How can I influence Google Suggest ?

Imagine a scenario where you can influence Google Suggest so that every search term related to your site comes with an automatic suggestion including your brand.

In reality, it's estimated that 75% of search queries are influenced by Google Suggest. That's why many SEO experts utilize search suggestion optimization techniques to prompt users to choose their brand even before they complete their search.

Consider the additional benefits your website could gain if your brand frequently appears in Google's suggestions. However, there's a closely guarded secret that marketers don't easily disclose: manipulating Google's suggestions.

Strategies to influence search suggestions have seen exponential growth. Marketers understand that Google's suggestions play a crucial role in internet users' search behavior, making it a hot topic within private SEO circles.

The effect of manipulation refers to changing consumer preferences through manipulation strategies, such as the influence on Google's suggestions.

What is Google Suggest?

To influence Google Suggest, it's important to understand this feature.

It's a "semi-automatic input," meaning Google's keyword suggestions that appear as you type the first letters of a new search on Google.

The goal is to suggest search terms similar to what you're looking for, to save you time by anticipating your query.

Google Suggest is the semi-automatic completion feature (position -1) that Google has implemented in its search engine.‍

This function allows searchers to receive relevant suggestions related to a specific request.‍

For businesses, having their brand appear as a Google suggestion when a user makes a query allows them to attract more qualified traffic.

Google created Google Suggest to help automatically complete the user's predicted sentence (based on previous data).

How Google Suggest Works

Influencing Google SuggestGoogle Suggest depends on the following factors:

The language and location of the internet userThe search volume of keywordsThe trend of the keywordHow often the keyword is mentioned on the web (it must be crawlable by Google's spider)How often is the keyword mentioned on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook?How often is the keyword mentioned in anchor text links?The most important factor for triggering Google's automatic suggestion is the frequency of a keyword typed by multiple internet users, allowing Google to integrate these different suggestions into its tool.The most popular query on the internet will be listed first, then the second most popular, and so on.

Why Influence Google Suggest?

There are many reasons to want to influence Google's predictive search.

Reputation Management

When potential customers search for your company's name, you don't want them to be met with Google's auto-complete search suggestions such as:

Scam on the company name[Company name] Bad reviews[Company name] Legal case[Company name] {BAD REVIEWS}The presence of any of the above for your brand can harm your online reputation with new customers.

It's within your power to influence Google Suggest by triggering search predictions through auto-completion.

Google's instant auto-completion feature is an overlooked aspect of online reputation management (ORM).

Auto-complete predictions are relatively harmless search suggestions that can be frankly unflattering if not optimized.

Influencing User Search Journeys

It's estimated that 75% of search queries are influenced by Google's auto-complete.

Google's predictions tend to influence and steer users' search habits towards paths they might not have otherwise considered.

The ability to influence Google Suggest to guide users' search journeys towards new potential customers is a significant advantage of triggering Google's predictive search options.

Brand Awareness

Having your brand name appear after targeted keywords significantly increases your brand's awareness.

In the human subconscious, seeing the brand repeatedly influences business decisions.

The more brands appear in search engine auto-fill predictions, the greater the trust placed in these businesses.

Managing Google Auto-Complete's Reputation

Google's instant predictions can work against brands if they have negative keywords in the drop-down list:

Brand + scamBrand + alternativeBrand + fraudBrand + abusePerson + mugshotPerson + arrestInfluencing Google Suggest is a significant advantage for businesses looking to attract new potential customers. By triggering Google's predictive search options, you can influence users' search journeys.

However, it's important to consider online reputation management.

With a proactive approach to influencing Google Suggest for reputation management, you can correct negative biases and organically update predictions. This ensures a positive display of your brand in search engine result pages (SERPs).

Is Search Box Optimization Worth It?

Search Box Optimization (SBO) is the process of positioning your brand or business in the drop-down lists of the most omnipresent search boxes.

This means that if you undertake SBO, you're much more likely to increase traffic to your website.

However, manipulating Google Suggest or Google Autocomplete techniques can prove costly.

How Long Does a Search Query Last in Google Suggest?

The term in Google Suggest's drop-down list will be kept indefinitely, depending on the user's interaction with Google after clicking on the automatically suggested term.

If the user searching the term does not interact with the SERPs, Google may downgrade your search query from its automatic search box.

It's very important, when optimizing search boxes, to interact with the SERP when searching for your brand. Searches without engagement or interaction can negatively impact the display of the query in the future.

When companies specializing in manipulating Google's auto-complete add brand terms to search predictions, they specify that maintenance is needed or that searches should be performed continuously for Google's auto-complete to endure.

Google's Auto-Complete Algorithm

Google's auto-complete algorithm is based on RankBrain.

A key component of Google's keyword machine learning algorithm, Rankbrain uses deep learning to help users achieve better results.

