Google's AI search is rapidly becoming the default
Google's AI Overviews now appear in 43% of searches, up from 15% a year earlier, Similarweb data shows. AI-generated answers are rapidly becoming the default way people find information online, as Google shifts from a gateway of blue links into a destination where users stay and ask follow-ups.
Key Takeaways
- Google's AI Overviews jumped from 15% to 43% of searches in about a year, per Similarweb.
- Visits to Google's conversational AI Mode rose from 126 million in June 2025 to 279 million in May 2026.
- Search queries are getting longer and more conversational as users talk to AI instead of typing short keywords.
- Publishers face thinner referral traffic as AI answers satisfy users without clicks, though some ChatGPT click-through rates have improved.
The finding, reported by TechCrunch, underscores a fast rewrite of how discovery works on the open web. What started as an AI layer on top of classic results is now an integral part of the search journey itself. For more coverage of this shift, see our Future Tech & AI Wonders hub.
How common are Google AI Overviews in search today?
Similarweb's analysis of the generative landscape found AI Overviews in 43% of searches, versus 15% a year earlier. That climb shows how quickly Google is inserting generated answers into the search experience users see first.
Once users land in an Overview, they can keep researching through Google's more conversational AI Mode. That product's traffic rose from 126 million visits in June 2025 to 279 million by May 2026, according to the same dataset.
Why is Google becoming the destination, not just the doorway?
For years, Google mainly sent people elsewhere via blue links. Similarweb's numbers point to a different pattern: Google sources answers from indexed sites, then keeps people on its own platform to read and follow up.
Average search length has risen over the past year. That suggests users are replacing short keyword queries with longer, natural-language prompts designed for AI.
What does rising AI search mean for publishers?
Publishers have not welcomed the change. AI citations often fail to produce clicks, cutting referral traffic. Similarweb previously flagged how devastating the trend was for news publishers in particular.
Cloudflare has introduced tools that let publishers block AI crawlers unless companies pay for access through its marketplace. Separately, Similarweb says the number of AI responses that include a citation has risen more than fivefold over the past year.
Even so, only 6.8% of U.S. ChatGPT desktop queries included citations as of May 2026. Travel, retail, and sports queries tend to get cited responses more often than other categories.
Are clicks from AI answers improving at all?
There is a narrow bright spot. After a May 7 search update, the share of U.S. ChatGPT desktop visits that landed on webpages more than doubled—from 25% in March 2026 to nearly 60% by May 30, 2026. That suggests users take advantage of more prominent blue links inside AI results when they are available.
Even with that rebound, the broader trend holds: Google is transforming from a gateway to the wider web into a destination in its own right, and AI Overviews are central to that redesign.