Imagine a world where searching the internet feels less like typing keywords and more like having a conversation with a brilliant, all-knowing friend. That’s exactly what’s happening right now with AI-powered search engines.
Platforms like Perplexity, You.com, Bing Copilot, and ChatGPT are completely transforming how we find and interact with information online. This isn’t just another tech trend – it’s a massive revolution that’s reshaping digital experiences from the ground up.
For businesses and advertisers, this shift is nothing short of a wake-up call. The traditional search landscape is crumbling, making way for smarter, more intuitive ways of discovering content. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertisers, digital marketers, and brands are facing a critical moment: adapt or get left behind.
What makes these AI search engines so different? They’re not just returning links – they’re understanding context, generating human-like responses, and providing insights that go far beyond simple keyword matches. It’s like having a personal research assistant that can instantly compile information from across the internet.
What Are AI Search Engines?
AI search engines are a new wave of search platforms powered by large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Unlike traditional search engines – which return a list of blue links – AI search engines aim to understand the user’s query in natural language and deliver synthesized, conversational answers drawn from multiple sources in real-time.
In short, they don’t just show where the answer might be. They become the answer.
Here’s how they’re different from the traditional search experience:
- Conversational Interface: Users can ask questions in plain language and receive direct, human-like responses.
- Real-Time Web Access: Many AI search tools browse the web live to provide up-to-date answers, not just rely on static indexes.
- Citation Transparency: Engines like Perplexity and You.com link to their sources, helping users verify information.
- Multimodal Input & Output: Some tools allow users to upload files, images, or even speak their queries.
These engines are designed to feel more like a knowledgeable assistant than a search box. And they’re not just experimental anymore – millions of users are turning to them for product research, content summarization, decision-making, and more.
Key Players in AI Search
Several AI-driven search platforms are reshaping how users access and interact with information.
- Perplexity AI has experienced explosive growth—jumping from 2.5 million to 20 million daily queries in under a year. Its appeal lies in its real-time, source-cited answers and ability to follow up in a conversational thread.
- You.com stands out for its customizable “modes” (Research, Creative, Genius) and user-created AI agents. While traffic data isn’t public, its feature-rich interface has attracted professionals seeking a more tailored search experience.
- Bing Copilot brings AI into Microsoft’s ecosystem, integrating GPT-4 powered chat into both Bing and the Edge browser. Microsoft reports that ads shown within Copilot generate a 69% higher CTR compared to traditional search ads.
- ChatGPT (with search), while not a traditional search engine, has become a major player in information retrieval. A recent study revealed that 27% of U.S. users now prefer using ChatGPT over Google for certain queries—particularly when seeking summaries, code help, or quick comparisons.
- Claude (by Anthropic) is increasingly being integrated into AI search platforms like Komo and others that let users choose between models. Known for its long context handling and accuracy in summarization, Claude 2 and 3 have become go-to options in AI-enhanced research tools, especially for academic and enterprise users.
AI Search by the Numbers
AI search engines are gaining traction fast—and recent data backs up the momentum. While traditional search engines like Google still dominate overall traffic, users are increasingly exploring AI-powered alternatives, especially for tasks like summarization, product discovery, and research.
Here are some key stats that show how the landscape is shifting:
- 71.5% of internet users have tried at least one AI search tool in the past year, though only 14% use them daily.
- A TechRadar report revealed that 27% of U.S. users now turn to tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or You.com instead of Google or Bing for certain types of searches – particularly when they want quick, direct answers without clicking through multiple links.
- Interest in AI search is task-specific.
- 41% of users are open to using AI search engines for online shopping.
- 24% would use them for how-to guides or learning a new skill.
- Only 19% trust them for news.
- Just 12% would rely on AI for health-related information.
- Gen Z and Millennials are leading the way: in the same study, 82% of Gen Z users had tested AI search, compared to 65% of Gen X and 45% of Boomers.
- Adobe Analytics reported that during the 2024 holiday season, AI-generated search referrals to U.S. retail websites jumped 1,300% year-over-year. These sessions also performed better—time on site increased by 8%, pageviews per visit rose by 12%, and bounce rates dropped by 23%.
The Current State of Search Ads
Despite the rise of AI-powered search engines, traditional search advertising remains a dominant force in digital marketing. But that dominance is evolving—fast. Marketers are still heavily investing in search, yet they’re also facing early signs that the ecosystem is being reshaped by AI, automation, and new user behaviors.
Search Ad Spend Is Still Growing
- Google’s search ad revenue rose by 10% year-over-year in Q4 2024, showing that demand for search placements remains high- even in the face of disruption from AI tools.
- Microsoft Advertising (Bing) also saw a 7% YoY increase, driven partly by new placements within its Copilot AI chat experience.
AI Search Ads Are Emerging – But Still Early
- In platforms like Bing Copilot, ads are being tested directly inside conversational responses. Microsoft reported that these AI-native ads generate 69% higher click-through rates and 76% higher conversion rates compared to traditional search ads.
- Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is still in experimental stages, but early feedback shows that AI-generated overviews can reduce clicks on traditional ads and organic links—especially for informational queries.
- According to Similarweb, websites featured in SGE summaries received 8–10% less organic traffic, and paid ads in those layouts had lower visibility unless placed above the AI snippet.
AI Search Ads
While traditional ad formats dominate today’s search landscape, a new generation of AI-native search ads is quietly emerging—integrated directly into AI-driven experiences rather than appearing around search results.
