conversions.
This is almost certainly not the case with AI responses – even if they have been consistent.
Our team’s research shows AI users consider an average of 3.7 businesses before deciding who to contact.
Being the first result on that list on ChatGPT is not a golden ticket in Google search.
If so, the focus of AI search should really be on “being included in a consideration set” – not “the first mentioned in that set” – and doing what the AI says about us.
User behavior on AI platforms differs from Google search
Over the past few months, my team has spent over 100 hours observing people using ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode for services.
One thing that came into focus during the first session or so: User behavior on AI platforms differs from Google search in ways that extend far beyond using “natural language” and having conversations and doing keyword searches.
More than that, by the way. About 75% of the times we saw it included “keyword searches.”
One key difference: Users look for more businesses in AI results than in organic search.
It makes sense — it’s much easier to compare multiple options in a chat window than to click through three to five search results and visit each site.
Dive deep: From search to empowerment: Adapting to AI-first search behavior
AI users do not stand on the first result
In both Google AI Mode and ChatGPT, users considered an average of 3.7 businesses from the results.
This has strong implications for the No. 1 – and No. 1 result.
The number of first impressions drops the most — and the number of impressions increases is lower — when, in 75% of sessions, users reconsider businesses in Locations 2 through 8.
What drives conversion is not your place on that list.
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Why do low-level businesses end up in the consideration set for LLMs?
First, these are not standards.
They are a list of recommendations that can be omitted, reformatted from a list to a table, and completely changed, given the potential of AI.
Besides, AI chat makes it easier to scan and consider more options than Google search.
Let’s look at the Google search results for “FRActional CMO.”
If a user wants to explore multiple CMO fractional options to get started, it is more work to do so in a Google search than in ChatGPT.
Only two options appear above the fold, and each requires a click to read its website content.
Compare this with the information on ChatGPT.
The model gave them eight options, along with information about each one.
It’s easy to read all eight blurbs and decide who to check out next.
Which leads to another thing we really need to focus on: what the model says about you.
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The biggest driver than the first in ChatGPT: Good fit
Most search marketers focus on rankings and traffic, but rarely on messaging and positioning.
This needs to change.
In the case of an ophthalmologist in southern New Jersey, you find an easily scanned list:
About 60% make their entire decision based on the answer, without ever visiting a website or switching to Google, according to our research.
So how do you drive conversions?
Send the right message – and make sure the model shares it.
Dr. Lanciano may be the best glaucoma specialist in the area. But if the model highlights the Ravi D. Goel and Bennett Eye Centers for glaucoma care, and that’s what the user needs, they’ll go there.
Bennett Eye Centers appears last in the AI response but still wins conversions because of what the model says about it – something that rarely happens in Google Search.
Appearances don’t pay the bills. Conversion does. And conversions don’t happen when customers think someone else is a better fit.
Dive deep: How to measure the visibility of your AI search product and demonstrate business impact
As SEOs advance Dig deeper: a change of mind must take place
We still think about AI search the same way we thought about SEO.
In SEO, the top result captures the most traffic. In AI search, it doesn’t.
AI users consider many options available.
The answers – and their format – vary greatly with each request.
“Winning” in the search for AI means entering the system of consideration and mandatory submission.
It’s not about being first on the list, especially if what’s being said about you misses the mark.
In other words, SEOs who think like copywriters and marketers will drive results for their organizations.
Dig deeper: Is SEO a product channel or a performance channel? Now it’s two
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