Ah, the good old days of 2023 when AI chatbots provided those pristine results to our search queries. The pages were so clean and the citations – so clear. It was like the first beautiful day of spring when there is nothing but optimism for a brighter future.
But now the ads have started to rain down and the pages have become muddied. Just look at this example from of a Google SGE results page:
We knew the ads were coming to SGE–it was only a matter of time with ads being Google’s biggest revenue generator. We should have realized ads would also start showing up in Bing Copilot results as Microsoft Search has always been a “monkey see, monkey do” to Google. At least with Copilot, the Gen AI response is above the Sponsored Product Ads and Listings:
What do ads in Gen AI results mean for Search AI Optimization (SAIO)?
First, not all Gen AI search bots are showing ads – yet. For example, Perplexity isn’t showing ads. Not only does it not have ads, but it puts the link citations at the top of its Gen AI response. So optimizing your website to be visible among the select few citations delivered from these ad-less AI search bots is valuable.
Second, just like there is a well-recognized rationale for leveraging SEO in relation to PPC, there is a need to leverage SAIO in relation to PPC. With the ads appearing at the top of the page, the next place to gain visibility for brands is in the Gen AI results.
Implementing a SAIO strategy is the best way to protect yourself from having your visibility washed out by Gen AI ads. Our proven SAIO approach gains Gen AI citations by bolstering the authority, trust, and relevance of your brand’s webpages. In this case, call it our SAIO authority umbrella.
Find more on Search AI Optimization (SAIO) here.
