E1229: Google's Gary Illyes says you should use AI. He also says AI features in Google Search use the same processes as traditional results. In other words, AI Search is still SEO.
At Google's Search Central Live conference in Barcelona, Google employees discussed AI-generated content, search quality, Merchant Center, and AI slop.
I break down what Google said and what it means for SEO.
Here's what I cover:
1. Gary Illyes: Use AI, but use it responsibly.
Gary closed the conference with three messages:
- Use AI to speed up content, website, and customer management workflows.
- Verify AI output. AI hallucinates, and inaccurate content adds to low-quality pages online.
- AI on Google is just SEO. Google's AI Search features rely on the same infrastructure as traditional results.
He also questioned whether we need a new acronym for AI Search.
2. How companies get cited in AI Search.
I share the story of an industry leader who wanted more AI recommendations.
- He used Peec AI to find third-party listicles frequently cited for high-intent prompts.
- He paid the authors to place his company at the top.
- Those articles were already relevant and easy for AI search systems to retrieve.
- The tactic differs from traditional SEO, but relevance and discoverability still matter.
3. Google's conversational attributes for ecommerce.
Google software engineer Alex Jansen discussed conversational attributes in Google Merchant Center: flexible product details that AI systems use to answer shopping questions.
These include:
- Product Q&As, such as capacity and safety features.
- Documentation links, including manuals and assembly guides.
- Related products and product group titles.
- Variants such as sizes, colors, and memory configurations.
- Product popularity rankings.
I explain why this information also belongs on your website, and how I prefer scannable text over hiding everything in accordions.
4. Google's warning about low-quality AI content.
Google search quality analyst Dan Nguyen discussed how AI is flooding the internet with low-quality pages.
- Google cares about quality, not whether a human or AI wrote the content.
- Original reviews include proprietary metrics, firsthand photos, and research.
- Generic content that adds nothing new gives users little reason to choose your page.
- I discuss the November 2026 Google core update and speculation about AI-generated content.
5. Google Discover, user feedback, and AI slop.
Google Discover trust and safety analyst Eric Murillo said AI slop is increasing and user feedback informs new spam filters.
I discuss:
- Why dissatisfied searchers matter.
- Returning to Google after clicking an unhelpful result.
- Users avoiding brands after a bad experience.
- Google's leaked statement: "We don't understand content. We fake it."
- Behavioral data and search quality.
- How page titles, URLs, H1s, and opening sentences remain important for relevance.
Bottom line: Google encourages AI use, but wants useful, accurate content. AI Search doesn't make SEO obsolete.
⭐️ We Are ROAST write up - https://weareroast.com/news/google-search-central-live-deep-dive-barcelona-day-3-recap/
⭐️ How to use conversational attributes - https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17085370
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 Google Says Use AI
00:46 Use AI Responsibly
01:00 AI Search Is SEO
01:35 Influencing AI Citations
02:33 Conversational Attributes
04:14 Flood Of Low Quality Content
04:42 Core Update And AI Content
05:28 Discover And User Feedback
07:38 Proper SEO
09:09 Wrap Up And Thanks
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
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