SERPs To CHERPs : Why AI generative results need a new name //

Search results are different from chat results.

The input in search is the query. We call the output a SERP (search engine results page).

A SERP contains a lot of information – text, images, videos, links to other websites. Since more than 20 years, SERPs have been used for search marketing.

Your input in chat is a prompt. What is the output? It is usually text, images, or videos (and occasionally clear links in the form small citations).

Search Engine Land believes that the end-user-facing LLM-fueled generative AI output, whether it is Google’s Search Generative Experience or Bing, or any other search/AI platform, needs a name.

“Kein ding sei wo das wort gebricht,” as my colleague Kim Davis put it to me recently.

Or: Nothing can be there where the word is missing.

We are now introducing the neologism CHERPs into the search marketing vocabulary.

Search vs. Chat Experience: Why it is necessary to make a distinction

It’s important to distinguish between language that clarifies ideas and jargon which unnecessarily obscures issues and causes confusion.

We are currently at a crossroads with generative AI. Particularly: the results pages that various chatbot interfaces generate.

Google and Microsoft Bing will continue to test and update the different elements just as they do with their traditional search results pages.

Search marketing is currently lacking the language to differentiate between the traditional search result pages and those produced by AI.

Google and Bing refer to their generative AI offering as “experiences”. That’s why our suggestion is that the results of those experiences should be dubbed Chat Experience Results Page or CHERPs.

What is a SERP (Security Evaluation Reporting Process)?

SERP is short for search engine results page. It’s the page you see when you type a query into Google, Microsoft BIng, or any other platform.

SERP: The Origins

In a forum posting, Webmaster World’s founder Brett Tabke first used the term “SERP”.

In the early SERPs, there were usually 10 blue links with an endless number of search results. PPC ads appeared, typically above organic results on the right side.

Evolution of SERPs

Google began to reimagine the SERP in 2007 with Universal Search, which combines Search with News, Video, Images, Local, Maps and more. Google began introducing instant answers as 2010 approached. These included weather reports and sports scores.

In the 2010s Google SERPs continued to undergo major changes, most notably the integration into Google Search of the Knowledge Graph and the Knowledge Panels on the SERPs. Search Engine Land published a report in 2014 on a new type of detailed answer that would later be known as featured excerpts.

In 2023, Search has undergone a major change: generative artificial intelligence. Microsoft calls it Bing Chat or the new Bing. Google calls it Search Generative Experience.

Both experimental experiences have not been fully implemented as of this writing. It’s just a few weeks or months away.

What is a CER?

The term “CHERP” stands for the “chat experience result page”. It’s basically a generative AI that you see when you enter a question on Google, Microsoft Bing or ChatGPT.

We’ll illustrate this with a simple example – “what exactly is a SERP?” – by using Google, Microsoft, and ChatGPT.

Google

The results page is composed of:

• Two paragraphs (one to a Search Engine Result Page, the other to an Executive Supplemental Retirement Plan). Two citations are included (the clickable quotes) which, when clicked, results in a dropdown which allows you to click on three brand names.
• Snapshot has three links with images, but in this case they are duplicates.
• Suggestions for .

New Bing

The results page is composed of:

• One paragraph (discussing only a Search Engine Result Page). Three visible numbered citations are included (plus two not visible; you must click the +2 to see them). Sources are domains.
• Other links or images are not allowed.
• Two possible follow-up questions bubbles.

ChatGPT

The results page is composed of:

• There are nine paragraphs, each with an ordered list of items. (Only discussing the Search Engine Results Page.
• No images, links or citations.
• No follow-up questions suggested.

These results are designed to minimize traditional searches and encourage users to ask questions. These are their own results pages.

Search engines have SERPs. Answer engines use CHERPs.

The language must adapt to new realities

Why is it important to introduce CHERPs? Is search marketing in need of another acronym?

Yes. Yes. We believe it is important to communicate accurately and provide clarity to clients or stakeholders about whether they have visibility on the search or chat experience.

Google is the only place to start, as it remains by far the largest player.

• Does your ad appear above, inside or below SGE?
• Will it matter if you are ranked highly in organic search results if your competitors get cited and clicks on the chat results that appear above organic search results?

Google and Bing should provide us the data that we need to report and understand how people get to our website.

Search is evolving. Our language must also evolve.

As a brand new term, CHERPs is both familiar and different, creating a distinct distinction.

You can’t say that anymore, thanks to a href=”https://searchengineland.com/google-rolling-out-continuous scroll on mobile-37171″>Continuous Scroll/a>. Continuous scroll has made it impossible to do this. Google evolved. Google evolved.

It has been suggested that tech companies should also make their terms more inclusive. It’s possible that Google changed the name of its Webmaster Guidelines from Search Essentials. The term “webmasters” is a thing of the past.

We hear “white hat”, “black hat”, and similar terms a lot less. These terms have always struck me as cartoonish (see also link juice), and they undermine the professional and great work that we do to generate billions in revenue for businesses and brands of all sizes every month.

Clarity is important. Clarity is important.

Both SERPs (Security Evaluation and Risk Assessment) and CHERPs (Chemical Hazard Evaluation and Risk Assessment) will coexist

It is important to note that SERPs are still going to exist as long as Google or Bing continue serving search results. We don’t suggest CHERP to replace SERP like many others have attempted to “rebrand SEO” over the years.

We do not think that SERPs or CHERPs are the same thing. They may or may be two separate entities on a platform which produces content with generative AI.

The introduction of CHERPs is to help us, as a sector, distinguish between search results and chat.

We believe it is needed. We hope you’ll agree.

The first time Search Engine land published the post From SeRPs to CheRPs: Why AI-generated results need a name of their own.