Google’s AI Search Is Becoming the Default Layer of Discovery

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Search is no longer just a list of links. According to TechCrunch’s report on new Similarweb data, Google’s AI Overviews now appear in 43% of searches, up from 15% a year ago. What began as an AI layer on top of search is increasingly becoming part of the default search journey itself.

Key points

• AI Overviews are expanding quickly: Similarweb found that Google’s AI-generated answers now show up in 43% of searches, compared with 15% one year earlier.
• AI Mode is gaining usage: Visits to Google’s more conversational AI Mode rose from 126 million in June 2025 to 279 million in May 2026.
• Queries are becoming more conversational: The average length of Google searches has increased, suggesting users are replacing short keyword strings with longer, natural-language questions.
• Publishers are losing leverage: AI summaries and citations can satisfy users without necessarily driving clicks to the sites that supplied the underlying information.
• Links are still important: Similarweb also noted that AI responses containing citations have risen, while ChatGPT desktop referrals in the U.S. improved after a May 7 search update that made links more prominent.

Why it matters

The most important change is not simply that Google has added another feature. It is that Google is moving from being a gateway to the web toward becoming a destination for information consumption. In the older model, users typed a query, scanned blue links, and visited third-party sites. In the emerging model, Google summarizes the web on the results page and then keeps the user in a conversational flow through AI Mode.

For users, this can be convenient. A generated overview can reduce the effort needed to compare options, understand a topic, or get a quick answer. It also fits the way people increasingly interact with AI systems: by asking complete questions rather than assembling keyword fragments.

But the same convenience creates a distribution problem. If users get enough information from the AI answer, they may not click through to the original publisher. Even when a citation is present, a citation is not the same as a visit, a subscriber, or advertising revenue. That is why publishers and infrastructure providers are experimenting with new forms of control, including tools that let sites block AI crawlers unless access is paid for.

The picture is not entirely one-sided. The TechCrunch report notes that ChatGPT’s U.S. desktop referrals improved after a May search update, with a larger share of visits landing on webpages. That suggests users will still follow links when AI search products make them visible and useful.

Still, the direction of travel is clear: AI search is changing the economics of discovery. The next stage of search competition will not only be about who produces the best answer, but also about who controls attribution, traffic, licensing, and the relationship between platforms and the open web.

Source: TechCrunch AI