The Case for AI Search on Government Websites
Been thinking about how to improve your site search?
Over the last two years, we’ve witnessed how AI-based search and chatbots fundamentally changed how users access and process information across the web. In order to keep up with these expectations, it’s critical that government agencies at the state and local level adapt.
You may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of incorporating AI into your search functions—especially if you have a ton of content on your site. In truth, it’s less disruptive to your website than you may think. And more importantly, dismissing AI tools puts both your agency and the people you serve at a disadvantage.
While the transition to AI search is still in its early days, now is the time to start exploring how it will affect your users’ expectations and where you can leverage the technology to improve your site’s user experience. Here are a few reasons why incorporating AI into your search tool is vital to improving the user experience and effectiveness of your website.
Google fundamentally changed how users search for information and what they expect from their search results. Instead of typing in a few keywords and parsing through multiple page results to find an answer, people are increasingly conversational in how they search.
For example, instead of “library renovation St. Paul,” they might ask a full question, such as, “What’s the timeline for the library reno on Summit Avenue?” And before they even finish typing their question, the autocomplete feature of the search tool will provide a dropdown menu, intuiting user intent as they type—even if their search is misspelled or filled with typos or abbreviations.
Let’s not forget Google AI overviews either. These are the summaries that now appear at the top of every Google search result when the system determines it can provide a helpful summary, especially for problem-solving, question-based, or image-based searches. Many users don’t even scroll past these summaries.
You may not work for a multi-billion-dollar corporation like Google. But your organization is still on the hook for keeping up with the expectation that your search tool will work like Google’s. As users get used to talking conversationally with AI, they’ll expect to talk with your website as well . What’s more, they’ll expect your site to be able to provide summaries of your content.
Here’s another fundamental problem: users rarely know precisely what they're looking for when using a site’s search bar. They may be looking for a permit or a recycling date, but when they use your search function, most of the pages and pages of content that come up lack the answer to their specific needs.
For example, if a visitor wants a budget update on a construction project on State Street, they might search: “State Street construction” on the website. The odds are low, however, that the exact page they’re looking for will show up first in the search results. That’s because old-school search lacks the context an AI-based search can provide.
They may be looking specifically for a progress update page, but instead have to scroll through dozens of unrelated press releases and interdepartmental pages about State Street before finding the relevant information they wanted.
AI search can be transformative when you're managing a sprawling state agency website with hundreds or even thousands of pages. That’s because AI-powered search can understand context – what answer makes the most sense at this time, given who you are or where you’ve been. AI can parse through massive amounts of information, and surface the most relevant answer from your entire content library.
Going back to our previous example, instead of returning 50 pages about "State Street" and leaving users to sort through them, AI search can intuit that the average user wants a construction update, not a historical overview or a zoning document.
More relevant results mean a more effective search tool, and a better user experience. The larger and more complex your site, the more value AI search delivers.
If you’re a content editor for your state agency website, all this AI talk may feel completely overwhelming. You’ve got enough on your plate, and really, isn’t your keyword search good enough? It’s worked up until this point, right?
With so much content on your site, integrating an AI tool seems like it would require a complete overhaul. It’s time and resources you simply don't have.
But adding AI search functions doesn’t have to upend your website’s content or its functionality. You can incrementally improve your site search with AI or find specific content areas that you want to boost with AI search results, as opposed to having to redo everything at once.
One example is using AI to suggest specific filters or tags to select with a search tool. In another example, AI results can be displayed alongside more traditional keyword results, giving users the option to select the results they prefer.
Implementing AI search on your state website isn't just about keeping up with buzz-worthy technology trends. It's about ensuring equitable access to government services. AI is becoming an essential part of how we all work and live.
The question isn't whether AI will transform how citizens find information. It's whether your organization will be ready to meet user expectations.
Dan Moriarty is the co-founder, CEO and chief strategist with Electric Citizen.
