There’s a straightforward reason why Google is making significant adjustments to its long-standing, iconic search engine: users are asking more complex questions.
“People are asking much longer, more complex questions for which there simply isn’t a definitive answer anywhere else on the internet,” said Prabhakar Raghavan, Google’s senior vice president of Search.
Raghavan explained to CNN a new capability enabling Google to generate custom visuals, interactive graphics, and even mini-applications that launch within the Google search page in response to queries, by synthesizing information from across the web. This is among numerous enhancements the internet titan unveiled at its annual developer conference this week.
The internet’s most valuable digital real estate is evolving, mirroring how people are increasingly seeking information online – a prime example of artificial intelligence reshaping the internet, from search and social media to online shopping and beyond.
According to Google, individuals are shifting towards more lengthy and specific search queries, moving away from brief, general keywords, and many are initiating their information discovery through platforms like ChatGPT, as noted by experts. AI-generated influencers are making waves on social media. Furthermore, people are increasingly leveraging AI to compare and purchase products.
It’s becoming nearly impossible to navigate the internet without encountering AI, despite growing concerns about the technology’s impact on jobs, security, and the environment.
“It becomes part of your lifestyle over time,” stated Joseph Turow, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who is soon releasing a book on AI’s influence on internet advertising.
ChatGPT Has “Trained” People to Search Differently
Google asserts that its search bar is undergoing its most substantial overhaul in two decades. The expanded search field is designed to accommodate more text and simplifies the integration of other media, such as photos, files, and Chrome browser tabs.
The objective is to streamline the user’s journey to complete a task, according to Raghavan. This includes actions like performing a visual search or activating Google’s AI mode before posing a follow-up question.
Searches involving image-based queries or outlining elements on a phone screen are showing a 60% year-over-year increase, he added.
Searches within AI modes, or versions of Google adapted for conversational engagement, have more than doubled each quarter since their introduction a year ago, with AI-prompted queries averaging three times the length of standard searches.
Data from SEO and marketing firm Semrush indicates a trend where some users are beginning to search on Google in a manner similar to how they would interact with ChatGPT. Searches containing 11 or more words rose from 3.27% to 5.37%, and conversational queries increased from 5% to 20%, while keyword-based searches declined. Nevertheless, the median query still comprises only three words, suggesting that the majority of users still employ a traditional searching approach.
Robert Langanbeck, president of SEO marketing agency Eight Oh Two Marketing, has observed users inputting longer search queries, typically ranging from three to five or five to ten words, as opposed to the previous two to three words. This shift began even before ChatGPT’s arrival in late 2022, though it has significantly accelerated since then.
“AI has really almost trained people to search differently,” he remarked.
Users are commonly employing a mix of AI-powered applications, including ChatGPT and Google. Over 20% of ChatGPT’s referral traffic directs to Google, Semrush discovered after analyzing 1 billion rows of American click data, or “troves,” of online user activity. Google is typically used for direct queries or transactions, while ChatGPT serves for information summarization, comparisons, and content generation, Semrush reported in an email to CNN.
“There’s a lot of just, ‘I’m trying to find something and help me get to it right away — that’s the main chunk of queries that come into Google over time,” said Leigh McKenzie, director of organic visibility at Semrush.
The Rise of AI-Influenced Influencers
AI’s influence extends far beyond search. Consider Ayana Lopez’s Instagram profile.
Online, she appears as any other social media influencer – pictured at vibrant events, working out at the gym, and sharing beauty tips with nearly 400,000 followers.
However, she is not real. Lopez is among the most prominent AI-generated characters who have achieved internet stardom, alongside figures like Lil’ Miquela, Lu do Magalu, and Granny Spills.
Nearly 80% of marketers have increased their spending on creator content utilizing generative AI in the past 12 months, according to social agency Billion Dollar Boy. There are even awards recognizing the top AI-created online personalities.
AI personas appeal to brands because they are generally more cost-effective than well-known human influencers and can be customized for specific campaigns, noted Turow.
Tech giants are aiming to integrate AI even more deeply into social media. Meta is incorporating its Muse Spark model into applications like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, and is also experimenting with AI assistant side chats within group conversations. On Tuesday, Google unveiled Gemini Omni, a new AI model that individuals can use to generate lifelike avatars of themselves.
The Race for Online Shopping Dominance
Traffic to US retail websites from AI services surged by 393% year-over-year in the first three months of 2026, with Meta, Amazon, Google, and OpenAI all implementing AI-powered shopping tools, according to Adobe.
This week, Google introduced a new “universal” shopping cart that allows users to add items from various retailers across the internet. Amazon recently integrated its Rufus assistant into a new Alexa for Shopping tool, embedding an AI helper into the online retailer’s search bar so shoppers can request comparisons of products and pricing history, among other things.
Yet, even as AI directly answers shopper inquiries at the top of Google, Raghavan states that there remains a need for high-quality, human-created and maintained websites. Google asserts it still directs billions of clicks to websites daily, although Pew Research data from last year showed Google users are less likely to click on links when viewing AI summaries.
Langenbeck mentions that while his clients are experiencing a reduction in traffic volume, the traffic they do receive is resulting in greater engagement – leading to purchases, appointments, or quote requests. “You just have to be ready to adapt because [search] could look completely different six months or a year from now,” he advised.
About the Author
