Have you heard claims that search is dead . . . or at least dying?
While both claims are hyperbolic, the worlds of search engine optimization and search marketing are evolving, because of AI. Meanwhile, search from the consumer perspective has also been evolving, with searches happening outside of traditional search engines. For many retailers, their search efforts are going to get a lot harder to navigate, as these evolutions continue.
This is thanks to several factors, including the onset of improved chatbots, more seamless in-app shopping experiences, a generational shift in how people search, and the fracturing of search technologies that present consumers with a variety of ways to hunt for products. For example, 74% of Gen Z consumers use TikTok as a search engine.
Along with more in-app social searching behaviors, generative AI is impacting search as well, with “zero click” platforms. These solutions aggregate content and display answers to search queries at the top of result pages, so users never need to leave their site for another. Thanks to these new, AI-powered “zero click” solutions, around 50% of searches now end without a click on an organic search result.
Of course though, retailers still rely on organic and paid traffic to get consumers to their online stores, with Google Shopping driving over 76% of retail search ad spend. Now, retailers need to ensure that their paid and organic investments work extremely well and are optimized for performance, in order to account for these shifts.
To help search marketers and SEO practitioners, Lily AI launched its most comprehensive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) ecommerce product attribution capabilities.
This release enables our customers to navigate this changing world of search and thrive in it.
What Does Search Look Like Today? And Tomorrow?
So how is the world of search changing? Here are two key metrics that paint a clear picture.
- According to Gartner, search engine volume is predicted to drop 25% by 2026, due to AI chatbots and other virtual agents.
- Gartner also reports that 39% of all current desktop traffic to retailers is from organic and paid search.
These stats alone indicate that retailers must make their paid and organic search activities work even harder as they face the double-threat of their most lucrative acquisition channels shrinking and being forced to tailor their presence to AI chatbot intermediaries their shoppers will increasingly use over time.
There is hope though. Lily AI improves effectiveness for both organic and paid advertising strategies, achieving significant improvements in product discoverability, and ultimately lifting conversion rates across both. Let’s take a look at how.
Consumer-Centric Language Takes On the Future of Search
At its core, Lily AI enriches entire retail ecosystems with consumer-centric language. This makes retail experiences more people-focused with language that attracts consumers and builds stronger connections with them.
The benefits of Lily AI extend to search-centered retail marketing, too, as search engines are prioritizing human-focused content. Lil AI’s human-centric retail content:
- Includes optimized, AI-generated product titles and descriptions that make it easier than ever for consumers to discover, evaluate, and purchase products
- Is based on an extensive taxonomy consisting of terms and phrases that people actually use to find products
“Because these [AI search] models are patterned on natural language, your content’s quality depends on its humanity,” says Forrester’s Nikhil Lai. “Ironically, the more closely your content’s syntax and sentiment resemble human speech, the more intelligible it is to AI chatbots.”
Since Lily’s AI-powered content is both people-focused and search engine-friendly, our solution shines as a go-to for retailers in this new era of search. Its understanding of consumer behaviors and preferences creates greater opportunity for businesses to connect with the people they know the least about . . . the ones who haven’t previously purchased from them.
A Look at How Lily AI Fills Your Search Funnel
On a practical level, our latest release is a full-funnel search solution that helps retailers easily:
- Fill the top of their funnel with enriched Google Merchant Center (GMC) product data that contains human-centric attributes. These attributes include essential information such as patterns, materials, and colors, as well as occasions, trends, and dressing style.
- Fuel the middle of the funnel by ensuring products are discoverable via natural language search phrases. For example, these are search-specific product descriptions, such as “long sleeve party dress” or “blue summer vacation dress.”
- Ensure their bottom-of-funnel language matches consumer purchase intent with search-optimized product titles and descriptions.
It also drives SERP rankings by optimizing on-site product description pages and feeding that SEO and SEM-optimized data to GMC. It fosters upstream data enrichment via product titles, descriptions, and attributes, which improves search rankings for Product Listings Ads and Sponsored Ads.
This same data enrichment optimizes organic rankings with descriptive, SEO-rich language highlighting product benefits and aligning with how consumers search.
Maximize Your Google Search Performance
At the end of the day, retail marketing is all about driving growth and profitability. While AI is starting to transform—not just the world of search engines, but—retail product discovery, Google search is still a critical channel to drive sales.
Lily AI’s latest release ensures that retailers can make the most of their organic and paid search efforts in the Google Merchant Center. Connecting people to products, by way of human-centric language is at the core of Lily AI’s mission. Our latest release renews that commitment to retailers’ organic and paid search efforts.
