In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, A&M’s Joanna Rangarajan and Mohit Mohal joined Chris and Anne to explore Google's major move to integrate Gemini AI into Chrome for all users. Our retail experts discuss how retailers should prepare for generative engine optimization (GEO), the shift from traditional SEO, and strategies for succeeding across multiple AI platforms. Learn why diversification is key and how this chess move positions Google against ChatGPT and other AI search engines!

For the full Fast Five episode head here

#AI #GEO #SEO #ecommerce #retailfulfillment #gemini #Google #AIintegration

Google has added Gemini to Chrome for all users as it pushes to bolster AI search, according to cnbc.

In a blog post on Thursday, Google said it's rolling out Gemini and Chrome to users of Mac and Windows computers in the US as well as to mobile devices.

Users will be able to ask Gemini for help understanding the contents of a particular web page, work across tabs, or do more within a single tab, such as schedule a meeting for or search for a YouTube video.

Mohit, we're going back to you here.

How are you advising the retailers that you're working with to approach generative engine optimization?

Are they focusing on one engine?

Are they diversifying?

What do you recommend?

Sure.

I mean, listen, this is, this is a very evolving space, right?

I mean, we all know the traditional search engines have control more than 90% of distribution points as it comes to search, which is happening on the Internet.

What is fundamentally changing is instead of consumer searching for it, you are replacing it with AI doing that search for you.

Right.

So got multiple platforms out there, Gemini being one of them, you know, Perplexity, chatgpt, other important ones.

Right.

So the question is less about the platform.

In my mind, the question is more around how do you tap this opportunity?

I think there are probably three key steps to think about that.

The one is how do you think about what is your strategy around generative optimization?

That kind of starts with thinking about, similar to the back wiring you had in search engine optimization, it's thinking through your platform, your content, and then tying it into different platforms with specific languages and words and metadata there.

The second element to this is really finding highly cited publishers and then optimizing your content, because that's where generative AI will pick from and prioritize when they're kind of doing their algorithms and searching through all the content out there.

And the third element to that is for most of the people, the question is which platforms will really get adopted and who's going to win in that space.

So continue to test and learn and pilot with the promising ones and see where, where this would fall.

That's for, I would say, most of the retailers and brands.

Now, we all know there are exceptions to this in terms of either Rufus from Amazon or Sparky from Walmart, which again, very different scale.

So they're going to kind of invest and build the capability where they can own the consumer as well as the back platform and the engine.

So definitely very exciting lot to kind of unpack here.

So, you know, the headline is going to be start preparing for it.

Right.

Test and Learn pilot and be prepared for the future because this is coming really fast.

Yeah.

Chris, are you in alignment with kind of Mohit's suggestion where, you know, it's preparing in general for the future of geo and AI search, or would you be sticking to like, like Google has a real right to win here.

We should be focused on there and backing into other, other search engines.

Yeah, no, I think I agree with them 100%.

Yeah, I'd be diversified.

I don't see how you, I don't see how you cannot be, honestly, because I don't think we have any idea where users are going to gravitate towards in the long run.

And to place your bets on any one or any two is, seems kind of foolhardy to me in a lot of ways.

But you know, and based on the, I think the interesting part of this story too is based on the data we shared in the show last week, the other generative engines have clearly been taking share from Google.

And so this seems like a play, this seems like a UX play to me from Google because they're motivated to get people who are using their browser day to day, possibly from a work standpoint to interact with the generative AI capabilities in a different way than we're accustomed to via just going and opening up a separate window with ChatGPT or Claude or whatever.

So that's, that's kind of the way I think about this.

They're trying to get into the day in the life of the average user differently and that's going to be, still going to be a tough game potentially.

So yeah, I think you have to diversify your bets.

Net Net.

Yeah, I mean, I think this is a huge chess move by Google and something they had to do to stay in here.

Because you're right, Chris, what you're talking about, I mean they do have visibility into all of our behaviors.

I think if you look at them as a, as who's the strongest contender right now in this market.

I do feel like Google is still, still that, that place where not only are people still going of the older generations, you know, for product searches, but it's also a place where people are going among Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Like the research we saw last week to do these AI based, language based searches and if Google can tie in my calendar, my emails, my, you know, my search history and they can also enable shopping right in that same spot, if they can be the first one to do transactions in this space, I think is a real.

That's where I would say you need to start going heads down on Google again because that's the real game changer when we're looking at the evolution of all of these.

But they are all working on those components too.

But if Google can do it and if they can stay above board with regulations and, and that then they think they're in a real good position.

But Joanna, let's get your thoughts to close on this one.

I mean, yes, diversify, you have to.

I agree.

And the ability to transact from this is sort of the last puzzle piece to making this, you know, truly, truly game changing.

I think some of the early research that we're seeing says that Traffic from these LLMs convert 7x to traditional search.

So you want to be in these results.

So I think, I think what Mohit was highlighting around, you know, having really compelling content that's highly cited on reputable trusted sites, where you're getting those mentions is going to help you make it into the results that these models are looking at anyway.

And so right now I think you've got a budget for it.

You've got to know it's coming.

But you cannot lose the site for the compelling content that's going to get those mentions and get you on that page and get that, that conversion rate.

100%.

That's great.

The last thing which I would add here, which we have not talked about is listen, there was at least $100 billion, if not more in search engine optimization which was being spent by retail just in the US Alone.

Right.

So you're going to take a lot of those funds and you need to redirect.

Right.

So this is not about more money or more budgets kind of, you know, being put to the task here, but redirecting some of those funds towards where the market and the consumer is heading.

That's really interesting too, Moet, because in a lot of ways on some of the ability, you can't even spend that in the way that you would on Google with some of the engines right now.

So yes, you're having to do it more as an investment.

And how do you get prepared for that day?

That's really interesting too.