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Why are Google Rankings Now Obsolete Due to ChatGPT?

Many of us have either prepared SEO reports or received them with search engine ranking (“SERP”) for specific keywords. However, as I have repeatedly discussed with anyone willing to listen, depending on SERP alone to measure content performance is becoming increasingly outdated.

I’m not saying that SERP rankings for specific keywords relevant to your business are entirely meaningless tomorrow or next week. However, it is a fact that Large Language Models (LLMs) have fundamentally changed the way we find and consume information. Thus, SEO, which was once an effective marketing strategy, is going to die the same fate as traditional publishing houses did after the advent of the Internet.

This article dives deeper into this claim and introduces three new criteria for a more comprehensive approach.

Case Study: The Fallacy of Solely Focusing on SERP Ranking

Consider the search query “Tips for traveling to Paris for the first time.” Traditionally, an SEO report would show the ranking of various web pages containing this keyword, as can be seen below:

Google AI overview results

However, with LLMs, search engines like Google now provide AI-powered abstracts directly on the search results page. These abstracts collect information from various sources, making it challenging to identify the exact ranking of each webpage. You can observe this in the image below:

AI overview are experimental

Traditional Reports vs. LLM Summaries: A Comparison

The table below represents the limitations of depending solely on SERP ranking. It compares search engine results with AI summaries for the earlier-mentioned query.

Comparison of Search Engine and Generative Engine Results

Query: Tips for traveling to Paris for the first time
RankWeb Sources Search Engine RankingAI Summary Ranking 
1Everyday Parisian
https://everydayparisian.com/first-time-guide-to-paris/First Time Guide to Paris 
1Not listed 
2Travel? Yes Please!
https://www.travelyesplease.com/what-to-expect-first-trip-to-paris/
First Trip to Paris: What to Expect
2Not listed 
3Klook
https://www.klook.com/blog/paris-travel-tips/First Time in Paris? 
32 
4The Hungry Travelerhttps://www.thehungrytravelerblog.com/paris-for-beginners-tips/Paris for Beginners: Tips for Stress-Free Travel 4Not listed 
5Full Suitcasehttps://fullsuitcase.com/tips-visit-paris-first-time/Traveling to Paris for the First Time (2024): Tips & Tricks51 

Result

As you can see, the AI summary includes some sources (Klook and Full Suitcase) but not others. This unpredictability makes it challenging to judge content performance based mainly on position in the SERPs.

List of Sources Vs. Inline Citation

To further complicate matters, the AI overview powered by LLMs provides an inline citation in some cases; however, in other cases, the summary only lists the sources at the end.

For example, in the Google AI Overview, relevant sources are usually mentioned at the end of the summary or after each paragraph, as shown in the above image.

On the other hand, Bing Copilot usually provides sources in the form of inline citations. This observation can be noticed in the below image when we ask Copilot the same question we asked Google.

AI overview are experimental

New Benchmarks for Measuring Content Success

Brands and content creators currently don’t know how to:

QuestionSearch EngineAI Summary
Measure visibility or impression of their content?
Improve the visibility of their content?
Determine the semantic connotation of their content?

Since SERP ranking alone is no longer enough, me and my co-founder decided to launch AI Monitor. It is the world’s first and most popular tool for measuring your brand and content’s success on LLM-powered search platforms, such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Google AI Overview, and Perpexility AI, to name a few. AI Monitor enables you to monitor and measure alternative criteria such as:

  1. Visibility and Impressions:
    AI Monitor can track and measure your brand mentions in AI summaries from various search platforms in response to different user inquiries. It can also track whether various AI search platforms are finding your content relevant and useful for various prompts.
  2. Content Engagement:
    Are users engaging with your content? Keep an eye on metrics like click-through rates, time spent on a page, and bounce rates to gauge your content’s resonance with the audience. Additionally, AI Monitor’s “LSE Click Rate (LCR)” score amalgamates key metrics to reflect a website’s true exposure within LSE responses.
  3. Semantic Understanding:
    Is your brand or product being referenced in a positive or negative light in search results? AI Monitor can help you track these sentiments in the LLM-powered summaries.

Conclusion: Early Adopters of LLM SEO Will Benefit Massively

Embracing LSO at an early stage can yield a considerable competitive advantage in the swiftly evolving digital terrain. Consequently, optimizing content for LL models can enhance visibility and traffic, given that these models are becoming primary sources of information.

Focusing on these metrics provided by AI Monitor can help you gain a thorough understanding of your content’s performance and effectiveness in the age of LLM-powered search. Start your free trial for AI Monitor today!

References

  1. The Importance Of Keyword Research In Niche Blogging | Copywriters Board.
  2. How to Write A Blog That Converts: A Comprehensive Guide.
  3. Expertise – Scion Advisory.
  4. The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Detailed Page That Engages and Converts – Butter Milk Hill Restaurant.
  5. The Importance Of Keyword Research In Niche Blogging | Copywriters Board.

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