• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, June 9, 2023

Google Search generative artificial intelligence (GAI) takes a bit of getting used to, I will admit, but the experience generates more complete and faster results.

The influence on search engine optimization will be stunning in the way it understands people.

The experience opened to some users in late May through Google Labs. Those who got an early preview can opt in to the experiment by tapping the Labs icon in the latest version of Google Search on Chrome desktop or Google App for Android and Apple iOS.

For those who have opted in, google.com starts the “supercharged” journey, but once a query is created it switches to Generative AI -- which Google calls experimental -- and says the “info quality may vary” per query.

Since opening the search generative experience two weeks ago, Google wrote in a tweet that the company made major strides in reducing the time it takes for the engine to return a query. In fact, Google cut the query time in half.

“We hope everyone testing it out enjoys the speedier experience,” Google Search Liaison tweeted.

An early complaint about the search experience is that it took longer for Google GAI to respond to queries -- a common complaint for evenMicrosoft Bing Chat and Open AI’s ChatGPT. One reason why it was slower because it’s trying to keep up a rapid stream of input. 

OpenAIMaster in March outlined ways to make ChatGPT queries faster.

Google also tweeted about making several quality updates to the Search Generative Experience today, but did not provide details.

One of the more interesting parts in the layout of Google Search GAI is the list of bullet points below the query and images and articles listed on the right side of the webpage.

After years in stagnation, search will move from the “experimental” phase to the next iteration. Lest we forget, Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998, and the first Google search was performed in September 1998. Now in 2023, the industry is looking in the eyes of generative search.