Will AI Replace Search Engines?

Will AI Replace Search Engines?

With generative AI technology changing how we retrieve information online, many wonder if AI searches will replace traditional search engines. Even though some people are already using ChatGPT search on desktop and mobile as their primary engine, most thought leaders expect AI to integrate into search engines.

Already, Google searches are utilizing AI engines to optimize your search experience, and in doing so, them and every other engine are evolving into AI search engines that deliver high quality search results for any search query.

Generative AI vs Search Engines

All the best search engines have already integrated AI into their platforms and aim to develop new features and apps for these AI search tools. Though AI algorithms have improved the search capabilities to more effectively find information, not every single one has integrated generative AI yet.

Google though, has already implemented generative AI into their search results in what they call the SGE, or Google Search Generative Experience. Now, your search results come with answers constructed by large language models (llms).

As with ChatGPT, users experience the same pros and cons of Google Gemini's AI generations, including AI text that can't pass detectors and won't rank for SEO if used in your web pages. That said, there are ways to make ChatGPT and Google Gemini generations undetectable using natural language processing (nlp).

Why AI Won't Replace Search Engines

There are many issues with generative AI that stop it from replacing search engines in its current incarnations. Those include:

• AI based searches, even from the best AI engines, still rely on traditional search engines for sources. Search engines allow AI's knowledge base to remain up-to-date and reliable. So long as AI searches the web, there will always be a need for those search engines.

• Although AI can answer questions, AI is prone to bias, misinformation, and a lack of transparency. Web searches offer a wide range of results for users to arrive at conclusions based on their own research.

• The phenomenon of Content Cannibalism, where AI has created so much content that it over-saturates the pool of information it learns from and starts using its own content to generate narrower and narrower answers.

These issues are avoided when AI is paired with search engines, allowing for AI overviews to come up in search results alongside a long list of websites.

AI-Powered Search Assistants

When AI tools are used to fine tune search results, then you get the best of both worlds. Search engines that have integrated AI assistance into their search experience allow for these benefits to users:

• AI assistants allow for more conversational search answers instead of plunging users into a deep dive for the information they need.

• AI assistants craft personalized results based on the context of a search query instead of just keyword matches.

• AI models give search engines faster, more powerful search capabilities.

• AI assistants can direct you to the right media based on your search history, so if you learn better from Youtube videos, it will direct you there first as opposed to articles.

What Does This Mean For SEO?

One thing that will surely change is the process which people and businesses create SEO content. If search engines are using search query context over keyword matches, then this requires a massive shift in our understanding of SEO.

AI assistants providing conversational answers also reduces click-through rates on webpages, only amplifying the problem.

As SEO specialists adapt to this new AI landscape, they rest assured that the one feature that will always make their content rank is its usefulness. So long as your content provides value to readers, it will be seen on search engines.