The Way We Search for Products Is Changing. Here’s How to Keep Up

Generative AI has already transformed the way shoppers find products online. As a product manager focusing on search and SEO at Salesforce Commerce Cloud, I’ve seen first hand the significant shifts happening at break-neck speed in customer behavior and business strategy over the past year. Generative AI, in particular, is redefining digital commerce and influencing everything from how consumers search to how merchants optimize their sites.

Here are a few key changes when it comes to ecommerce site search, and some tips for how commerce teams can keep up.

SearchGPT and the importance of long-form content

What’s changing:
Of all the innovation happening in search and SEO, one of the most exciting developments is the emergence of SearchGPT. As an extension of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, SearchGPT provides links and references in response to complex, conversational search queries. For example, shoppers are becoming accustomed to search by their intentions or goals, such as “I need an outfit for my company holiday party, which will be ugly sweater themed.” These kinds of questions often happen early in the shopper journey, so appearing in these results can win early mind-share.

Early previews indicate that SearchGPT favors content-rich review and list articles, which could elevate the importance of these content types when it comes to your ecommerce SEO strategy. Long-form content that provides in-depth analysis or comprehensive reviews is becoming increasingly valuable as these articles not only address specific user intents hidden within long-tail queries, but also offer numerous opportunities for internal and external linking, driving more traffic and engagement to your site.

My advice:
It’s time to invest in high-quality, long-form ecommerce content. This strategy is no longer optional — it’s essential. And, of course, your content should be optimized — not just for keywords, but also for the semantic nuances that AI tools like SearchGPT are adept at understanding. AI-driven search engines will favor content that thoroughly addresses user questions and concerns. This is the type of long-for content that will have a better chance of being surfaced, recommended, and viewed.

Google’s SGE and the imperative to optimize product pages

What’s changing:
Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is another innovation that’s reshaping how shoppers browse and discover products online. In the past, if a user typed “red sweater” into Google’s search bar, the result would have been a list of category and product listing pages optimized for “red sweaters.” Today, that same search query will return a grid of red sweaters with filters for specific features like sleeve style, neckline, and more — directly in Google. This is a notable shift. It’s a sign that browsing and checking prices will happen more on SERPs. It also means product pages will become more common as the next step after a shopper engages with a search engine.

Why is this shift to conversational designs so important when it comes to search engine results pages (SERPs)? These image-heavy, user-friendly experiences will take up a lot of space that was once dedicated to simple links that led to the category or homepages of a brand’s website. Now that shoppers will be able to browse items directly in Google, placements like recommended or related products will become even more important since they will likely be the best opportunity to show users additional offerings.

My advice:
This SERP shift emphasizes the importance of accurate schema markup on your product pages. Schema markup are tags you can add to the code of your ecommerce website to give search engines more information about the content, context, and significance of its pages. Ultimately, this is what will ensure that your product pages appear correctly in search results. 

Another important thing to manage now that search generative experiences are becoming the norm? Backlinks. The backlinks on your product pages should be carefully curated to reflect your most important shopper intents. To stay competitive, you’ll need to optimize for traditional SEO as well as SGE.

Conversational search has entered the chat

What’s changing:
The keyword era is ending. For years, businesses tried to decipher the right keywords to assign to products so they could influence search engines. And for years, shoppers tried to guess the right words to type into search bars to yield relevant results. But conversational search is changing all that. Shoppers are becoming more accustomed to typing natural language questions into search bars and expecting robust, relevant results. 

My advice: 
This shift doesn’t necessarily require merchants to adopt a full conversational interface. But merchants should consider site search options that include semantic search capabilities that can capture the intent behind these long form queries — without needing to overhaul their search UI as new patterns continue to emerge. For example, without semantic search, a shopper looking for healthy snacks for kids would need to search for different types of foods individually, such as fruit, nuts, and more. But semantic search understands the underlying meaning of a phrase, so a shopper can simply search for “healthy snacks for kids” and expect to get relevant results.

This approach allows brands to address the needs at the heart of conversational queries, which enhances the user experience and increases conversion rates. As new search patterns continue to emerge, it’s critical for businesses to stay agile and responsive to keep a competitive edge.

Navigate the future with Commerce Cloud

As generative AI continues to evolve, merchants will be wise to adapt to these new realities in search and SEO. At Salesforce, we’re committed to helping our customers navigate complexities with tools and solutions that integrate generative AI across the entire platform. By staying ahead of ecommerce trends, we can ensure that your business remains competitive — even as the market rapidly changes.