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Six ways generative AI is reshaping our search experience

Adoption of AI-powered search is picking up steam, and it’s changing where and how users are searching. Marketers have an opportunity to take a fresh look at their content, web development and measurement priorities to better align with generative AI’s unique criteria using generative engine optimisation (GEO) tactics.

Shayna Burns
Shayna Burns

03 February 2025

7 minute read

Refresher: What is generative search?

Generative AI search is a new type of search experience that allows people to converse with AI to get answers and find information on platforms like Google, ChatGPT and Perplexity. 

Unlike traditional search engines that return a list of web links, generative AI provides responses to queries, such as:

  • Direct answers to questions
  • Steps to solving a problem
  • Recommendations for the best [product/service]

This search experience is interactive, easy and replicates conversation with a friend or expert and it’s growing in popularity.

Beyond its use as a search tool, generative AI adoption has now surpassed that of early PC and internet usage.

ChatGPT, in particular, is seeing aggressive adoption rates. By December 2024, ChatGPTs volume of weekly users had doubled compared to the previous year, from 100 million to 200 million. And just one month later in December 2025, CEO Sam Altman announced the AI-powered chatbot has further grown, surpassing 300 million weekly users and generating over a billion messages weekly. Generative AI is changing where people look for information.

How generative AI is changing where, and the way, people look for information

1. New places to search

Whilst Google and Bing have added generative AI capabilities to their search engines to evolve their offering (AI Overviews are powered by Gemini, and Bing’s generative search is powered by Copilot), new AI-powered chatbots have emerged.

Examples include Perplexity, ChatGPT and Claude, as well as industry-specific GPTs, such as BloombergGPT for finance.

Marketers no longer have the luxury of focussing on how we’re placed and represented in Google alone. We must broaden our remit to look at a variety of platforms.

2. Users’ preferred search engines are diversifying

In the last three months of 2024, Google’s market share dipped below 90 percent for the first time since 2015, though this appears closely tied to usage in China. Meanwhile, ChatGPT is on track to have a one percent share of the search market in 2025. This seems small, but it’s quite a milestone.

Eight percent of US respondents in an August 2024 survey chose ChatGPT as their primary search engine, up from one percent in a previous survey in June. Meanwhile, Google was considered the primary search engine for 74 percent of users, a drop from 80 percent in the previous survey.

3. Use of forums and social media search are growing 

As of June 2024, more users are finding Reddit through Google search than visiting the site directly. And a September 2024 study showed a 1328 percent increase in Reddit’s visibility in Google search, with more users searching '[keyword] + reddit'.

In response, in December 2024, Google rolled out a ‘Discussions and forums’ module to group these types of results in one place and make it easier for users to find them.

Discussions and forums

And research shows younger audiences are turning to social media as their preferred search tool. According to 2024 reports from Adobe and HubSpot, AI-powered search on social media is becoming a common search tool.

  • Two in five Americans use TikTok as a search engine
  • One in 10 Gen Zs are using social media for search instead of a search engine
  • 87 percent of social media marketers believe consumers will search for brands more often on social media before turning to a search engine.

In mid 2024, TikTok began testing the use of generative AI in its search function, further highlighting the potential application of gen AI to enhance the search experience regardless of platform.

In a nutshell, people have an increasingly varied set of tools they turn to for searching. 

4. An increase in conversational queries

Users are moving towards natural language and voice-like searches, asking nuanced, context-specific questions rather than typing keywords. Content that fits this style, such as FAQs, is often preferred by gen AI tools. Example:

Before: Digital agency Melbourne financial services (robotic and keyword focused)

After: Who are the best digital agencies in Melbourne for financial services organisations? (long-tail and natural)

Content that fits this style, such as FAQs, is often preferred by gen AI tools. 

5. Searching beyond text: the rise of multi-modal search

Tools are evolving to accept input types beyond text, such as images or voice prompts, opening up new avenues for discovery. Google announced its plans to allow users to search by video at I/O 2024, too. Consider diversifying your content types to appeal to different audiences.

6. People expect to get answers more quickly

Increasingly, people want immediate, actionable insights, such as live traffic updates, personalised recommendations or highly specific answers to complex, situation-specific queries. Avoid being a generalist, offer valuable content that meets the unique needs of different target audiences.

In this changing landscape, traditional SEO tactics aren't enough to remain discoverable

AI-powered search is here to stay, and businesses must evolve their SEO approach to focus on generative search optimisation.

Whilst most of what is good for SEO is also good for generative engines, large language models (LLMs) and GPTs have their own criteria weightings*. 

These include highly structured, well organised content (e.g. advanced schema markup), advanced understanding of an organisation’s entities, and access to content that meets the demands of increasingly complex search queries.

Optimising with a goal of being cited and found in generative engines is called generative engine optimisation (GEO). To be successful in this space requires a team effort involving content, SEO, development, UX, design and analytics.

*Throughout 2025, we will be diving into GEO factors in more depth. Stay tuned!

Measuring success remains a challenge

The goal of generative search is not to get a click; it’s to be positioned as a trusted source of information.

In AI-generated search results, we move from a list of websites, videos and images to a generated answer. This is called zero-click search because the user’s need may be met by this answer, without requiring any further clicks.

The goal of generative search is not to get a click; it’s to be positioned as a trusted source of information. This requires metrics like impressions, share of voice, sentiment, etc. 

Unfortunately, at this time, there are limited methods of measuring these metrics, and currently this remains a mostly manual task. Individual tools may begin to release their own analytics, but we have no visibility around roadmaps for this. 

Regardless of how organisations chose to measure success in AI-generated results, it is for certain that some degree of change management is required to help stakeholders relinquish their focus on clicks as the goal.

Savvy marketers, get curious and start benchmarking

Luminary will be releasing more information around the criteria LLMs care about in the coming months, but for now, a great starting point is to select two or three platforms (e.g. Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT) and start benchmarking what AI knows about your business. 

Identify the topics/services/products/geographical areas you want to be known for and your target audiences, and ask the tool to create a comparison of the best businesses for [topic] in [area] for [audience]. Review the results to see what they know about your business vs. competitors and how you’re positioned against them.

We conducted this exercise for one client and found ChatGPT was publishing incorrect information about their offering from years past. This allowed us to begin brainstorming a strategy for using content and advanced code to make accurate info more parseable for LLMs.

Key takeaways

  • New platforms are diversifying where people search, and generative AI is likely to become the default search experience in engines like Google and Bing in the future.
  • Conversational search is here to stay. From voice search to AI-powered chatbots to forums, people want to search in a way that mimics human conversation.
  • Large language models (LLMs) have their own unique criteria weightings that are similar to, but different from, SEO. Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is an emerging area of practice to help marketers remain visible in generative search. 
  • Success measurement is limited – for now. We must be creative and tactical about how we measure success in a zero-click search experience, as well as prime our stakeholders that clicks are no longer the primary goal.

This continues to be an ever-evolving space, but sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop with updates in 2025.

Main image: Andy Kelly on Unsplash

Shayna Burns
Shayna Burns

03 February 2025

7 minute read

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