The AI search engine race is heating up

The battle for the future of search is intensifying as tech giants and startups rush to integrate AI into their search engines. While Google maintains its dominant position with nearly 82% of the global desktop search market, new players and established competitors are making bold moves to reshape how we find information online.

OpenAI fired a significant shot in this race with the launch of SearchGPT in July 2024. Unlike traditional search engines that provide a list of links, SearchGPT offers direct, conversational answers backed by citations from authoritative sources. This approach allows users to dig deeper through follow-up questions. This could be a game-changer for many users, including myself. Unfortunately, SearchGPT is still not available for everyone right now. Even the waitlist is closed at the time of writing.

Meta has also joined the fray, working on its own AI-powered search engine for about eight months. The company’s strategy includes deploying web crawlers to build a comprehensive database and partnering with Reuters to provide real-time news content. This move could transform how users access information on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, though the service is currently limited to U.S. users.

Microsoft isn’t sitting idle either. The company recently rolled out Bing generative search to all U.S. users, aiming to compete with Google’s AI-powered search experiences. While initial reports in April 2024 suggested a dramatic shift in market share, with Google dropping to 77.52% and Bing seeing substantial gains in the U.S., these figures were later revised.

The corrected data showed Google maintaining a strong 86.58% U.S. market share, with only a slight dip from March. Bing’s market share stands at about 10.5%, but its AI integration could help it gain ground, especially given the growing concerns about Google Search’s quality.

A particularly interesting player in this race is Perplexity AI, backed by Jeff Bezos. The startup is reportedly in talks to raise $500 million at an $8 billion valuation, despite generating only about $50 million in annual revenue. Perplexity has gained significant traction, now handling over 100 million queries weekly, though it faces legal challenges from media companies like News Corp over copyright issues.

The search landscape is also seeing unexpected contenders emerge. TikTok has become a surprising force, particularly among Gen Z users, who increasingly turn to the platform for information discovery. Amazon dominates product searches, with 50% of online shopping searches starting on its platform compared to Google’s 31%.

However, this AI-driven transformation of search isn’t without controversy. Media companies are pushing back against AI search engines’ use of their content. The New York Times has issued cease-and-desist orders, while News Corp has filed lawsuits. Some companies, like Perplexity, are attempting to address these concerns through revenue-sharing programs with publishers.

Nevertheless, the impact on publishers is still a growing concern. While Microsoft claims that Bing’s generative search maintains click-through rates to websites, there are worries about traffic cannibalization. Google’s AI Overviews, for instance, is reportedly expected to reduce publisher traffic by up to 25%.

For users, this competition could mean more choices and better search experiences. So it’s clear that Google’s position isn’t as unshakeable as it once was. Not only is it facing tough competition from other big AI players in the industry, but it’s also being targeted by privacy-focused search engines like Kagi. Therefore, Google might have to play a balancing act to stay ahead in the AI race while also working on improving user privacy.

However, questions remain about the accuracy of AI-generated content. We’ve already seen all the drama surrounding Google’s AI Overviews and other AI hallucinations. I’ve personally lost trust in AI search engines after repeatedly being fed inaccurate or straight-up imaginary information during my research work. Until and unless the tech giants figure out a way to prevent false information from being confidently shared by these AI engines, I and many others in the same boat will surely be sticking to the traditional search experience.