Artificial Inteligence
data analytics
For over 30 years, we’ve used search engines like Google or Yahoo to find information on the internet. Developers designed their websites to maximize search engine optimization (SEO). That means they would make sure that you would find their website if you entered certain terms in the search box. Firms could also pay for ads or ad words to ensure their website pages would rank at the top.
Using LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) to conduct research is quickly becoming a common practice. SEO is being replaced by AEO – Answer Engine Optimization. Firms are redesigning their website content so that AI-powered platforms and voice assistants can extract, understand, and present content as a direct answer to a user's question. It’s a steep learning curve that will change as advertisements become part of AI platforms.
Effectively conducting research using AI means thinking differently about internet searches. This includes thinking about your AI tool as a research assistant and not just a search engine. It all begins with the question – or prompt – that you enter into the AI tool.
For example, you need to a new coffee maker for your break room (coffee is essential to our industry). In traditional search, you might enter, “10 top coffee makers for offices”. The search engine would rank websites by matching the terms you used. Somewhat helpful.
With an LLM, it’s better to use a series of prompts that include context. For our coffee maker, consider:
- I’m buying a coffee maker for an office with 20 people that work two shifts. Provide the top 10 vendors that offer machines that can be tied into plumbing.
- Narrow the search to machines that are less than $1,000.
- Build a chart that compares the models by the following characteristics – investment, monthly costs, physical size, cups per hour. Include the URL for the model’s web page.
The last request – include the URL – should be part of every research project. When the table is built, check each web page to ensure that the AI engine is providing a useful response.
90% of the information on the internet was created in just the last two years. AI can be a powerful tool to sift through the haystacks to find the needle you’re looking for. Think of the AI agent less like a search engine and more like a well-read research associate. The more context you give about why you're asking, the better the output will be.
And always verify the results before you forward to a boss or customer.
Amazing Astronomical Fact: Due to Mercury’s very eccentric orbit and alignment with the Sun, the length of time from sunrise to sunrise, known as a ‘solar day’, is equal to 176 Earth days — twice as long as a Mercurian year (88 earth days).
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