AI Is Replacing Search Engines - Here’s Why

The shift from traditional search engines to AI-powered assistants aims to provide instant answers but threatens the foundation of credible, discoverable online information. Google’s once-unshakable dominance is weakening, with its global market share dropping below 90% for the first time in nearly a decade, while referral traffic to publishers shrinks. AI systems are increasingly answering queries directly, removing the need to click through links - a move that could unravel how the web has functioned for decades.

Google, long the default gateway to information, is under pressure. In 2024, experiments with its AI-powered Search Generative Experience (SGE) led to a 44% fall in link click-throughs. Meanwhile, Apple revealed that Safari-based Google searches had declined for the first time in 22 years. Gartner even forecasts that search volume will drop by 25% globally by 2026. AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT and Copilot are now becoming the go-to sources for quick answers, regardless of their impact on source visibility.

This change marks a pivot from search engines that ranked results based on authority and freshness to AI tools that generate answers from mixed - and increasingly synthetic - datasets. Currently, more than 30% of web content may already be AI-generated. These generative tools are learning from outputs they - or similar AIs - have already produced, resulting in reduced accuracy and recycled content. This recursive system poses a growing risk to information quality, further diluting truth and verifiability.

The core challenge is what some call "model collapse": AI tools like large language models are beginning to train on content that was itself AI-generated. This loop damages credibility and means misinformation is no longer an outlier but a potential norm. Without incentives for citation or verification, these tools contribute to a homogenised internet where nuance disappears and statistically likely answers can replace factual information.

Amid this disruption, opportunities are emerging for content creators and media organisations. Licensing high-quality, human-authored material to AI platforms like OpenAI or Google Gemini presents a mutual benefit - AI can ground answers in trusted data and publishers can regain visibility and revenue. Startups and major news outlets alike can carve out a role by offering verified content for use in generative models, shaping how future digital knowledge is built and attributed.

However, this presents economic hurdles. When AI systems answer questions directly, they bypass traditional web traffic and advertising models. In 2023, Google earned $175 billion through search-driven ads - a model that now appears fragile. To survive, content monetisation must move up the stack, embedding value directly into the interface between user queries and AI-generated responses.

The web is undergoing a massive structural shift as search transforms into direct answers. Those who adapt their content for AI visibility - building metadata, enforcing source credibility and optimising for generative platforms - may thrive. But if the ecosystem leans too far into synthetic content with no grounding, the foundations of public knowledge may degrade. The onus now lies on content creators to shape what the next phase of the internet becomes.

Source: Australian Financial Review, Vision Marketing, Blank Slate Digital, Tech Xplore