What's the difference between Google search and AI search?

The difference between Google search and AI search

Google search helps you find information. AI search helps you make sense of it.

Google typically gives you a list of relevant results to explore, while AI search can understand a more conversational question and give you a direct answer based on information it finds.

Both rely on good information about your business, but they use that information in different ways.

Google search gives you results

When you search Google, you're usually presented with a mix of webpages, maps, products, videos, ads, and other search features, and then choose where to go from there.

For example, you might search:

"best wedding photographer in Toronto"

Google can show you local businesses, websites, reviews, images, and other relevant results pertaining to the keyword you searched.

SEO helps businesses improve their chances of appearing in those results.

AI search gives you an answer

With an AI search tool like ChatGPT or Google Gemini, you can ask a much more conversational question.

You might ask:

"I'm getting married in Toronto next summer. Who are some good wedding photographers for a small outdoor wedding? My budget is $1500"

Instead of simply giving you a list of links, an AI system may try to understand what you're looking for and provide a response based on information it has found.

That means the way people discover businesses can become much more conversational.

They're not always searching for a keyword anymore. They're asking for help making a decision.

AI still needs information from somewhere

This doesn't mean websites and traditional SEO suddenly don't matter.

AI systems still need information to understand businesses, services, locations, expertise, and reputation.

Your website, structured data, business listings, reviews, articles, and other online mentions can all help create the information ecosystem that AI systems use to understand your business.

That's why we don't think of AEO as replacing SEO.

They're connected.

From SEO keywords to AI prompts

One of the biggest differences is the type of questions people can ask.

Traditional search might look like:

"Bakery near me"

An AI search might look more like:

"What is the best bakery on 17th Ave in Calgary for gluten-free and vegan options"

The second type of search gives AI much more context about what the person actually needs.

Businesses that clearly explain what they do, who they help, where they operate, and what makes them different are better positioned to be understood when those kinds of questions are asked.

So, do you need to choose between SEO and AI search?

No. You don't need to abandon Google because AI search is growing. And you shouldn't ignore AI search simply because Google is still important.

The goal is to build an online presence that makes your business easy to understand and easy to find, wherever your potential customers are searching.

Traditional SEO helps you compete for visibility in search engines.

AEO helps make your business and its information easier for AI systems to understand and use when answering questions.

Search is changing, but the underlying principle hasn't changed: give people useful information and make it easy for technology to understand what your business actually does.

Wondering what the shift to AI search means for your business?‍

Let's look at how your business currently shows up online and where you could start building visibility across both traditional and AI search.

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