How to Optimise Website Navigation for Google’s ‘Pathways’ Search Update
Google's Pathways search update is designed to resolve problems that the current artificial intelligence (AI) models are facing. Pathways will enable an AI to perform multiple tasks.
Let's be honest, there is nothing seriously wrong with the current AI models, as they deliver expected results, yet they face issues such as being unable to solve several issues.
Each AI model is built for a specific task and it is trained for this task from the start. Therefore, it is unable to perform other tasks. Unlike humans that learn information and can apply what we learn to multiple tasks. As human, we have the ability to multi-task, which is something AI cannot do.
This means that if Google wants several tasks completed, it needs several AI models, which is not only expensive, but exceptionally time consuming. Now imagine Google having a single and powerful AI model that can multi-tasks, this is where Pathways comes in.
Google's aim is to create an AI that enables AI models to perform thousands of tasks, including perceiving information and delivering accurate results.
Google has stated that Pathways allows creating multi-modal models that encompass language, vision, and auditory for simultaneous understanding. The model will be able to deliver results it sees in an image or when it hears a word. No matter how it receives the query, it can provide the same output. It will use abstract data for learning that humans cannot interpret, adding to the accuracy of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) results.
Google introduced PaLM in 2022. It relies of five hundred and forty billion parameters, training a single model, using standard transformer architecture. It uses TPU, which are Tensor Processing Units, that are specifically used for AI training.
With the development of Pathways, there are numerous questions that need to be answered, including the future state of existing systems, and ethical considerations. It is a breakthrough when it comes to building AI models.
Since it's launch, business owners throughout the world are asking how to optimise for Google's Pathways search update. The Genie Crawl team have put some top tips together, helping you get started:
When it comes to Pathways, it's essential to focus on creating high quality and structured content that is easy to skim through, while aligning with EEAT guidelines. Well-structured content includes headers, bullet points, and clearly sectioned paragraphs, that Google is more likely to pull from your content and use in AI Overviews.
AI loves queries that are phrased as questions, covering a niche topic. When you focus on answering your audiences specific questions using long-tail keywords in your content, you increase your chances of being featured in Google's AI overviews.
One thing we know for certain is AI Overviews loves fresh and updated content that is current and accurate, especially when it comes to trending topics and frequently updated topics. Refresh your content, ensuring it remains updated and relevant.
When it comes to Google's Pathways search update, you need to focus on content that is correctly optimised for success. You want to create an introduction that summarises your answer, while encouraging your audience to scroll to read more. Meta tags and description must be optimised to improve click through rates. Remember to ensure your targeted keyword appears naturally in your summary, meta tags, and descriptions. Google's AI loves content with concise first-paragraph summaries.
Structured data or schema markup, offers extra context for search engines, providing it with information regarding your content. It helps Google understand the format and purpose of your content, increasing your chances of appearing in AI-powered results.
Focus on creating direct answers within your content. When you provide clear and concise answers to the most common questions, you are helping train Google to see your pages as valuable sources of information.
The Genie Crawl team recommend adding FAQ sections to your relevant pages, this should include clear answers, helping Google see your site as a useful source of information.
Google's Pathways search update doesn't have to be daunting and if you are following SEO best practices, your website should be future-proofed for AI overviews, People Also Ask, and other AI sections appearing in search results. Do you need help optimising your website for Google's Pathways search update? Get in touch with the talented Genie Crawl team now to find out more.
Complete the form and a member of our team will be in touch shortly to discuss your enquiry.