AI Replacing Search Engines? "The Search Ecosystem Is Growing Together"

95% of ChatGPT Users Also Use Google Search
Drafting Information with AI, Then Cross-Checking via Search
"AI Is Expanding, Not Replacing, Search"

Contrary to previous projections that generative artificial intelligence (AI) would replace search engines, data shows that as AI usage increases, demand for search is also rising. This suggests that the search ecosystem itself is expanding, as users utilize both AI and search engines during the information retrieval process.

On April 17, global web analytics firm Similarweb analyzed that about 95% of ChatGPT users still use Google Search alongside the chatbot. A survey of 462 million ChatGPT users worldwide between July and September last year revealed that approximately 441 million, or 95%, also used Google Search. Similarweb interpreted this to mean that users appropriately divide their use between Google Search and ChatGPT's conversational reasoning, depending on their needs.

However, the roles of AI chatbots and search engines differ in the search process. Typically, users first identify a draft of the information they are seeking through AI, then turn to search engines for in-depth details or to verify the results provided by AI. This trend is also reflected in the average time spent on each platform. According to data compiled by analytics firm First Page Sage for the first quarter of this year, the average session duration was 13 minutes and 9 seconds for ChatGPT and 6 minutes and 12 seconds for Google Search. This suggests that users are cross-checking information obtained from ChatGPT with search engines like Google. In the overall search market, Google Search accounted for 77.9% of the market share, while ChatGPT accounted for 17.6%.

Or Offer, CEO of Similarweb, stated, "As the center of digital search shifts, users are starting their search journeys with AI assistants," adding, "AI is not replacing search, but rather expanding the search ecosystem."

This situation overturns earlier predictions that advancements in AI services would enable AI chatbots to replace search engines. Previously, Gartner projected that with the increase in generative AI users, search engine query volumes would decline by 25% this year.

Even in South Korea's search engine market, which is dominated by Naver and Google, it has been confirmed that AI adoption does not replace search engines. According to market research firm Internet Trend, Naver Search's average monthly domestic market share was 63.8% last month. This is similar to February's figure of 65.1%, indicating that Naver Search continues to hold a majority share of the market. On February 28 and March 1, Naver Search even surpassed 70%, recording 70.6% and 70.4%, respectively. Google, ranked second, saw its average monthly market share in March rise slightly to 28.7% from 28.1% in February.

Companies are fueling the expansion of the search ecosystem by continuously introducing new features that incorporate AI into search. Last year, Naver launched 'AI Briefing,' which leverages generative AI and personalized recommendation technology to provide organized and summarized answers at the top of search results. Naver plans to increase the application rate of AI Briefing from the current 20% of search results to 40% by the end of the year. In the first half of this year, Naver also plans to release 'AI Tab,' a feature that delivers customized information to users through conversational search. Google, for its part, is providing 'AI Overview,' which summarizes information searched by AI and presents it at the top of results, as well as 'AI Mode,' which allows users to find information through conversations with AI.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.