Google overhauls search as AI reshapes how people ask

Google overhauls – Google is rolling out what it calls the biggest search upgrade in 25 years—built to handle longer, harder questions by generating visuals, interactive graphics, and even mini-apps directly on the search page. The changes land at a moment when more people are s

For a company that built its identity on a search box and a list of links, Google’s latest shift feels almost like a change in manners. The reason is simple: people aren’t asking the way they used to.

“People are asking much longer and harder questions that no longer have a clear response anywhere on the internet. ” said Robby Stein. vice president of product for Google Search. He was talking about a new feature that can generate custom visuals. interactive graphics and even mini-apps directly on Google’s search page—by piecing together sources from across the web.

It’s one part of the internet giant’s announcement slate at its annual conference this week, where the underlying message has been consistent: the most valuable real estate online is evolving to fit the way people now hunt for answers.

Google says its search field is getting its biggest upgrade in 25 years. The new box expands to fit more text and makes it easier to add other media to a search—photos. files. and even Chrome browser tabs. The push, Stein said, is to shrink the number of steps needed to complete a search. That includes using a photo to run a search. or switching to Google’s AI Mode before asking a follow-up question.

Searches built around snapping a photo or circling something on a phone screen are growing 60% year-over-year, he said. Searches in AI Mode—the version of Google designed for back-and-forth interactions—have more than doubled every quarter since launch a year ago. Stein added that AI Mode queries are triple the length of a regular search on average.

Still, the change isn’t total replacement. Data from SEO and marketing firm Semrush suggests something more nuanced: some people are starting to search Google the way they type to ChatGPT. Searches containing 11 words or more increased from 3.27% to 5.37%. Conversational queries jumped from 5% to 20%, while keyword-style searches decreased. Yet the median query still contains just three words. a sign that much of the internet’s old search habit hasn’t vanished.

Robert Langenback. president of an SEO marketing agency called Eight Oh Two Marketing. said he’s noticed people shifting from short phrases like two or three words to ranges that often run from three to five words. or five to 10 words. He said the behavior started before ChatGPT’s arrival in late 2022, but has accelerated since then.

“(AI has) really almost trained people how to search differently,” Langenback said.

And even when people aren’t fully leaving Google, they’re increasingly blending tools. Semrush found that more than 20% of ChatGPT referral traffic goes to Google after analyzing 1 billion lines of US clickstream data—“trails” of user activity across the web. The pattern. Semrush said in an email to CNN. is that Google is often used for direct questions or transactions. while ChatGPT is used for summarizing information. making comparisons. and drafting materials.

“(They) generally use a mix of AI apps like ChatGPT and Google,” Semrush’s Leigh McKenzie, director of organic visibility at Semrush, said. “There’s a lot of just, ‘I’m trying to find something and help me get to it right away,’ that is the bulk of the queries that have gone into Google over time.”

The anxiety around what this means—jobs, safety, the environment—has been growing alongside the convenience. Joseph Turow, a University of Pennsylvania media professor who will soon release a book about AI’s impact on internet advertising, put it bluntly.

“After a while, it just becomes part of the way you live,” Turow said.

Social media is moving in the same direction, too, sometimes with startling speed. Consider Aitana Lopez’s Instagram profile: online. she looks like any other influencer—photos of glitzy events. gym posts. and beauty tips to nearly 400. 000 followers. But Lopez is not real. She’s one of the most prominent AI-generated characters to rise to internet stardom. along with Lil’ Miquela. Lu do Magalu and Granny Spills.

Marketers, meanwhile, are backing the trend with money. Billion Dollar Boy reported that nearly 80% of marketers increased spending on creator content that uses generative AI in the last 12 months. There are even awards celebrating the best AI-generated internet personalities.

Turow said AI personalities can appeal to brands because they’re typically cheaper than high-profile human influencers and can morph to fit specific campaigns.

Tech companies are now trying to make that same AI presence feel native across platforms. Meta is integrating its Muse Spark model into apps like WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. It’s also testing side chats with its AI assistant in group conversations. On Tuesday, Google announced Gemini Omni, a new AI model people can use to generate realistic avatars of themselves.

Shopping is where the shift may be easiest to see—because it’s where people expect fast answers and instant comparisons. Adobe reported that traffic to US retail sites from AI services grew 393% year-over-year in the first three months of 2026. Meta, Amazon, Google and OpenAI have all introduced AI shopping tools.

This week. Google introduced a new “universal” shopping cart that allows users to add items from different retailers across the web. Amazon recently folded its Rufus shopping assistant into a new tool called Alexa for Shopping. bringing the AI helper into the online retailer’s search bar. In that setup, shoppers can ask it to compare products and pricing history, among other things.

Yet even as AI moves toward direct answers at the top of search results. Google is still insisting there’s room—and need—for human-made websites. Stein said quality websites created and maintained by humans still matter. Google says it still sends billions of clicks to websites every day. though Pew Research data last year found that Google users are less likely to click links when viewing an AI summarized answer.

Langenback says his clients are seeing less traffic, but the traffic they’re getting is more likely to turn into action. He pointed to outcomes like completing a purchase, booking an appointment, or requesting a quote. The message, he said, is urgency.

“You just have to be ready to adapt, because (search) could look a lot different six months or a year from now,” Langenback said.

For users, the experience is already starting to feel less like searching and more like conversing. For the sites that once depended on steady streams of clicks. the question is sharper: when answers get generated inside the search page. what happens to the rest of the internet that built its business on being found?.

Google Search upgrade AI Mode conversational search Semrush ChatGPT referrals AI influencers Gemini Omni universal shopping cart Alexa for Shopping Rufus