AI search results & why brand recognition matters more than ever

You may have noticed that when you search on Google, you often get an AI blurb that tries to answer your question or topic. These are called AI overviews. AI search results are starting to change how people search, and impact what your business needs to do to be found when users search.

Recent studies have looked at how people behave when an AI overview is provided to the user, and businesses need to know and understand the impacts. 

Here are 5 key impacts of AI search results:

1. AI overview recommending competitors
2. Traffic decreasing, but sales maintaining
3. Trust and brand recognition are now first on buying checklist
4. AI overviews and how different age groups respond
5. The importance of video marketing

1. We’ve seen AI overviews recommend our competitors

Whether you are using Google or another AI tool like ChatGPT, AI is now trying to find reputable businesses to recommend to searchers. This means they are looking around to see when a brand name is recommended by others, or mentioned as trustworthy, good or the opposite. 

In a recent case with one of our clients, their competitor referred to themselves as trustworthy on the homepage of their website. Let’s pretend they are dog walkers. The competitor said they were the best and most trustworthy local dog walker. The AI robots read that, and so when we searched for local dog walkers, the AI search result (AI overview) recommended the competitor and stated clearly that they were the most trustworthy dog walkers. 

If you were going to trust AI (and many do), what do you think your next plan of action would be? Probably to go and check out that trustworthy dog walker! 

So, what do you need to consider off the back of this information? We’d start with how to get listed and recommended in an AI overview or by an AI tool. One way is to get your brand name mentioned in a variety of places on the internet. 

2. Traffic is decreasing, but that doesn’t mean sales will follow

AI overviews now answer questions and provide recommendations in ways that reduce the need to click through to websites. Searchers now commonly get information through AI, on Reddit or YouTube, or by looking at the reviews on your Google Business Profile. 

Many people who work in SEO (like our Bundaberg SEO team) now consider 2024 to be the peak traffic year. It’s very likely that from this point on, overall traffic to your website will go down. That’s no reason to be scared of AI search, but it gives a good reason to clarify with customers and clients just how they discovered your product or service. Keeping track of data will let you know just how many people arrived from search results.

But people still need your business when they’re ready to buy. As long as people can find you, understand your service and see that your brand is a good one, you can still ensure sales continue to come through. 

Main takeaway: Measure sales data, including points of referral. Clicks into your website (traffic) have become a less important metric. 

3. Trust and brand recognition are now first on the buying checklist

In a recent study published by Growth Memo, they found that trust has become the first criterion that needs to be met for someone to move forward in learning more about you and whether you can help them.

This means that it doesn’t really matter how pretty your website is, how many times per month you post to social media, or even if Google has shown your website on the search results page; if you have less brand recognition (less trust factor) than your competitors, the searchers will favour the brands they recognise first. 

How can you improve trust and brand recognition?

• Social proof, like reviews, is vital as it shows past satisfaction from your customers..
• Ensure your brand name, CEO, staff members and license/certification information are all easily accessible. The study above found that familiar business names meant faster decisions to visit a website or purchase from that brand. 
• Invest in a consistent brand image. Using the same logo, fonts, colours and feel of your website, social media, marketing materials and print all combine to build trust. 

4. Different age groups are acting differently when it comes to AI overviews

Studies are also showing a big difference in how much different age groups use and trust AI and AI overviews in Google search results.

• Younger searchers (under 35) tend to trust AI overviews more and also lean heavily on platforms like Reddit, YouTube and TikTok for credibility, social proof and even as a main search and research engine. 
• Older searchers (over 35) are more sceptical of AI and are more likely to scroll past the AI overview for the “real results” in Google.

This means you need to know who your target audience is and make sure your marketing matches their behaviour.

5. Marketing using video is becoming increasingly important

Everyone wishes it weren’t so (as it’s a bit harder), but marketing using video is becoming important for several reasons. 

1. It helps foster trust: When you see real people on video, like business owners or staff members, it builds recognition and trust because people feel like they know you. It’s the old “know, like, trust” thing again. 
2. YouTube videos can show up early in search results: People are now seeing videos appear before many other search results, especially for informational or educational content related to your business. They can be an effective part of an SEO strategy. 
3. AI can’t replicate video easily: Unlike written content, which AI can now create very quickly and well, video is much harder to create using AI, especially the type that would connect with your customers and foster brand recognition. 
4. It’s effective for brand recognition: Short and long videos, posted consistently, are a great way to build visibility for your brand. They show the same faces, same logos, and help people understand what you do.

How to achieve this: Create both short and long-form video content and post on a consistent schedule to YouTube. Plus, you can reuse this content on social platforms like Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

It’s time for a plan of action

AI isn’t going anywhere. It’s time to consider the implications of changes to search behaviour and how it will impact your business. The next steps are to develop a plan for getting your brand out there and trusted. The more people trust you, the faster they make decisions to buy from you. 

If you need help with branding, design or getting your website found by searchers or AI, get in touch to talk about our logo design, SEO Bundaberg or website design services.