Google SGE: Why Text Automation Becomes Essential for the New Search

1. What is Google SGE?
2. How Google SGE changes Google Search
3. These opportunities and risks Google SGE holds for achieving your business goals
4. Text Automation in times of Google SGE with Retresco
5. Conclusion: High-quality and unique content on your product detail pages is key

Who believes that the SGE is "just" another Google update, we must unfortunately disappoint. The Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) turns our previous content creation on its head. It influences fundamental factors in online marketing such as product discovery, search engine optimization (SEO), search engine rankings and organic reach via Google. What the three letters SGE actually stand for and what they mean for SEOs, marketers & Co. in plain English, you can find out in this article.

What is Google SGE? 

For 25 years, Google has been continually tinkering with the secret recipe for the best search engine performance. With the Search Generative Experience, a new, exciting phase is starting for all Google users.

What Google says about SGE

With visual search - through Google Lens or combined search from image and text - search queries can always be made more easily. The Google SGE is another breakthrough that is based on generative AI functions. In the meantime, Google SGE has been rolled out in 120 countries - but not yet for the EU.

Contextual Search

Complex questions like "Which is better for a family with kids under 3 and a dog: Bryce Canyon or Arches National Park?" users no longer need to split into individual questions. Google will automatically suggest follow-up questions ("how much time can you spend with kids in Bryce Canyon?") in the future.

Source: Google Blog

Shopping Companion

The Google SGE is based on the Google Shopping Graph (contains more than 35 billion product offers) and displays all the information that might be important for your purchase decision: relevant product information, suggestions, descriptions, reviews, prices and photos.

Source: Google Blog

How Google SGE changes Google Search

With the help of generative AI, Google SGE is meant to make it easier for people worldwide to gather various opinions and search in their respective national language. It starts with the integration of videos and images into question-answer searches and the provision of tailored product information, local information and travel recommendations… good question, who knows to where. Companies that do not draw conclusions from the new conditions and do not revise their content can probably expect significant losses in their ranking and visibility.

How SGE works according to Google

Sheldon

Like Sheldon Cooper, Google SGE can tell you every detail. This means that the details on a topic are displayed as soon as you hover over the corresponding word in your Google search. For example, a definition, a diagram or an image appears in the preview. You can view more information by clicking with the mouse.

Source: Google Blog

Google's new search assistant is also intended to make it easier for IT-savvy people to read and debug.Generated code. To do this, code snippets are suggested, code segments are color-highlighted, and syntax is highlighted.

Surfboard with Turbo

Google SGE is also supposed to get you to your destination faster when browsing the World Wide Web. "SGE while browsing" has been specifically developed for intensive research. While surfing, you can create a list of the most important contents of an article with a click of the mouse, which will lead you to the next page via links. This is particularly helpful when immersing yourself in complex issues and when researching purchases that need explanation.

Source: Google Blog

What does Google's information about SGE mean for you?

Google search is increasingly evolving from the classic search engine, as we already know and love, to a question-answer machine like ChatGPT.

Search Intent / Purchase Intent (Buyer Intent) 

Users typically search for a product with purchase intent. This buyer intent usually falls into one of these three categories:

• Information Search: Search for product information
• Comparison Search: Search for product offers (based on a vague idea)
• Purchase Preparedness: Search for products with the best offer (based on a concrete idea)

The focus of Google remains the search intent of individual users. It is even to be expected that Google's search results will in the future be even more strongly based on the individual buyer intent.

Product Discovery is likely to move increasingly to Google in the future. This has a big impact on all your product information: it needs to appear in Google search, stand out thanks to its unique content, and contain in-depth information. In order for companies to be found on Google, product detail pages are likely to become much more important.

The search for product detail pages (PDP) thereby replaces the search for Product Listing Pages (PLP) or category pages. Such PDP pages contain very detailed information such as very precise (unique) product descriptions, prices, shipping and return information, and reviews. The details shown usually include more accurate descriptions of product attributes, such as size or color.

Advantageous for Google Shopping

Google Shopping can benefit from SGE, as Google Search presents users with all the relevant information about the searched product. This can expedite the buying process. What is more important than ever is unique content with high-quality product descriptions, positive reviews, and convincing images in the new AI snapshots ("SGE boxes").

The text automation provider Retresco assumes that the organic Top 3 ranking is not a guarantee for display in the AI snapshot. Presumably, the relevance of your website or your online shop, the quality of your content and the quality and quantity of your links also play a crucial role. Last but not least, undifferentiated texts and standardized manufacturer information should be left behind.

These opportunities and risks Google SGE holds for achieving your business goals

The key is that Google SGE generates its own response text for user questions based on various sources (organic search results and paid ads) and places it as prominently as possible in the search. Retresco has observed the activities of the Google SGE and expects the display to depend on individual user behavior.

All Google users can rejoice in this change. However, website operators are put under pressure by this change. At the same time, this opens up a huge opportunity for companies (especially those with a special niche and detailed product descriptions).

With these insights, you seize your opportunity:

• Content Discovery moves from providers to Google: Therefore, the dwell time on your website or in your online shop should decrease.
• Organic reach becomes a challenge: Previously well-placed and high-converting offers are likely to lose visibility.
• High content quality becomes indispensable: Make your product detail pages priority number 1. Your product descriptions should include all information relevant to the purchase decision. You should not skimp on FAQs and HowTos now.
• Google Shopping with more visibility: In AI snapshots or SGE boxes, organic and paid search placements are likely to be mixed. Your goal is now to be placed organically in this area.
• Relevance without compromises: Say goodbye to classical keyword dropping. Position yourself in the market with relevant PDP pages. You should optimize and analyze such pages regularly.
• User Generated Content and Product Reviews: Expand your product and brand communities. The way users shop is changing, and direct communication (e.g., via chat and Q&A systems) is becoming increasingly important.

Text Automation in times of Google SGE with Retresco

You're wondering how your resources are supposed to be sufficient to create and publish optimal and unique content for each channel? Retresco makes it possible!

It is based on the concept "Large Scale Content Automation" (or in short: Content at Scale). This allows users to generate high-quality and varied texts on a large scale in an automated way. With the help of generative AI, the tool automates your processes. The Content Automation Platform textengine.io from Retresco combines GPT-supported and rule-based creation methods. Text production is completely automated here to make content creation easy to organize and quickly scalable.

With the tool, you can

• individual
• channel-specific
• mobile-optimized

create your product detail pages.

Compared to other technologies, the combination of GPT-supported and rule-based methods offers great advantages:

• High scalability - even for tens of thousands or 100,000 texts
• Avoidance of AI hallucinations (central organization and verification of text templates, automated creation rules, and text variants)
• Human-in-the-Loop (human interventions are possible at any time)
• Effective fixing of the creation methods (once proof and approval of the texts)

Conclusion: High-quality and unique content on your product detail pages is key

With Google SGE, the need for comprehensive product information and unique product detail pages increases. For your offers and products to be displayed in the boxes, your texts must stand out from the crowd and be individual. Text Automation with Retresco allows for quick and efficient content creation and revision: you can create legally, content-wise and grammatically impeccable texts in all common languages in no time.