The news: Search providers are steering users toward AI-generated answers, reframing search from a list of links into a single synthesized response. But in doing so, they’re also changing the economics of the open web, altering web traffic patterns, and concentrating information power inside a handful of platforms.

The trend: One of the biggest purveyors of AI search is Google. While it has yet to set a timeline for making all search options AI-supported—if it does at all—the search giant is still nudging users toward AI-first interactions through AI Overviews and Gemini.

The battle to turn search into an AI-driven experience is becoming about who can become the primary interface between users and information. Owning this interface means controlling what information is surfaced, how questions are framed, and which publishers receive traffic.

As AI systems synthesize answers directly, they reduce the need for users to visit multiple sources, compressing the traditional discovery journey. AI Overviews can reduce publisher referral traffic by as much as 25%, per Digital Content Next, showing how high the stakes are for web owners as AI search tools expand.

The caveat: Search platforms are betting that users want fewer links and more answers. But the promise of AI efficiency may come at the cost of transparency, multi-source information, and the incidental discovery of new publishers and products that link-based search encourages.

Zooming in: “Almost everyone just goes to Google when they're looking for information; it’s muscle memory at this point. The faster Google can make AI search just one more thing people can find from that same search box, the less likely [it is] to face any business disruption as AI adoption grows,” EMARKETER principal analyst Nate Elliott said.

Implications for brands: As consumers use generative search and recommendation engines more often, brands have fewer direct touchpoints to influence choice. Fewer points of contact in discovery means brands have less control over messaging, timing, and context within the information journey.

Brands must compete to be selected and surfaced by opaque AI systems, including by refining website information to be indexed by AI engines and boosting presence across owned and social channels to increase web presence.