The ChatGPT Effect: How AI is changing the way we search

Three years ago, if someone needed to fix a leaky faucet or understand inflation, they usually did one of three things. You typed your question into Google, searched YouTube for how-to videos, or desperately yelled at Alexa for help.

Today, millions of people are starting with a different approach. Just open ChatGPT and ask a question.

I am a professor and director of research impact and AI strategy at Mississippi State University Libraries. As an academic who studies information retrieval, I see this shift in the first tools people reach for to find information to be at the heart of how ChatGPT has changed our everyday use of technology.

Search changes

The biggest change isn’t the loss of other tools. ChatGPT has become the new gateway to information. Within months of its launch on November 30, 2022, ChatGPT reached 100 million weekly users. By the end of 2025, that number had increased to 800 million. This makes it one of the most widely used consumer technologies on the planet.

Research shows that this use reflects actual changes in behavior, not just curiosity. According to a 2025 Pew Research Center study, 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT, nearly double the share in 2023. Among adults under 30, a clear majority (58%) have used ChatGPT. Approximately 60% of U.S. adults who use AI say they use AI to find information, according to an AP-NORC poll, making it the most common use case for AI. For those under 30, this number rises to 74%.

While traditional search engines remain the backbone of the online information ecosystem, the types of searches people do have changed measurably since ChatGPT was introduced. What tools people reach for first is changing.

For years, Google has been the default for everything from “how to reset your router” to “debt limit explained.” These basic informational queries accounted for the majority of search traffic. But for those quick, clear, everyday “What does this mean?” questions, ChatGPT can now answer them faster and more clearly than a page of links.

And people noticed. A 2025 US consumer survey found that 55% of respondents use OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini AI chatbot for tasks they previously relied on Google search, with usage rates even higher in the UK. A separate analysis of more than 1 billion search sessions found that traffic from generative AI platforms is growing 165 times faster than traditional search, and approximately 13 million U.S. adults have already made generative AI their go-to tool for online searches.

This doesn’t mean people don’t “Google it” anymore, it just means that ChatGPT has removed the types of questions where users want a direct explanation rather than a list of links. Curious about policy updates? Need definitions? Want to politely reply to unpleasant emails? ChatGPT is faster, more conversational, and more clear.

At the same time, Google isn’t standing still. Its search results look different than they did three years ago, as Google has started incorporating its AI system, Gemini, directly at the top of the page. The “AI Overview” summary that appears above the traditional search link can now answer many simple questions instantly (sometimes accurately, sometimes not so accurately).

But either way, most people won’t scroll past the AI-generated snapshot. This fact and the influence of ChatGPT are the reasons why the number of “zero-click” searches has skyrocketed. According to a report using data from Samelweb, traffic from Google to news sites fell from more than 2.3 billion visits in mid-2024 to less than 1.7 billion in May 2025, while the percentage of news-related searches that resulted in zero clicks jumped from 56% to 69% in one year.

Google Search is great at referencing a wide range of sources and perspectives, but the results can sometimes feel cluttered and designed for clicks over clarity. In contrast, ChatGPT provides more focused, conversational responses that prioritize descriptions over rankings. ChatGPT responses may lack the source transparency and multiple perspectives often found in Google Search.

In terms of accuracy, both tools can give misleading results in some cases. While Google’s strength lies in allowing users to cross-check multiple sources, ChatGPT’s accuracy relies heavily on the quality of the prompts and the user’s ability to recognize when a response needs to be verified elsewhere.

OpenAI aims to first make ChatPGT more attractive for search by getting people to use browsers with ChatGPT built-in.

Smart speakers and YouTube

ChatGPT’s influence extended beyond search engines. Voice assistants like Alexa speakers and Google Home continue to report high ownership rates, but their numbers have decreased slightly. The 2025 summary of voice search statistics estimates that approximately 34% of people over the age of 12 own a smart speaker, down from 35% in 2023. While this is not a dramatic decline, the lack of growth may indicate that more complex queries are moving to ChatGPT or similar tools. When you need a detailed explanation, step-by-step plan, or help drafting something, a voice assistant that responds with short sentences suddenly becomes limiting.

In contrast, YouTube remains a giant. As of 2024, there will be approximately 2.74 billion users, and that number has been steadily increasing since 2010. Among U.S. teens, approximately 90% say they use YouTube, making it the most widely used platform for that age group. But the types of videos people want are changing.

Currently, users tend to start with ChatGPT and move to YouTube if they want additional information conveyed in how-to videos. People turn to ChatGPT for summaries, scripts, or checklists for many everyday tasks, such as “explaining health benefits” or “help me write a complaint email.” They only go to YouTube when they need to see a physical process.

Similar patterns can be seen in more specialized areas. For example, software engineers have long relied on sites like Stack Overflow for tips and pieces of software code. However, after the release of ChatGPT, the volume of questions began to decline precipitously, with one analysis showing that overall traffic decreased by approximately 50% between 2022 and 2024. When chatbots can generate code snippets and explanations on demand, fewer people will bother typing their questions into public forums.

So what happens to us?

Three years later, ChatGPT has not replaced the rest of the technology stack. It has been rearranged. Default search has changed. Search engines are still aimed at detailed research and complex comparisons. YouTube is still about watching real people doing real things. Smart speakers are still aimed at hands-free convenience.

But when people need to understand something, many now start with a chat conversation rather than a search box. This is the real ChatGPT effect. This isn’t just adding another app to your phone, it’s quietly changing the way we look at things in the first place.

Deborah Lee is a professor and director of research impact and AI strategy at Mississippi State University.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.