Perplexity Is Preparing for Ads
Perplexity AI, one of the fastest-growing AI search engines, has confirmed that it will begin testing ads in 2025. The company is already generating over 20 million daily queries, and its CEO has stated that monetization via advertising is a key priority.
Unlike traditional keyword-triggered ads, Perplexity may introduce contextual placements within answers or even paid visibility in citation sources—creating a new advertising layer inside conversational results.
Google’s AI Overviews Create Ad Tension
With Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), AI overviews appear at the top of many search results, pushing both organic results and paid ads further down.
While Google still shows Shopping and Search ads above the AI snapshot in most cases, advertisers have voiced concerns that SGE reduces ad visibility and click volume, especially for informational queries where users find what they need without clicking at all.
There’s also speculation that Google may monetize the AI overview itself, by inserting subtle ad formats within the generated content—potentially a new frontier for ad creativity and disclosure standards.
ChatGPT Search Is Growing—Ads May Follow
OpenAI’s ChatGPT, especially with the browsing tool enabled, has become an increasingly popular way to search the web. Although it currently does not serve ads, its integration with Microsoft Bing (which includes sponsored links) and its expanding user base have led many experts to believe ads are inevitable.
With OpenAI reportedly in talks with partners (including Apple) to deepen its role as a default assistant or search tool, many expect to see sponsored answers or contextual ad formats rolled out within the next 12–18 months.
AI Search Engines Will Evolve Advertising – Not Eliminate It
AI may change the way we search, but it won’t kill advertising. Expecting a multi-billion dollar industry to vanish is simply unrealistic. What’s more likely – and already starting to happen – is that search advertising will adapt to fit the new AI-driven experience, with smarter placements, new formats, and conversational integration becoming the norm.
How AI Search Will Reshape Ads
AI’s impact on search advertising won’t happen overnight – but the shift has already begun.
Some changes will be felt in the near future, while others will unfold gradually over time. From new ad formats to evolving user behavior, search as we know it is entering a new phase.
Below, we’ve outlined the most likely ways AI search engines could reshape how search ads work.
- Decline in Click-Through Rates (CTR): AI-generated answers often satisfy users’ needs instantly, reducing the need to click on paid links- leading to lower CTRs for traditional search ads.
- Drop in Ad Visibility: When AI summaries dominate the top of the search results, ads may be pushed lower or even excluded from the visible part of the page.
- Reinvention of Ad Formats: We’ll see more ad formats integrated into AI chat flows – like suggested products in a conversation or sponsored follow-up prompts.
- Ads Embedded in AI Answers (Native AI Ads): Instead of showing banners or search text ads, platforms may begin embedding ads naturally within AI-generated answers, similar to influencer-style product mentions.
- Shift Away from Keyword-Based Targeting: As AI better understands user intent, advertisers may move toward semantic and contextual targeting rather than relying on exact-match keywords.
- Ad Budgets Diversifying to New Platforms: Brands may begin allocating portions of their search ad spend to emerging AI search platforms like Perplexity or You.com as they introduce ad offerings.
- Shortened or Fragmented Conversion Funnels: AI answers may remove several steps from the traditional funnel- leading users to decisions faster, but making attribution harder for advertisers.
- AI-Personalized Ad Creatives: Search engines may dynamically generate and personalize ad copy in real time based on user context, behavior, or even tone of query.
- New Performance Metrics Required: Instead of CTR alone, marketers might start tracking metrics like “AI exposure rate” or “summary mentions” to measure performance.
- Shared Revenue Models with Content Sources: Platforms may introduce models where sites featured in citations within AI answers share in the ad revenue generated from those sessions.
- New Ethical & Regulatory Challenges: As ads get blended with AI-generated content, clear rules will be needed to distinguish promotional content from editorial or informational responses.
- Blurring of Organic and Paid Boundaries: When AI mixes sources into one answer, the line between unpaid and paid placements can become unclear—challenging both user trust and ad measurement.
- Inconsistent or Lacking Ad Labels: Without standardized visual cues, users may not realize they’re seeing sponsored content – raising transparency concerns for regulators.
- Rise of Voice and Visual Ads: AI search is becoming multimodal. As users search with images or voice, new ad formats – like voice-based sponsored answers or visual galleries – will gain traction.
- Slot-Based Conversational Ad Placement: In chat-based search engines, ad placement may evolve into “slots” within a dialogue—sponsored responses that appear after a certain number of turns or at key decision points.
What Advertisers Should Expect
AI isn’t replacing search advertising – it’s reshaping it.
As AI search engines become more prominent, advertisers (especially PPC professionals) will need to adapt their strategies. Traditional tactics like keyword bidding and static ad copy are no longer enough in a world where conversations, summaries, and real-time context dominate the search experience.
Some changes will arrive slowly, others rapidly. But one thing is clear: marketers must stay proactive. From testing new platforms like Perplexity to rethinking how ads are tracked and measured in AI-first environments, this is a moment that demands curiosity, experimentation, and agility.
PPC professionals will need to make the most of AI capabilities to stay effective and efficient. Adsby was built with this mission in mind.
It’s designed to support advertisers by automating core PPC processes- such as keyword optimization, ad copy generation, and account management – while ensuring that AI is used in a way that enhances the work of PPC experts, not replaces it.
As the lines between search, conversation, and commerce continue to blur, those who adapt early will be best positioned to succeed. AI will continue to redefine how users interact with search—and how brands show up within those moments.
For advertisers, this isn’t just a technological shift. It’s a strategic one.
Now is the time to explore, experiment, and prepare for what comes next.