Search strategy used to mean ranking on Google. We developed websites and invested heavily in organic visibility. All marketing strategies are built around capturing the demand for Google search results.
But search behavior is not static. Today, people search TikTok for recommendations, YouTube for tutorials, Reddit for honest opinions, and Amazon for product validation.
Search behavior now encompasses a much broader set of platforms, creating one of the most overlooked opportunities in digital marketing.
Search behavior varies
A recent study from SparkToro and Datos analyzed search behavior across 41 major platforms, including traditional search engines, ecommerce platforms, social networks, AI tools, and directory sites.
The findings reinforce something that many marketers are beginning to notice. Searches are no longer stored in traditional search engines.
While Google still dominates the search industry, a growing share of discovery now happens across a broad set of platforms – the search space, if you will.
Research suggests that search activity is distributed as follows:
- Traditional search engines: ~80% of searches, Google alone is at ~73.7%
- Commerce platforms (Amazon, Walmart, eBay): ~10%
- Social networks: ~5.5%
- AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.): ~3.2%
Consumers search directly on forums where they expect to find the most useful answers, in their preferred formats, rather than relying on Google to send them elsewhere.
Dive deep: Finding 2026: How digital PR and social search work together
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The industry is focused on AI and has missed the big change in the mainstream
Much of the search industry conversation today is focused on AI. Questions like:
- How can I rate on ChatGPT?
- How do I prepare for AI search?
- Will AI replace Google?
They are constantly asked, debated, and answered by SEO experts on platforms like Search Engine Land.
I want to be clear, these are important questions. But the data within this study tells a more grounded story, especially when thinking strategically over the next 12 months.
AI search tools currently comprise about 3.2% of searches, according to SparkToro research. That makes sense. It will likely reshape the way people search and find information in the future.
But today, AI search is still younger than most established discovery platforms with the widest adoption. For example:
- Amazon gets more searches than ChatGPT.
- YouTube gets more searches than ChatGPT.
- Even Bing is getting more search functionality.
Yet many brands are pouring disproportionate attention into AI visibility while looking at platforms where millions of searches already happen every day.
Social networks are now search engines
For many users, social networks are now the main search engine. People look at:
- TikTok for recommendations, restaurants, travel ideas, and products.
- YouTube tutorials, reviews, and troubleshooting.
- Reddit for honest discussions and public opinion.
- Pinterest for inspiration and visual discovery.
Each platform plays a different role in the discovery journey.
| The platform | What people are searching for |
| TikTok/Instagram | Discovery and recommendations |
| YouTube | Learning, tutorials, and updates |
| Real opinions and community discussions | |
| Motivation and planning |
These forums are more than entertainment venues. Users go to them with the genuine intention of finding a solution to a problem, need, or desire.
Social content now appears directly in Google results
As users embrace social media for search, Google has begun to aggregate and organize information right within its SERPs. So yes, community content and creators appear directly within Google search results.
Over the past year, Google has greatly expanded the way it ranks social content within the SERPs. Search results now often include TikTok videos, YouTube videos, Reddit threads, Instagram posts, and forum discussions.
Google has even partnered with platforms like Reddit to ensure that public discussions appear more prominently in search results. This means that social content can now influence discovery in a number of ways:
- Direct search on social media.
- Visibility within Google search results.
- Influence within AI-generated responses.
Dig deep: Social and UGC: Trusted engines power search everywhere
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Social content also powers AI search
Social media are also important sources of AI-generated responses. AI systems rely on content that reflects real-world information, conversations, and ideas.
That’s why platforms like Reddit, YouTube, Quora, forums, and creator-led content (ie, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts) are often cited for AI-generated answers.
Google’s AI overview often refers to Reddit threads and YouTube videos.
Some AI tools always get information from social conversations, reviews, and creator content when generating answers.
This means that content created for social discovery can impact visibility across all layers of search, including social media, Google search results, and AI-generated answers.
A single piece of content can now travel far across the board, consistently signaling to audiences, promoting a preference for one genre over another.
The cumulative effect of discovery
When brands invest in social search visibility, they unlock a powerful aggregator effect. For example, a useful YouTube tutorial might:
- Rank in YouTube search.
- It appears in Google search results.
- Refers to AI generated responses.
- Share on all social networks.
- Spread it through private messaging and dark social channels.
Unlike traditional website content, social content can travel across platforms, increasing your reach dramatically. This creates a whole new layer of discovery.
And at a time when marketing budgets are under increasing scrutiny, content’s ability to generate visibility across multiple platforms makes the ROI of content strategies even more compelling.
Dig deeper: The social halo effect for search: Why social content drives branded search
Many brands are still following the old search playbook
Despite these changes, most search strategies still revolve around Google SEO, paid search, website content, and the AI/LLM interface.
Few brands have structured strategies for improving TikTok search, YouTube search visibility, Reddit community engagement, and creator-led discovery strategies.
While Google SEO is incredibly competitive, social search remains relatively low-ranking. Brands that move early can capture visibility (presence) in areas where demand already exists, thereby enhancing their brand’s popularity.
When brands invest in social search visibility, they not only open up 5.5% of searches that happen directly on social media. They also influence general search results, AI-generated answers, and wider availability across the web.
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Search everywhere: A new discovery model
The search is beyond the channel. Behaviors that occur in the ever-growing and changing search environment.
Your audience searches wherever they believe they’ll find the best answer in the most useful format – whether that’s Google, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Amazon, Pinterest, or increasingly, AI interfaces.
Winning search today means being found wherever that search happens. Winning brands won’t be the ones that rank in one place, even if traditional SEO remains an important part of the mix. They will be the ones found wherever their audience searches.
That’s the future of search. Which means “search everywhere.”
Dig deep: ‘Search everywhere’ doesn’t mean ‘it’s everywhere’
Contributing writers are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are selected for their expertise and contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the supervision of editorial staff and contributions are assessed for quality and relevance to our students. Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. The contributor has not been asked to speak directly or indirectly about Semrush. The opinions they express are their own.
