Google to revamp its search engine for real AI?

I'm using ChatGPT more and more when doing research for the Report instead of Google. Just kidding, I don't research anything.

Google Takes Aim at AI Firms Challenging Its Search Dominance

Company is rolling out feature that will answer search queries in chatbot-style conversation without classic blue links

By Katherine Blunt, WSJ

May 20, 2025 1:45 pm ET

• Google is overhauling its search engine with “AI Mode” to rival AI chatbots like ChatGPT.

• AI Mode answers queries in chatbot-style, differing from the standard list of blue links.

• Google plans to integrate ads within AI Mode and allow virtual try-ons for online shopping.

Google is overhauling its iconic search engine to compete more directly with a wave of artificial-intelligence chatbots that threaten its core business.

The company has started rolling out on its search page what it calls “AI Mode,” which answers search queries in a chatbot-style conversation without the standard list of blue links.

The option, which Google announced at its developers conference Tuesday, is being added as a tab within search for users in the U.S.

The change marks Google’s most ambitious effort to date to confront the AI upstarts that threaten its flagship search product and largest source of revenue.

“It’s a total reimagining of search with more advanced reasoning,” said Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google parent Alphabet GOOGL -1.54%decrease; red down pointing triangle. “​​We are now entering a new phase of the AI platform shift where decades of research are now becoming reality.”

Many major tech companies are grappling with the prospect that generative artificial intelligence could disrupt their longstanding dominance, and face pressure from Wall Street to embrace AI.

Apple executive Eddy Cue said Google searches in Safari had recently dropped for the first time in two decades. Photo: suzanne cordeiro/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

AI chatbots are fundamentally changing the way users search for information. In response to queries, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and its competitors aggregate information in conversational responses. Users don’t click on multiple links as often as they might while searching Google.

Google has performed as much as 90% of the world’s internet searches. It could lose traffic—and the advertising revenue that follows from it—if users shift to AI-driven alternatives.

Alphabet shares slid sharply this month after an Apple executive testified in a federal antitrust case against Google that Apple would likely offer AI options such as ChatGPT or Perplexity in its Safari browser within the next year.

To get ahead in the AI race, Google has been improving the capabilities of its own AI model and chatbot, known as Gemini, and adding AI features to many of its products.

Google last year introduced “AI Overviews” to search. The feature uses AI to summarize traditional search results and usually is displayed at the top of the results page. It now has 1.5 billion monthly users, Google said.

Google has been experimenting with “AI Mode” in recent months. It provides a search experience similar to what users would get from using other AI chatbots.

Under the new rollout, people using Google search can hit on a tab to turn on “AI Mode.” It will run on Gemini.

Google said it also plans to introduce a feature within AI Mode allowing users to upload a photo of themselves and virtually try on clothes while online shopping.

The threat of artificial intelligence became more real for Google, after it was revealed that there was a drop in Google search traffic on the Safari web browser. WSJ’s Dan Gallagher explains.

Robby Stein, Google’s vice president of product for Search, said the company is considering ways to include ads within AI Mode results. “We view that as part of the content mix that people actually want,” he said.

The 2022 launch of ChatGPT set off a scramble among tech companies to invest in developing generative AI products.

Investors have expressed concerns Google was lagging behind ChatGPT and other AI competitors in the early stages of the race, especially compared with rival Microsoft, which has invested billions in OpenAI.

Competition has intensified since. During his trial testimony earlier this month, Apple executive Eddy Cue also said Google searches in Safari had recently fallen for the first time in two decades.

Google has said it has seen an increase in total searches coming from Apple devices and platforms.

AI chatbots aren’t the only threat to the foundations of Google’s business. Last year, the judge overseeing the federal antitrust case ruled the company was illegally maintaining its search-engine monopoly.

The judge is now considering a range of potential remedies, including forcing the sale of the company’s Chrome browser.

Google executives said in court that the company has been buffeted by competition since federal prosecutors brought the case in 2020. Google presented in court data showing use of Gemini has surged in recent months but still significantly lags behind that of ChatGPT.

Pichai testified that Gemini is trying to make up ground. He said Google hopes to enter into a distribution agreement with Apple by the middle of this year that would enable Siri to tap Gemini in responding to user queries. Apple already offers that option with ChatGPT.

Write to Katherine Blunt at katherine.blunt@wsj.com