Voice Search & Conversational AI: How to stay ahead in the SERP’s

The year ahead is set to be a pivotal one for the Ecommerce industry, as the SEO landscape adapts in response to Google’s integration of advanced AI models like BERT and MUM into its search algorithms. With a strong focus on natural language processing and user intent, combined with the increasing prevalence of voice search, the dynamics of B2C searches are shifting. Ecommerce businesses must adapt to this changing environment to stay competitive.

While AI dominated discussions throughout 2024 with its widespread integration into daily consumer life, it’s important to recognize that voice search—already a key factor in consumer behaviour—has become even more prevalent. In 2023, voice searches accounted for 10% of all searches, and by 2024, over 50% of average users conducted at least one voice search per day.

Voice search is now embedded in popular platforms like Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Siri, and the “Search by Voice” feature on Google’s search engine. Since people speak differently than they type, voice queries tend to differ from traditional text-based searches. This shift in search behaviour represents a distinct and growing traffic source that businesses must address in order to capitalize on emerging opportunities and continue driving leads.

Voice Search

To stay competitive in this evolving landscape, we recommend that businesses, as an SEO agency, to implement a comprehensive voice search optimization strategy. This should focus on targeting long-tail keywords and natural language queries, which are becoming increasingly important as voice search usage grows.

In light of the deep integration of conversational AI into search engines, SEO professionals must adapt their content to reflect a more natural, human-like tone. It’s crucial to prioritize conversational language, as AI-generated content is expected to be heavily discounted against in search rankings. By aligning content with user intent and conversational patterns, businesses can ensure they remain visible and relevant in the new search environment.

While adapting to voice search optimization may seem challenging for some businesses, it’s essential to recognize the shift in consumer behaviour and how it influences search queries. When people use voice search or interact with virtual assistants, they treat these tools like a knowledgeable individual or a third party providing a service. This contrasts with typed searches, where users typically input brief keywords, such as “phone repair for iPhone.” In voice searches, the phrasing is more conversational, such as, “Where can I have my iPhone repaired near me?”—essentially asking a digital assistant as they would ask an all-knowing travel guide.

To remain competitive in 2025, businesses must gain a deep understanding of user intent and conversational language. By aligning their content with these natural, spoken queries, they can ensure their site is accurately matched to the evolving search habits of their audience.

Search Engine Optimisation 

Matching and optimizing for search intent has always been at the core of successful SEO campaigns. However, as search behaviour evolves, marketers must go beyond traditional keyword targeting to focus on aligning their content with various types of user intent—whether informational, transactional, navigational, or commercial.

One highly valuable strategy to consider is investing in AI-powered language tools that specialize in semantic searches. Semantic search techniques aim to understand the contextual meaning and intent behind a user’s query, instead of the tunnel vision towards only matching keywords. By creating content that aligns with semantic search metrics, businesses can increase their chances of ranking higher for voice search queries, which often rely on natural language. This approach not only improves exposure but also drives more traffic to your site by matching the true intent of users’ searches.

Another effective strategy is to create a dedicated FAQ section on your product or service pages. This not only provides direct answers to potential customer queries but also helps drive leads by addressing specific search intents. By tailoring the FAQ section to your products, sector, or business, you can offer valuable assistance to consumers, fostering trust and encouraging loyalty.

Additionally, you may have encountered Google’s “Position Zero,” where search results feature a summary snippet curated from top-performing, relevant websites using crawling AI. By crafting FAQ content that directly answers common questions, you can increase your chances of appearing in this prime position, gaining valuable exposure and attracting more traffic to your site.

Mobile Users UX

In 2024, Siri and Google Assistant accounted for 20% of all mobile searches, while mobile devices became the dominant method for conducting searches, representing 64% of all searches last year. As a result, Google now prioritizes evaluating websites based on their mobile version for indexing and ranking. Websites that are not optimized for mobile user experience will face challenges in rankings this year. With the rise in voice search usage, this trend presents an opportunity to develop a coordinated strategy that prioritizes both mobile and voice search queries in a combined campaign.

An essential strategy to implement in 2025 is optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) profile. This helps Google validate your business and improves visibility in both industry-specific and local searches. Key elements to include are your location, contact information, reviews, and other relevant details. A strong GMB profile is critical for driving local traffic, which you can learn more about here. When Siri responds to voice queries, it automatically generates a list of the top three nearby businesses, known as the Local SEO 3-Pack. By creating a stronger localised GMB profile, you can automatically have a net cast in your local area to direct all these voice searches to your site or physical store, whilst this may be difficult to track it is no doubt a valued method to gain high quality leads and quick purchases.

Conclusion 

The search landscape has been evolving over the past year, with a significant shift expected this year. One rising trend that is shaping the future is the increasing use of virtual voice assistants. In fact, 65% of users aged 18-49 now use voice assistants daily, and 60% of users aged 18-24 prefer Siri over traditional typed searches. Given the growing popularity of voice searches, especially among younger generations, it’s clear that adapting to this shift is essential—even if Google hadn’t yet implemented updates specifically tailored to conversational searches.

We’ve covered several ways in which voice searches are beginning to shape and influence SEO, along with some strategies to help optimize your business for this trend. If you’d like to learn more about this topic, please click here.

If you’d prefer to discuss your strategy with an SEO Ecommerce Agency or perform an audit on your site to identify the best opportunities for growth, click here.