Google still dominates search with roughly 80% market share. But AI search platforms — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and others — now handle an estimated 15 to 20% of informational query volume. That is a number that did not exist two years ago, and it is growing fast. AI search traffic has grown 16x since 2024.

If your business relies on organic search for leads, sales, or visibility, this shift is already affecting you — whether you have noticed it or not.

Where the Traffic Is Going

ChatGPT Search processes 250 to 500 million queries per week and holds roughly 42% of AI search volume. Its share has actually declined from 58% in early 2025 as competitors have gained ground.

Gemini has overtaken Perplexity as the second-largest AI search engine, holding 18 to 21% of the AI chatbot market. Its integration across Google’s own products gives it a structural advantage.

Perplexity has grown 340% year-over-year and captures about 14% of AI search queries. Its citation-first approach — showing sources for every claim — has made it particularly popular with researchers and B2B buyers.

The market is fragmenting rather than consolidating. Different users prefer different tools for different types of queries. This makes the challenge for businesses more complex, not less.

What This Means in Practice

The queries moving to AI search are overwhelmingly informational — “how does X work”, “what is the best Y for Z”, “compare A and B”. These are often the top-of-funnel queries that drive brand awareness and build the trust that eventually leads to conversions.

If your content strategy is built around ranking for informational keywords on Google, a portion of that audience is now getting answers from AI tools that may or may not cite your site. The traffic does not disappear overnight. It erodes gradually, which makes it easy to miss until the trend is unmistakable.

The businesses most exposed are those that rely heavily on informational content to drive organic traffic — publishers, SaaS companies, professional services firms, and e-commerce sites with substantial blog or guide content.

What to Do About It

Diversify your visibility. SEO is no longer just about Google rankings. Your content needs to be structured and authoritative enough to be cited by AI tools. This is sometimes called GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) — optimising for inclusion in AI-generated answers, not just traditional search results.

Focus on content that AI cannot replace. Original research, proprietary data, genuine expert commentary, and first-hand experience are harder for AI systems to replicate and more likely to be cited as sources. Generic informational content that restates what is already widely available is exactly the type AI tools summarise without needing to send traffic to the source.

Strengthen your brand signals. AI search tools are more likely to cite sources that are recognised authorities. Consistent publishing, backlink profiles from credible sites, and clear authorship signals all contribute to whether an AI tool treats your site as a reliable source.

Track AI referral traffic. Check your analytics for referrals from chat.openai.com, perplexity.ai, and gemini.google.com. This traffic is growing, and understanding which pages attract AI citations tells you what is working.

Do not abandon Google SEO. Google still handles 80% of search. The fundamentals — technical health, quality content, strong internal linking, and a good user experience — still drive the majority of organic traffic. The point is to add AI visibility to your strategy, not replace what is already working.

The Bigger Picture

The shift to AI search is not a temporary trend. It is a structural change in how people find information online. Businesses that adapt their SEO strategy now — building the kind of content and authority that performs across both traditional and AI search — will have a significant advantage over those that wait.

If you are not sure how AI search is affecting your traffic, or how to adapt your strategy, reach out for a free consultation. We will look at your current organic performance, assess your AI search visibility, and give you a practical plan for what to do next.