Microsoft recently unveiled a novel feature in Bing, powered by generative AI, which aims to enhance the snippets shown on search engine results pages (SERPs). This development, leveraging OpenAI's GPT-4 language model, is set to revolutionise how search queries are addressed by generating concise, informative descriptions of web pages.
The impact on publishers and SEO experts
This innovative feature has significant implications for publishers and SEO professionals. Bing's AI-driven approach, which creates custom snippets based on both the search query and the webpage content, moves away from the traditional reliance on a page's title tags and meta descriptions. While this can benefit users by providing them with more relevant and digestible content at a glance, it may also alter clickthrough rates for websites. These changes necessitate carefully monitoring how these AI captions influence user engagement and website traffic.
Navigating the new AI-driven landscape
Bing offers an opt-out mechanism for website owners wary of this new feature. Websites are included by default but can use tags like NOCACHE, NOARCHIVE, NOSNIPPET, or MAXSNIPPET to avoid AI-generated captions. Microsoft also assures that these preferences will be respected in Bing Chat.
