There’s a simple reason why Google is making significant changes to its iconic, decades-old search engine. That’s because the user is making a complex request.
“People are asking much longer and harder questions, and there are no clear answers anywhere on the internet,” said Robbie Stein, Google’s vice president of search products.
Stein spoke to CNN about a new feature that will allow Google to stitch together sources from across the web to generate custom visuals, interactive graphics, and even mini-apps that run on Google’s search pages in response to a query. This is one of many updates the internet giant announced at its annual conference this week.
The most valuable real estate on the Internet is evolving to reflect the new ways people find information online. This is the latest example of how artificial intelligence is changing the internet in search, social media, online shopping, and more.
According to Google, people are starting to use longer, more specific search terms instead of short, general keywords, and experts say more people are starting their searches on apps like ChatGPT. AI-generated fake influencers are causing a stir on social media. And more and more people are using AI to compare and buy products.
Despite growing concerns about AI technology and its impact on jobs, safety, and the environment, it is becoming impossible to avoid using the internet without encountering AI in some form.
“After a while, it just becomes a part of life,” says Joseph Turow, a media professor at the University of Pennsylvania who will soon publish a book about the impact of AI on internet advertising.
Google announced that its search box is undergoing the biggest upgrade in 25 years. The new search field expands to fit more text and makes it easier to add other media to your search, such as photos, files, and Chrome browser tabs.
The goal, Stein said, is to reduce the number of steps it takes for users to complete a search. This includes tasks such as performing searches based on photos and switching to Google’s AI mode before asking follow-up questions.
Searches that include questions by taking a photo or circling something on a mobile phone screen are up 60% year-over-year, he said.
Searches in AI mode, the version of Google tailored for back-and-forth interactions, have more than doubled every quarter since its launch a year ago, and AI mode queries are on average three times longer than regular searches.
Data from SEO and marketing firm Semrush shows that some people start a Google search the same way they type into ChatGPT. Searches containing 11 or more words increased from 3.27% to 5.37%, conversational queries increased from 5% to 20%, while keyword-based searches decreased. However, the median query still contains only three words, suggesting that most people are still searching the old-fashioned way.
Robert Langenbach, president of SEO marketing firm Eight-O-Two Marketing, said he’s seeing people entering more search terms in the 3-5 or 5-10 word range instead of 2-3. This started before ChatGPT arrived in late 2022, but has increased significantly since then.
“(AI) has almost trained people to search differently,” he said.
Commonly used in conjunction with AI apps such as ChatGPT and Google. More than 20% of ChatGPT referral traffic goes to Google, Semrush found after analyzing 1 billion rows of US clickstream data, or “traces” of user activity on the web. Google is typically used for direct questions and transactions, while ChatGPT is used to summarize information, compare and create documents, Semlash said in an email to CNN.
“There are a lot of things that just say, ‘I found something and I want help getting there quickly.’ That’s the majority of the queries we get over time on Google,” said Leigh McKenzie, director of organic visibility at Semrush.
The scope of AI goes far beyond search. Take a look at Aitana Lopez’s Instagram profile.
Online, she looks like any other social media influencer, posting photos of herself posing at glamorous events, hitting the gym and sharing beauty tips with her nearly 400,000 followers.
But she’s not real. Lopez is one of the most prominent AI-generated characters to rise to internet stardom, along with Lil Miquela, Lu de Magal, and Granny Spils.
According to social agency Billion Dollar Boy, nearly 80% of marketers have increased their spending on generative AI-powered creator content in the past 12 months. There’s also an AI-generated award honoring the best internet personality.
Turow said AI personalities are attractive to brands because they are generally cheaper than well-known human influencers and can morph to suit specific campaigns.
Big tech wants to make AI an even bigger part of social media. Meta is integrating the Muse Spark model into apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, and testing side chats with AI assistants in group conversations. On Tuesday, Google announced Gemini Omni, a new AI model that people can use to generate realistic avatars of themselves.
According to Adobe, traffic from AI services to US retail sites grew 393% year-over-year in the first three months of 2026, and Meta, Amazon, Google, and OpenAI have all introduced AI shopping tools.
Google this week introduced a new “universal” shopping cart that lets users add items from a variety of retailers across the web. Amazon recently incorporated its shopping assistant Rufus into a new tool called Alexa for Shopping. The tool embeds an AI helper into online retailers’ search bars, allowing shoppers to ask the helper to compare products, price history, and more.
But even with AI at the top of Google answering shopper questions directly, Stein says there’s still a need for high-quality websites created and maintained by humans. Google still says billions of clicks are sent to websites every day, but data from Pew Research last year found that Google users are less likely to click on links when viewing answers summarized by AI.
Langenbach says that while client traffic is down, the increased traffic is leading to increased engagement, including completed purchases, reservations, and quote requests. “You have to be ready to adapt, because[search]could be very different in six months or a year,” he says.
