Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the online search landscape, offering instant answers and significantly reducing user dependence on traditional websites.
According to data from SimilarWeb and other analytics firms, AI-powered platforms like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity are now delivering concise results directly, leaving users with less reason to visit external pages.
The shift has caused a sharp decline in search-driven traffic across multiple sectors in 2024–2025. Travel and tourism platforms reported a 20% drop, news and media 17%, e-commerce 9%, and finance and food websites around 7%. Even lifestyle portals saw a 5% fall, highlighting the widespread impact of AI search integration.
Wikipedia, one of the world’s most popular websites, experienced a significant decline in daily visitors — falling from 165 million in March 2022 to 128 million in March 2025, marking a 23% reduction since AI tools gained mainstream traction. BrightEdge also revealed that direct clicks from Google searches declined by nearly 30% as AI Overviews became more widely adopted.
Further data from The Decoder reported that news-related searches on ChatGPT surged 212% in 2025 compared to the previous year, while conventional Google searches for similar content rose only 5%. This widening gap suggests a long-term shift in user habits.
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has announced plans to develop its own web browser — a move that could place additional pressure on search-driven websites and Google, which still derives nearly 75% of its revenue from online advertising.