How AI Search Tools Handle Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) Queries
Study Finds
A recent study by SE Ranking compared Google AI Overviews (AIOs), ChatGPT, and DeepSeek across 40 health, legal, financial, and political queries. The study examines how these AI search tools handle Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) queries, which are considered high-stakes topics that can have a significant impact on users’ well-being.
Key Findings
### YMYL Query Response Rate
* Google generates AIOs for 51% of YMYL queries, slightly up from 50% in October.
* ChatGPT has a 100% response rate for YMYL searches, and DeepSeek has a 90% rate.
* Google’s selective approach was evident in political topics, displaying AI Overviews for only one query.
### Response Patterns
* Each platform showed unique patterns in generating responses to YMYL queries:
+ DeepSeek produces longer answers (391 words on average) with numerous sources (28 per response).
+ ChatGPT offers moderate-length content (234 words) with fewer sources (10 per response).
+ Google provides the briefest responses (190 words) with minimal citations (7 sources).
### Fact vs. Opinion
* The study measured how factual versus opinion-based each platform’s content appeared:
+ ChatGPT delivered the most objective content overall (0.393 score).
+ Google AI Overviews ranked second (0.427 score).
+ DeepSeek showed the highest subjectivity (0.446 score).
### YMYL Category Strengths
* The analysis revealed differences across various categories of YMYL queries:
+ Health Content:
– ChatGPT: Concise, disclaimer-heavy content citing medical sources.
– DeepSeek: Detailed responses with extensive citations, including news sources.
– Google: Conservative, heavily cautioned but brief content.
+ Legal Content:
– ChatGPT: Bullet-point summaries with high-authority sources.
– DeepSeek: Comprehensive explanations with real-world examples.
– Google: Brief overviews with the highest disclaimer rate (50%).
+ Financial Content:
– ChatGPT: Risk-focused overviews with professional consultation recommendations.
– DeepSeek: Categorized information with numerical data and comparisons.
– Google: Avoids responding to highly sensitive financial queries entirely.
### DeepSeek Restrictions
* The study documented that DeepSeek refused to respond to queries about Taiwan’s independence, Tiananmen Square, Chinese human rights issues, and websites banned in China.
* DeepSeek’s responses often aligned with Chinese government perspectives when addressing related topics.
What Does The Data Mean?
A common thread throughout the data is how each AI chooses to protect users from potentially harmful advice while still trying to be helpful. ChatGPT answers every YMYL query it sees, yet often leads with strong disclaimers and succinct takeaways. Google AI Overviews decline to generate content for almost half of the tested queries, leaning heavily on caution rather than risk providing the wrong guidance. DeepSeek is at the opposite extreme, offering staggering amounts of detail in some cases and little detail if the response doesn’t align with political perspectives.
Key Takeaways For SEO
* For SEO and content teams, here are key points to consider:
+ Google is selective. Content appearing in AIOs must meet high-quality standards, especially for YMYL topics.
+ Google’s AIOs cite unique and diverse sources for YMYL searches, increasing visibility but creating competition for clicks.
+ Different AI systems prefer specific styles, lengths, and details in content.
+ All three platforms prefer disclaimers on sensitive topics, with health content having the highest rate of cautionary notices at 37%.
+ Understanding these platform differences can help you improve visibility in AI search tools.