Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept or a future development – it’s here and it represents the next evolution of search. Below, Reload Media SEO lead Brodie Ranson writes about the evolution of AI in organic search and what we can expect for the future. 

Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen AI move to the forefront of organic search, with the most pivotal update landing on 29 October this year, when Google announced the launch of AI Overviews in Australia. It’s safe to say search results will never be the same again.

So, what has happened in the land of AI over the past 10 years and what has led to today’s AI-first search world? 

2015: RankBrain

If you thought AI was a new development, think again. Google’s search results have been largely driven by a machine learning AI algorithm called RankBrain for almost 10 years. 

Before 2015, Google relied solely on human engineers to perform tests and update coding to improve the algorithm that delivers answers to searches. However, they found RankBrain was able to outperform those human engineers by 10 percent, improving the search experience for users and marking a significant turning point in AI search. So, the next time you Google “What’s the meaning of life?”, remember that a machine might just be laughing at your existential crisis.

2018: BERT

BERT came in 2018. Don’t be fooled by the old-school name, BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) is a technical way of saying it understands the context of a user’s search queries.

With the introduction of BERT, Google’s algorithm was able to understand the intent behind a search query and produce more helpful search results for users. BERT was another turning point for AI and search, but it’s shocking to think that Google has only been able to understand the context behind a search query for the last six years. It is similar to teaching a kid to read, but instead of ‘cat’ and ‘dog,’ it’s ‘algorithm’ and ‘context clues’. Apparently, this took Google a while to get the hang of. 

Reload Media SEO Lead Brodie Ranson.

2019-2021: More AI Algorithms

Google continued to develop AI technologies like Multitask Unified Model (MUM) and Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA) to level up the experience and relevance of the answers it was serving in search results. These developments saw Google answer more complex questions and showcased Google’s commitment to enhancing search results with the user’s search experience at the forefront.  

2023: SGE, BARD and Gemini

You’ve probably noticed Google loves an acronym. Search Generative Experience (SGE) is where AI and search started to get really interesting. This rollout saw the SERPs evolve from just a wall of websites that a searcher could click on to get an answer, to a search results page that provided information summaries, lists and visual representations to help the searcher find the answer faster.

BARD, not to be confused with 2018’s BERT, was Google’s AI chatbot designed to compete with ChatGPT. This tool was positioned as a conversational bot that could be prompted to answer users’ questions, generate content ideas and help with writing suggestions.

Google took this to another level with the launch of Gemini – which BARD has since been rebranded to – which uses a much larger dataset to enable it to help users with text, graphic and audio prompts. So, not only can people now use Google’s search engine to ask questions and find information, but they can also talk to Gemini to get customised answers to those same questions.

2024: AIOs

Are you surprised? Another acronym. AIOs stands for AI Overviews which has signified the most recent shake-up for all things AI. AIOs are newly introduced AI-generated responses that appear at the top of SERPs for selected search queries. Google has confirmed AIOs draw on information collected from a range of sources in Google’s index to compile the AI-generated summary for searches.

When AIOs launched in the United States in May 2024, they quickly came under fire in the media due to the incorrect and sometimes dangerous information included. Google responded to this backlash with plans to improve the quality of information provided by AIOs by limiting the use of user-generated content from sources like Reddit in overviews. By the end of October, Google officially rolled out AIOs in Australian SERPs claiming they have found people who see AIOs are more satisfied with their search results.

So from AI algorithms determining which websites to serve in SERPs to AI Overviews producing fast answers in search results, over the last decade, we’ve seen searches evolve massively with the use of AI. This raises several important questions: How will the growing use of AI chatbots reshape the way people search for information? How will AI Overviews impact organic performance for Australian businesses? How can brands adapt their SEO approach to keep up with the ever-evolving AI search landscape? What does the future look like and what can we expect to see in 2025 for AI and search?

Only time will tell, but the answers will shape the next chapter of digital innovation. We’re keeping a close eye on this evolution and will be sharing more thoughts along the way.

Brodie Ranson is the SEO lead at award-winning agency Reload Media.

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