Within the next two years, search engines could face a significant challenge from generative AI, according to a prediction made by the research group Gartner. It predicted that the adoption of AI chatbots and other virtual agents will cause the volume of search engine traffic to drop by 25% by 2026.
Companies will need to modify their marketing channel plans as traditional search engines give way to artificial intelligence. This is according to Gartner. Vice President Analyst at Gartner, Alan Antin, stated:“Organic and paid search are vital channels for tech marketers seeking to reach awareness and demand generation goals. Generative AI (GenAI) solutions are becoming substitute answer engines, replacing user queries that previously may have been executed in traditional search engines. This will force companies to rethink their marketing channels strategy as GenAI becomes more embedded across all aspects of the enterprise.”
The research group added that in an effort to counteract the increasing quantity of information produced by artificial intelligence, search engine algorithms will favor high-quality content. Furthermore, it is anticipated that watermarking will gain importance as a way to draw attention to valuable content.
Even while Google is unlikely to agree with this prediction, it’s crucial to remember that it and many other search engine providers—Microsoft has Copilot, and Google has Gemini—are the primary suppliers of generative AI services.
Therefore, even while traditional search engine usage may drop in favor of AI, Google and other similar search engines will still receive traffic. However, this could need the creation of a substitute for sponsored links, which Google depends on for income.
Although it wasn’t included in Gartner’s prediction, the generative AI revolution also implies that smaller businesses may emerge as Google’s main search rivals. Most people are aware of Microsoft’s Copilot, which is just ChatGPT with web access. However, NVIDIA and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos have funded a startup called Perplexity.
