For years, traditional search engines like Google (GOOGL) have guided internet users in their quest for information, handling trillions of queries a year. Now, A.I. products like OpenAI’s SearchGPT and Perplexity AI’s Pro Search are looking to change the game. Leveraging A.I. models to scrape the web for information, these new types of search engines offer summarized answers instead of a list of links—an approach that could, in theory, make information retrieval quicker and more intuitive.
Traditional keyword-based search has a fundamental limitation: users must know how to phrase their queries to get accurate results. A.I.-powered search aims to eliminate this barrier by enabling natural dialogue. Users can ask follow-up questions and get real-time answers that feel more like a conversation.
“While traditional search is great for simple tasks like finding store hours, A.I.-powered systems are stepping in to tackle more complex queries,” Christian Ward, chief data officer at the digital presence platform Yext, told Observer. “This shift will be especially beneficial for users who struggle with crafting correct search syntax or face language barriers.”
OpenAI’s SearchGPT and Perplexity’s Pro Search are also designed to tackle an emerging frustration: outdated A.I. chatbot answers. By tapping into real-time web sources, SearchGPT offers up-to-the-minute information from sports scores to breaking news. OpenAI has plans to push the product even further to include features for shopping, travel planning and voice commands for an intuitive web search experience.
Perplexity’s Pro Search goes even deeper, with an advanced model that can handle complex follow-up questions through a multi-step reasoning architecture. Designed for everything from legal research to coding assistance, Pro Search moves beyond Perplexity’s basic chatbot-style platform to offer nuanced responses.
Outside the A.I. startup world, Meta (META) Platforms is also foraying into the search space, with plans to launch its own A.I. search engine. With its massive user base and rich data from Facebook and Instagram, Meta is uniquely positioned to build and refine its search product. The A.I. search feature could soon come to WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook.
But will users embrace this shift? “We’ll see A.I.-driven search become the first stop for most users—it’s fast, context-aware, and tailored to provide immediate, concise answers,” Paul Butterworth, co-founder and CTO of Vantiq, an A.I.-powered software development platform, told Observer. “However, when users find the A.I. response lacking in depth or detail, they’re likely to fall back on traditional search, browsing through links to find more comprehensive or nuanced information.”
The push into A.I. search is not just about improving user experience; it’s also to keep users engaged and anchored within a company’s product ecosystem. OpenAI and Perplexity, for instance, are forming partnerships with major news and data providers to offer users access to verified sources while helping publishers expand their reach. Meta’s move is similarly strategic, following its recent partnership with Reuters, which will enable it to pull real-time content from the media giant and provide users with information about current events.
Google, facing these challenges, is also developing A.I. search through the launch of AI Overviews this year. The company claims this move is aligned with its ad-driven profit model. Google said in its recent earnings report that ads on AI Overviews have helped users quickly connect with relevant businesses, making the ad process more targeted and effective.
Experts say the economics of A.I. search could ultimately push companies to rely entirely on ad revenue to make the technology profitable. An A.I. search request costs roughly 10 times more than a traditional Google or Bing query, according to a Reuters report. “To offset this, companies will need to either charge consumers directly or lean heavily on ads,” Ram Palaniappan, CTO of TEKsystems Global, a tech consulting company, told Observer. “If they offer it for free, they’ll likely prioritize certain content through ads, which could compromise quality by limiting your options to find the best source for the right answer.”