La búsqueda de Google se estandariza.

AI search is rapidly becoming the default, whether users like it or not. In just a year’s time, Google’s AI-generated answers in search, known as AI Overviews, have surged from appearing in 15% of searches to 43%, signaling a transformative shift in how web users consume information online.

A recent analysis by market intelligence firm Similarweb illustrates how this evolution began as an AI layer on top of search and has now become an integral part of the search journey itself. Google seamlessly integrates users into AI Overviews, where they can continue their research through a more conversational AI Mode.

During the same timeframe, visits to AI Mode skyrocketed from 126 million in June 2025 to 279 million by May 2026. This data underscores a broader change in how users search the web—moving away from an era of simple blue links to a new one in which Google itself serves as the primary destination, sourcing answers and information directly from indexed websites.

Consequently, users are spending more time on Google’s platform rather than merely using it to discover other sites. Similarweb’s data reveals that the average duration of Google searches has increased, with people transitioning from short keyword-based queries to longer, more natural conversational phrases that are designed for AI.

This transition has not been greeted warmly by publishers, who find themselves losing significant referral traffic due to the rise of AI citations that often do not lead to clicks. Similarweb previously reported the devastating impact of this trend on news publishers. Recently, tech infrastructure company Cloudflare introduced tools enabling publishers to fight back by blocking AI crawlers unless those companies pay for access to their content.

While AI citations don’t always lead users to click through to a destination, their prevalence has risen more than fivefold over the past year. However, as of May 2026, only 6.8% of U.S. ChatGPT desktop queries included citations, indicating a discrepancy in citation frequency across different industries.

Despite challenges, there may be some hope for publishers. Following a search update on May 7, U.S. desktop referrals from ChatGPT improved significantly, with the proportion of visits landing on webpages more than doubling from 25% in March 2026 to nearly 60% by May 30, 2026. This indicates that users may be increasingly leveraging the more prominent blue links within AI-driven search results when available.

Even with these advancements, the overarching trend remains intact: Google is evolving from a gateway to the broader internet into a destination in its own right. As AI continues to reshape the landscape of online search, the implications for users and publishers alike are profound and far-reaching.

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