In today’s digital world, it seems like there’s always a new tool or platform that promises to change everything. Lately, we’ve heard a lot about artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots. We’ve also heard about how AI could compete with traditional search engines like Google. In fact, AI companies have already launched (or announced plans to launch) search engines. In some cases, like Perplexity’s, plans even include a full-featured AI-powered web browser.

So, will we soon stop “Googling” and start “chatting” with AI to find information? Let’s take a look at the current situation to understand what’s happening.

The Impressive Rise of AI Chatbots

AI chatbots have grown tremendously in recent years and are expected to continue growing at a rapid pace. For example, by 2024, the chatbot market was already worth around $7.76 billion. This figure is projected to increase by more than 20% annually until 2030. Speaking of traffic to AI services, it increased by more than 250% in the last year alone.

What’s driving this massive growth? Well, several things. The technology behind chatbots has improved dramatically, allowing them to better understand what we ask and provide more useful answers with a more human touch. Additionally, companies have realized that chatbots can help them improve customer service. AI’s “agentic” capabilities are helping businesses become more efficient and save money. Providing a quick response to customer questions 24/7? AI makes it possible.

It’s not just companies that are happy. Users are also increasingly comfortable with AI and its ability to provide quick, personalized answers. Some even use chatbots instead of search engines for certain tasks. Furthermore, everything points to the next big step in the field of AI chatbots being that they learn more about you. Google has already announced that Gemini will be able to learn more about its users by analyzing their habits in other company services (Gmail, Photos, etc.). Thus, the answers will be increasingly useful, personalized, and unique for each one.

Search Engines vs. Chatbots: Who Moves More People?

Chatbots are all the rage and growing rapidly. However, when it comes to traffic, traditional search engines like Google are still king. If we compare web traffic, search engines had far more visits than chatbots in the last year. In fact, search engines generated 34 times more visits than AI chatbots, according to SEMrush data.

In March 2025, search engines averaged 5.5 billion visits per day. Meanwhile, AI chatbots “only” reached 233.1 million. The difference is quite large at first glance. Google remains the undisputed giant in the search world, after all. The service from the Mountain View giant boasts a market share of around 90%. Not everything is rosy for Google, though. Its privileged position cost it an unfavorable antitrust ruling that could force it to sell Chrome and other potential remedies.

Other major players in the search engine segment include Microsoft’s Bing, Yahoo Search, Yandex, DuckDuckGo, and Baidu. As for AI chatbots, OpenAI’s ChatGPT is the leader in terms of popularity. However, there are also other strong contenders, such as Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Claude AI, and DeepSeek. Furthermore, let’s not forget that new platforms are emerging very quickly. Who would have imagined last year that an unknown DeepSeek would suddenly emerge and crash NVIDIA stock?

Despite the growth of chatbots, the reality is that traditional search engines are still the primary place we go when we need to find information online.

How Much Do We Use Chatbots Compared to Search Engines?

According to reports, many people have tried chatbots at least once. We’re talking about 88% of people, according to a Tidio study. However, the truth is that we still use them much less frequently than search engines. In 2023, only 35% of people who used chatbots did so instead of a search engine to get answers. Most of us still use Google and its partners for our daily searches.

This situation is natural, considering how integrated Google has been into our lives for so long. Currently, our smartphones provide us with instant access to the full power of Google. A Google user makes about 200 searches per month, while a Perplexity Search user (an AI-powered search engine) only makes about 15.31. According to data from Search Engine Land, in 2024, Google received 373 times more searches than ChatGPT. This tells us that, although chatbots are gaining ground, they are still not the main option for most people when searching for information.

Why Are Search Engines Still Kings?

Despite all the hype about chatbots, traditional search engines still rule the online information world. Why?

One of the main reasons is the amount of information search engines have indexed. Google, for example, has crawled billions of web pages. This is much more than most chatbots can access. We can probably find information about almost anything in a search engine.

Plus, we’ve been using search engines for years, so we’re very familiar with them. The phrase “Google it” is already part of our language. The simple, easy-to-use interface of search engines also helps keep them popular. But beware; search engines haven’t been left behind in the technological race. They’re incorporating AI features, like Google’s “AI Overviews,” that give us more direct answers. Google is combining both worlds to make its search engine even more useful. The development of Search’s AI Mode is clear proof of this.

Another important thing is that search engines give us results from many different sources. This allows us to compare information and decide what to believe. Chatbots are sometimes not as transparent about where they get their information or can even make things up—so-called “AI hallucinations.” Search engines are also better when we need to thoroughly research a topic and consult many sources. While a chatbot gives you an answer, a search engine gives you many options to explore.

Finally, search engines’ ad-based business model is well-established and allows them to continue investing in improving their technology. Chatbots are still figuring out how to become profitable. OpenAI claims to be losing money even with subscribers to the $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan.

In short, the massive amount of information search engines handle and their constant evolution with AI give them a huge advantage over chatbots for now.

What Does the Future Hold?

So, what can we expect? Most likely, search engines and AI chatbots will continue to exist and become increasingly integrated. Search engines will continue to use AI to give us better answers, and chatbots will become smarter and more reliable. We may start using chatbots for quick, specific questions, while we’ll continue to use search engines for broader research.

The market for both technologies will continue to grow, and AI could even lead to more people searching for information in general. For businesses, it’s important to understand how both search engines and chatbots work in order to best reach their customers. SEO (search engine optimization) will continue to be important, but we’ll also need to consider how chatbots access and use information.

Ultimately, the future will likely bring a blend of both worlds, where traditional search and conversational AI will complement each other to help us find the information we need as easily and efficiently as possible.