AI is the fastest growing sector in the world right now, and its reach into the digital search market is about to change in 2026. Whilst the world has slowly began to get use to the convenience of major AI search systems like chat gpt, perplexity and co pilot, the race is on to become the most popular AI platform.
With popularity comes the ability to charge a premium for top positions. Google managed to win the search engine battle in a $750 billion industry per year, up against the giants including Microsoft Bing, Yahoo and Alta vista in the early days. Who will win the battle in the AI race? Google stands to lose the most, having a stranglehold on global search since the early 2000’s. The very existence of AI search is the biggest threat to googles monopoly.
In the current market, all the major AI platforms are offering users the ability to search for free to a point. However there are now paid options, charging users monthly subscription fees if they want full, unrestricted access to the platforms.
AI searches now account for up to 20% of queries. With the shift of consumers changing the way they search, it won’t be long before this percentage grows even further and the younger generation coming through no longer say ill “google it”, they could be saying “chat gpt it”.
So why are users preferring to use AI instead of traditional search engines?
Trust
They feel they can trust it more, there isn’t currently any ads, and the learned systems do a deeper dive and scan of sources giving a more informative and detailed answer, rather than displaying an answer that might not be the best match based on someone paying to be over someone else.
Data can be converted quickly into other formats
Information gathered from a search query can quickly be turned into other formats whether its reports, presentations, videos, images and more.
AI better understands complex queries
AI answers questions in a more natural, conversational format rather than just keywords. It also does deeper research in one query and gives a more detailed response, where as someone might need to put in multiple search terms in google to generate the same level of information.
Faster no click format
AI answers your question with one click. A search engine requires the same input, then a further click into a website. Yes it seems like nothing but the world is becoming increasingly inpatient.
How will paid options be integrated
No one is exactly sure, but these are the most common speculations:
- Integrated into the content- many think AI search platforms will allow advertisers to pay to have their brands, products and services mentioned in the query answer. Say you want to be found for “best running shoes”. A query from the user might ask “what are the best running shoes”. The AI platforms will then integrate your brand for a paid fee into that answer.
- Advertisers will essentially “teach” a language model their brand’s message. Competitors will bid to determine the extent of this model’s influence on the final, contextually relevant output. The dilemma with this is AI platforms will then become filled with advertiser content, and lose their trust for being a legitimate information source.
- They AI models may offer product suggestions or may list businesses listings within answer summaries. If youre not naturally found on AI, you might be able to teach them you want to be found for that query and pay for this privilege, similar to google AdWords.
Its unsure if the AI models will have to highlight that there is sponsored content in the answer, and this could largely change country by country, state by state, depending on the laws in the region where the search is being performed. Many governments are racing to implement new laws within the AI space.
If you need help with what we can a GEO strategy, basically being in the answers at the top of search queries on AI models, we can help. Contact us today for our expert advice.
