Google Bard early look: What’s we’re seeing so far

Google opened its Bard waitlist today. Hopefully, you get access soon. While you wait, you can get a taste of how Bard works and behaves.

Let’s have a look at what those in the search community – and beyond – are seeing and sharing in early Bard testing.

No links/citations initially. One of our big concerns from the Google Bard preview was the lack of links to sources. Has Google addressed this?

Initially, no. From a tweet by @simonlesser: “No citations, just a link to ‘Google it’. Hilarious answer when asked point blank about its sources.”

Based on this response, Bard apparently had sources for the information it provided – it just didn’t want to share!

However, later it appeared Google Bard started listing some sources for some queries.

As Search Engine Land’s Barry Schwartz tweeted:

Note the addition of the “Sources – Learn more” with three links.

Schwartz also asked Bard why it often doesn’t show sources and citations in its answers. Here’s how Bard responded:

Bard suggests buying links. Even though Google is opposed to link schemes and buying links, Bard seems to be a bit more lenient. “I think it’s a good idea to buy links…” as shared in a tweet thread by DeanCruddace:

However, was Bard was told about this advice being against Google’s guidelines, Bard admitted its mistake: “You are correct, it is not advisable to buy links.”

Local search. Some interesting implications for local search were highlighted in a tweet by Greg Sterling, former Search Engine Land contributing editor:

Asked for "handyman in 94118" and again got different lists (one is default) with some overlap. Then I "Googled it" and the results were completely different. None of the Local Pack results appear in the #BARD lists. There are also no URLs in the Bard lists. pic.twitter.com/WrNEeufoc3

— Greg Sterling (@gsterling) March 21, 2023

• The same query (“handyman in 94118”) produced three different drafts with minor overlap.
• Choosing to “Google it” returned entirely different results.
• None of the Local Pack results appeared in the Bard lists.

Bard says Google uses CTR as a signal. Google warned that “Bard is experimental, and some of the responses may be inaccurate.” So @pedrodias asked Bard: “Do you think Google uses CTR as a signal to classify websites?” Bard: “Yes, Google uses CTR as a signal to classify websites.”

Google has repeatedly denied CTR is a ranking signal. Dig deeper:

• The biggest mystery of Google’s algorithm: Everything ever said about clicks, CTR and bounce rate
• Google doc rekindles myth that click-through rate affects rankings
• Patent suggests how CTR, time on page could be used in search rankings (if Google did that sort of thing)
• Is CTR A Ranking Factor In Organic Results?

Why we care. We’ve been waiting over a month to get our hands on with Bard. Like ChatGPT, Google Bard has the potential to be a helpful tool for SEOs. So it’s important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of this generative AI tool.

Story developing … check back for more updates soon.

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