Many businesses seek to influence Google Suggest by manipulating Google's auto-complete algorithm. The goal is to improve their brands' "predictive search" in Google's search engine.

A crucial element of Google's auto-completion algorithm is the search volume of previous queries for a given request. If a key phrase is frequently searched, RankBrain begins to predict that other users might also perform this specific query.

How to Influence Google Suggest?

Here are the best ways to trigger predictions from Google Suggest's dropdown list when users start typing in the search bar.

Keyword Searches to Influence Google Suggest

The way to trigger auto-complete is to perform searches on Google for the expression you wish to appear.

The best technique for conducting these searches on Google is to use CTR manipulation.

There are a number of tools like SEMrush that help businesses increase their search volume for targeted keywords.

But, the important factor in all this lies in managing click-through rates and the following information.

Google Caffeine

In June 2023, Google launched the "Caffeine" update to ensure its results are updated with the most recent and relevant information.

This update aims to recognize that the best products in 2020 are not necessarily the best in 2023. Thus, Google uses "Caffeine" to reward the most recent and updated results.

It doesn't just limit itself to search results but also impacts search suggestions. It's crucial for search suggestions to display the latest trends and information in terms of search.

The introduction of "Caffeine Fresh" aims to provide users with fresher, more recent search information. Thanks to this update, suggestions are more likely to be aligned with the latest developments and most popular queries.

Language

When you want a key phrase in French, you must search for it in Google's search bar.

The visitor's language must match the query you wish to trigger on Google Suggest.

Location

More than 150 countries are available for Google Search.

CTR can be performed from a targeted location and browser, which is necessary to influence Google Suggest.

When you choose a country, like France, searches are performed from Google.fr with the Chrome browser in French.

Searching on google.fr will add phrases to Google Suggest for the geolocation of France only.

Search Volume by Keyword

Search volume is the most important factor for influencing Google Suggest.

For your target phrase to be displayed as a Google suggestion, you must reach a search volume of more than 200 searches per month.

Keyword Trend

Create a trend around your target query when you want to influence Google Suggest.

The more the keyword is searched over a short period, the higher its trend.

We recommend conducting searches over several months to make your key expressions appear in the autocomplete search bar, but larger search volumes reinforce keyword trends.

Mentions on the Internet

If a key phrase is frequently searched on Google but there are no mentions of the exact query on the Internet, it struggles to influence Google Suggest.

Mentions of the search term on the Internet, which can be crawled by search engine indexing robots, contribute to influencing Google's autocomplete predictions.

Mentions on Social Media

Influencing Google Suggest can be challenging if a query is frequently searched on Google but does not receive exact mentions on social media platforms.

Mentions of the search term on social media, which can be indexed by search engine crawling robots, play a crucial role in influencing Google's autocomplete predictions.

Twitter and Facebook (public accounts, not private) are two major platforms that can influence auto-completion.

The Search URL Hack

The search URL hack is where you:

Open the Google TLD (Google.fr, Google.com, etc.) in which you want the queries to be added to Google Suggest.Search for the target query in the search bar.Copy the URL.Paste this URL on your social networks and email campaigns.

People who click on the link will in turn search for your target query in the targeted Google TLD you want them to search for.

For example, if I want the expression "influencer Google Suggest Hello Code" to appear on Google Suggest, the link must direct you to google.fr.

Case Study Examples

All this talk about Google Suggest auto-completion seems very interesting. But, let's look at concrete examples of how it works.

Business brand

Blackrock has plenty of related keywords in autocompletion

E-commerce Brand

E-commerce brands like nike find ways to add their name to the end of the most profitable products they sell.

Nike and Decathlon have succeeded in influencing Google Suggest by triggering auto-suggestion for the term "best running sneakers."

How Many Searches to Manipulate Google AutoSuggest?

To influence your keyword on Google Suggest, it's necessary to perform 150K+ searches within 28 days. Finding a balance is important because conducting too many searches or too few will not activate the manipulation of Google's auto-complete.

It's crucial to emphasize that this figure is purely illustrative and the answer to this question depends on various factors.

Triggering search predictions by keyword depends on the search volume associated with the main keyword, but as of July 2023, this criterion will not be the only one considered.

It's also essential to use different IP addresses to demonstrate that real users are conducting searches related to popular keywords in search results.

Manipulating Google's auto-complete is the latest buzzword

Within exclusive SEO circles, the ability to influence Google Suggest has become a subject of great importance.

Being able to influence up to 75% of your target audience so they search the key phrase in association with your brand represents a real SEO success.

The process of tricking Google into incorporating your brand name or your blog into the search suggestions is referred to by one of the following terms within private SEO groups:

Search Box Optimization (SBO)Manipulation of Google SuggestManipulation of Google's auto-completeInserting a brand keyword into Google SuggestAdding a brand to Google's auto-completeContact our web marketing consulting agency to discover how to influence Google Suggest and increase your brand's online visibility.

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