An Overview of Google SGE

Google is making great strides when it comes to incorporating AI in the search experience. Recently, the company launched Google Search Labs which includes an experiment that’s getting a lot of traction - Search Generative Experience (SGE). Read on for an overview of SGE, including examples of how it works. 

What is Google SGE?

According to a new article, Google’s SGE uses AI to allow individuals to get more out of a single search by receiving recommendations for other questions to ask, ask follow-up questions, and get a list of the top resources to answer your question. 

The Major Benefits of SGE

Some of the unique benefits that google SGE provides users include:

• Promoting creativity - Rather than simply looking up the answer to a question, users can continue their search on a topic by asking additional questions. This is great for writers looking to do research for a blog or an article. Let’s say that I’m trying to write a blog about making a Tiktok series. I might want to start by asking questions like “what is a TikTok playlist series?” or “What is the series feature on TikTok?” In addition to getting the facts, I can ask about which TikTok series are ‘good’. That way, I can check some of the examples out as part of the creative research for my article. That might look like this:
  
  
• Enhancing the user experience - SGE was built to be an integrative experience. The snapshot provides a quick overview of a topic and also lists resources for further research. In addition, by being able to easily transition to conversational mode, users can readily interact with Google search. Another thing to note is that color is very important in SGE.  According to the SGE article, “the color container of the AI-powered snapshot will dynamically change, and this usage of color will evolve over the next few months to better reflect specific journey types and the query intent itself. “

SGE in Action

I recently received access to SGE, so the next section will provide some examples of how it works:

To start, I searched “how to find a copywriter”. Based on that search, SGE provided an AI-powered snapshot as an overview of the topic. Here is what that looked like for my search

In addition to the AI-powered snapshot, there is an option to enter ‘conversation mode’. That is found at the bottom of the SGE snapshot, where a user can ask a follow-up question. As you can see, SGE suggests follow-up questions based on the search. For example, my search ‘how to find a copywriter’ included these follow-up question suggestions:

• Where do people look for copywriters?
• How much does a good copywriter cost?

If you choose to click on one of the follow-up questions, you’ll enter the full conversation mode. In this example I clicked on one of the follow-ups and it brought me to a screen like this:

This will look very similar to something like ChatGPT because the setup is like that of a chatbot conversation. 

Another important component of SGE is feedback. For instance, if I determined that the answers provided are not helpful in some way, I can press the thumbs down button and I’ll be prompted with the following feedback options:

This is key to improving Google’s AI because the model can take user feedback and use it to adjust in the future - the essence of machine learning.

Responsible Use of AI

Just like any other AI tool, SGE should be used responsibly. Google has put certain safety measures in place to promote using AI responsibly. The model takes into account human input and evaluation and has been trained extensively by a variety of large language models (LLMs), like MUM and PaLM2. In addition, Google’s automated policies aim to stop content that violates search policies from making an appearance. This includes information content that is deemed

be explicit, hateful, violent, or contradictory. 

SGE as a Copywriter’s Tool

Although there are known limitations of Google SGE, overall, this offers a promising step forward in terms of Google search. For marketing professionals and copywriters, this can mean gathering more extensive and higher quality research and potentially promoting more creative ideas. The Hire a Writer team is well-versed in how to use AI responsibly and our analysts work with our writers to find the best ways to utilize these tools to enhance their writing. AI is not a replacement for writers, but it can certainly provide copywriters with extra support to further develop their craft.