00:00Google Search, as we know it, seems to be dying.
00:03In 2025, classic searches were down 33%.
00:06For many of us, AI is the new front door to the internet.
00:10We're moving from the search engine era to the answer engine era.
00:13AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are now handling millions of queries that
00:18used to go straight to a classic search bar.
00:21What's more, Google Search itself is cannibalizing its own results with AI summaries.
00:26By pinning them at the very top, other results are less visible.
00:29And that has caused many websites to lose a massive chunk of their traffic overnight.
00:33AI search is convenient, but what exactly does it change for us?
00:37AI search, interpreting information.
00:40AI fundamentally changes what information we see when we search online.
00:44Remember the good old Google search?
00:46A list of links ranked according to factors like keywords, popularity, and source.
00:51Now AI interprets information and writes up an answer, seemingly tailored to your needs.
00:56But that AI-generated summary often amplifies larger voices, and hides smaller minority
01:02aspects.
01:03Because AI is trained on dominant sources, the system mirrors the majority view and
01:08sidelines perspectives that appear less frequently online.
01:11AI search is also creating a new kind of information inequality.
01:16Depending on what language you use, your results might vary wildly.
01:20If you aren't searching in a major language, you might be left with shallow or outdated info.
01:25And remember, AI makes mistakes, and it lies convincingly.
01:29The summaries can present speculations or errors with unwarranted confidence.
01:34So, always double-check the results, and don't be fooled by legit-looking links.
01:38They might be taken out of context, or they don't even exist at all.
01:41AI is the new gatekeeper for information and for products.
01:45While information providers seem to be scrambling to keep up,
01:49some businesses are already racing to secure their spot in AI answers.
01:54AI searches – the fight for placement
01:56The industry is currently in the Wild West phase.
02:00Reportedly, companies are trying to trick AI by using shady tactics to get their brands mentioned.
02:05This includes self-serving listicles, with their own product at number one.
02:09These articles are designed to look like neutral reviews,
02:13even though they are effectively ads written to manipulate the AI's training data.
02:17Another tactic is hidden prompts.
02:20Marketers embed AI-targeted phrases, hoping the model will pick up the cues
02:24and repeat their preferred product messages.
02:26So, just because an AI recommends something, it does mean it's the best product.
02:31Now, without any tricks, how can websites increase their visibility the legitimate way?
02:36Well, the old playbook is unfortunately burning up.
02:40Keywords and backlinks used to be effective strategies to direct people to your pages.
02:45But in this new world, the focus is shifting.
02:47It is now much more important to influence how AI interprets, summarizes, and recommends information.
02:54Okay, what does that mean?
02:56In a nutshell, your brand needs to be talked about everywhere.
02:59On social media like Reddit, in niche blogs, and preferably in news articles.
03:04If AI finds enough proof that you are the expert, it will tell the users you're the expert.
03:10If you aren't being mentioned in the places AI crawls, you effectively don't exist.
03:14Experts argue this will disproportionately disadvantage smaller pages and enterprises,
03:20who don't have years of online presence,
03:22and can't afford experts to optimize their online appearance everywhere.
03:26To sum it up, users get fast, instant summaries.
03:29But unless the underlying AI systems become more transparent and less biased,
03:34the convenience comes at a high cost.
03:36Less diversity.
03:37Less accuracy.
03:39And, as websites lose traffic and money, less information on the open web.
03:43What's your take on this?
03:44Let us know.
03:45Let us know.
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