Google Search: Its evolution is being led by GenAI and Gen Z
Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai flagged off a ‘re-imagining’ of its search service this week. It’s an AI upgrade, powered by artificial intelligence but prompted by the rise of chatbots and chat-happy youth. Did Alphabet really need a defensive flank?
For over two decades, Google has been shaping how the world searches for information with its artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. But as Generative AI (GenAI) chatbots grow more conversational and capable, the Big Tech company has been pushed into a “total re-imagining of Search," as its CEO Sundar Pichai said this week in his Google I/O 2025 keynote address.
The catalyst is Generation Z: netizens born between 1997 and 2012 who prefer context, relevance and answers in natural language over blue links. Instead of ‘googling,’ Gen Z youth tend to treat chatbots powered by large language models (LLMs) as their first point of inquiry.
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This explains the growing popularity of AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s own Gemini, Meta’s Llama, Anthropic’s Claude and Perplexity’s search engine. These tools combine LLMs with live web data to deliver ready responses with sources, summaries and follow-up cues.
Does Google need a defensive flank for its core money spinner? It dominates the global search market, of which it still has a share of almost 90%. Its revenues from search and related services—its ad mop-up, mostly—stood at $198.1 billion in 2024, 56.6% of its parent Alphabet’s total.
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Further, while OpenAI gets a billion messages daily (each ‘prompt’ can have many), 70% of its prompts ask for tasks that do not overlap with search usage, like writing code or summarizing text, according to a note by SparkToro and SEMrush. It adds that even if all 125 million daily ChatGPT prompts mimicked Google searches, AI tools combined would have less than 2% of the world’s search market. So chatbots have created a ripple rather than a wave.
That said, while LLM-based search platforms aren’t eating Google’s lunch yet, they are certainly revising the menu. In February 2024, Gartner projected traditional search engine volume to drop 25% by 2026, with gains for AI chatbots and other virtual agents. Google’s global share of search-engine use fell below 90% for the first time since 2015 during each of the last three months of 2024, according to Statcounter. Last month, it was below 89.7%. The dip is tiny, but Google does not want to take any chances.
This week, it updated its search service to include AI Overviews, which uses GenAI to offer a summary on top (if deemed helpful), with the classic links of its results to follow. This feature is widely available and has already touched over 1.5 billion users. And then there’s its new AI Mode, which uses Gemini to address complex queries and sustain chats, like other chatbots. Thanks to this, Google’s interface can handle tasks like itinerary planning and document drafting.
Along with the company’s other apps Chrome and Gemini, Search could soon be given agentic capabilities too—so that it can take actions on our behalf.
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Another reason Google does not face a near-term threat is that LLM-native platforms also face challenges. They need to make money, for example. As of now, they’re using subscription models, charging for premium features. Perplexity is also exploring ‘sponsored’ content generated by AI independently of sponsors. But it’s unclear if these tools can count on much ad revenue.
What is notable, though, is how they have forced Google to evolve faster. If chatbots minimize hallucinations to offer us reliable answers, prove competent in agentic roles and achieve business viability, they may give Google a run for its ad money. So far, GenAI has only chatted up Gen Z well enough to reshape it.
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