Mon, 15 Sep 2025

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 AI challenges the dominance of Google search

The popularity of ChatGPT has raised questions about the future of traditional Google searches.

* Anja-Sara Lahady, a lawyer and legal technology consultant, has shifted her online research habits to using large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT over Google.
* LLMs have become increasingly powerful in the past year, with ChatGPT attracting over 800 million weekly active users.
* A growing number of people are turning to LLMs for everyday questions and recommendations, rather than traditional search engines like Google.
* According to Professor Feng Li, associate dean for research and innovation at Bayes Business School, people use LLMs because they lower the "cognitive load" and provide a brief synthesis of information in plain English.
* However, outputs from LLMs still require verification before use, as hallucinations and factual errors remain common.
* Google denies that LLMs are affecting its search business, citing growth in overall queries and commercial queries.
* Companies are having to adapt their marketing strategies to account for the rise of LLMs, which place more trust in official websites, press releases, and established media.
* There is evidence that people who use AI to search for products are more likely to buy.
  >>