AI search is becoming automatic, whether users like it or not. In just one year, Google’s AI-generated search answers, known as AI Overviews, have gone from appearing in 15% of searches to 43%, according to a new report, driving a shift in the way web users consume information online.
In a recent analysis of the productivity zone, market intelligence firm Similarweb noted that what started as an AI layer on top of search has become an integral part of the search journey itself, as Google drops users into an AI Overview, where they can continue their research with Google’s AI Mode with more conversation.
Meanwhile, AI Mode visits increased from 126 million in June 2025 to 279 million in May 2026.
The data shows a broader shift in the way users search the web – a shift from an era when Google provided a simple list of blue links to click and read to where Google itself is the destination, getting its answers and information from the websites it indexes.
This, in turn, seems to increase the time users spend on the Google platform rather than just using it as a tool to find websites. Over the past year, Similarweb data shows that the average length of Google searches has increased, suggesting that people are now replacing their short keyword-based search queries with longer, more natural conversations designed for AI.
This change was not welcomed by publishers, who lost referral traffic due to the increase in AI citations that did not lead to clicks. Last year, Similaweb reported on this trend, noting in particular how bad it was for news publishers. Recently, technology infrastructure company Cloudflare launched tools that allow publishers to fight back by blocking AI crawlers from their websites unless those AI companies pay for access to their content through its marketplace.
While AI citations don’t always lead users to click through to a destination, the number of AI responses that include citations has increased fivefold in the past year, says a new Similarweb report.
However, only 6.8% of US ChatGPT desktop queries included quotes as of May 2026, despite this growth. (Some industries fare better, with travel, retail, and sports questions generating more quoted responses than others.)
However, there is hope for publishers. According to ChatGPT at least, US desktop traffic improved after the May 7 search update, which saw the share of visits to web pages more than double from 25% in March 2026 to nearly 60% by May 30, 2026.
This suggests that users use green links that stand out more among AI-driven search results when they become available.
Even with these improvements, the main trend of AI search remains unchanged, as Google transforms itself from a gateway to the wider web into a place in itself.
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