Hey, non-profit communicators: Are you ready for Google Zero?

 

As I read and talk to people about how AI is going to change communications, I hear a lot about how it is going to change or eliminate jobs. 

I hear less about how it is going to change the way we communicate. But that is just as important—especially when it comes to non-profit websites. 

Currently, the main driver of website creation is how to make it visually appealing so it is attractive, intuitive and easy for people to use—and to make the donate button easy to find. 

Another goal was to make it easy for Google to find, so you would come up on the first page and deliver people to your website. 

But what if people no longer need to go to your website to find out who you are and what you do? What then? 

Welcome to Google Zero. 

Google Zero, also known as People Zero, is the term used to describe what could happen—what is happening—because of AI like Google Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity or Claude. 

This is how it works.

These days, if someone needs information about your organization or cause, many ask AI about it. AI then scans all the information available on that topic on the  Internet and delivers an answer. 

Or, if they ask Google, they get the answer at the top of the page from Google Gemini.  

The requester, having found the information they sought, is done. They don’t need to visit your website. They never see your donate button, have an opportunity to subscribe to a newsletter, or learn about any other neat or important things you are doing.

They are done, satisfied. Goodbye.  

That’s Google Zero. 

With Google Zero, Google is the final destination. It’s not the gateway to other websites, lie your website, as it has been in the past. It’s the same with other AI. 

This matters for non-profits. It also matters for journalism, since news sites are also getting fewer visitors. And fewer visitors means fewer advertisers, or advertisers not willing to pay much for being on a media website. 

It also surrenders information sharing to Google or AI; they may get it right, or they may not. And they may not provide any of the nuance that is important for a story or campaign. 

And—importantly for non-profits—it can prevent them from building relationships with people who seek information, prevent them from guiding visitors to information they might not have seen otherwise, and also prevent them from subscribing to a newsletter or donating. (Yikes!)

Media outlets are already dealing with this reality as search referrals and website visits decline significantly.

To summarize, Google or People Zero happens like this:

1.    A person asks AI a question.

2.    The AI pulls information from many sources.

3.    The AI generates a synthesized answer.

4.    The user receives the answer without seeing the original website. 

What does this mean for communicators? 

First off, it means designing websites for AI—not just for people. After all, if most people are using AI to find information, you want AI to be able to find you easily. 

Of course, you still want your website to look good. But the visual appeal isn’t as important as the content—when it comes to AI. AI doesn’t care what your website looks like. 

To find out AI is looking for in a website, I asked: AI! (Who else?) 

According to ChatGPT, a website that helps it find information:

• Has clear headings that describe the content of each section. Cute or whimsical headings might cause a human to chuckle or take a second look to find out what it means, but not AI.
• Each section or page should have a descriptive title. (“News,” “Events,” “Calls to Action.” Etc.)
• Photos and images should include descriptive text and captions. for images
• Ensure content is crawlable by not embedding important text in images or JavaScript-heavy sections.
• Use clean URLs with meaningful words, not random IDs (/hunger-Sudan vs /page?id=123).
• Provide internal and external links to content. If a story builds on a previous story, put a clear link to that story in the text.
• If you post a PDF, make sure it is searchable.
• Don’t embed important content in images.
• Keep content concise. (Which is important for humans, too!)
• Use clear, factual writing and avoid overly ambiguous phrasing.
• Include dates, sources, and units for statistics.
• Break long content into smaller chunks with descriptive headings.
• Keep decorative elements to a minimum; don’t clutter the page. 
• You may also want to make sure the donation option, call to action or request for funds is stated clearly in the content (if you aren't doing that already). 

We are at the early stages of this change in Internet behaviour. There is no telling where it will go, or how fast. But one thing is clear: AI, in some form, is here to stay. Now is the time to start thinking about how your non-profit can adapt to it.