How Google’s SGE Results Differ from Normal SERP Results for Home Service Businesses

How Google’s SGE Results Differ from Normal SERP Results for Home Service Businesses

How Google’s SGE Results Differ from Normal SERP Results for Home Service Businesses

Understanding What You'll See in a Google SGE Search

The launch of Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) represents a major shift in how search results are displayed and generated. While still in early beta testing, these AI-powered SGE snippets provide a very different experience compared to the standard organic SERP listings that home service businesses are accustomed to optimizing for.

  • AI Summaries vs Organic Listings

    Perhaps the most noticeable change is that SGE provides chatbot-style summarized responses to queries rather than a list of blue link results. For informational searches, Google’s AI will generate a short paragraph or bullets to answer the question directly. This means less need for searchers to click through to a website for quick facts.

  • Product Recommendations

    For commercial queries, SGE frequently displays a visually engaging carousel of recommended products pulled from top sites. Unlike regular product listing ads tied to specific retailers, these recommendations link out to multiple buying options across the web. The ability to filter and compare products makes it more convenient for searchers to explore options.

  • Follow-Up Suggestions

    A unique capability of SGE is the option for searchers to ask follow-up questions and get AI-generated responses in context, enabling them to drill down to get more specific details not possible on a standard SERP. The conversational interaction means searchers can find information more tailored to their needs.

  • Curated Site Recommendations

    While less noticeable, SGE does still include links to recommended websites for more details on the topic. However, the carousel of recommended sites may not fully match the pages ranking organically. The criteria for how Google selects pages to recommend is still unclear.

  • Local Pack Integration

    For location-based searches, SGE integrates a local finder “5-pack” directly into the AI response instead of having it in a separate module lower on the page. This puts the focus on featured local options right next to the summarized answer.

Optimizing for SGE and SERP

While traditional organic rankings still matter, SGE provides a more interactive search experience that may decrease clicks for quick informational lookups. To maximize opportunities with AI search, home services should focus on improving website content, site speed, structured data, and local SEO foundations. Testing different queries in standard search and SGE can reveal how Google’s AI represents your business.

At CI Web Group, we are closely tracking updates with Google’s Search Generative Experience to understand how these AI-powered results impact visibility for home service businesses. Our team stays on top of the latest SEO and local search best practices so that we can immediately put what we learn into action for our customers. We want to make sure your website shows up prominently regardless of whether searchers are seeing standard organic listings or AI-generated snippets. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your home services business.