If one day you want to create a website, whether it’s a clothing brand or a gambling platform like Spin City casino, and you want to be found organically online, then Google is the typical answer. It has been dominant for over two decades. We all have seen the rapid improvement of AI technology. The big question is: Will artificial intelligence overpower Google?
What Is an AI Search Engine?
It is primarily an index of many public web pages. The machine or algorithm uses behavior to “score” the page. If you search, the algorithm will decide what to show you based on this “score.” An AI search engine is a tad different: it ‘guides’ your search. Some people call it Smart Search. Here are the benefits of an AI search engine over Google:
- Real-time personalization – it knows what types of content you consume, so it will show you results based on your behavior.
- Questions and answers – it can answer your questions right away, and there is no need to read a lot of articles to find what you are looking for.
- Recommendation widgets – these are widgets on the side of the screen, which tell you where the AI took the information.
As you can see, this goes beyond the typical search engine where you see hundreds of blogs or news articles. The problem with traditional search engines is you may spend so much time reading just to get one small piece of information you need.
Is Google Adapting to Artificial Intelligence?
Yes, very much so. Google now has what they call Gemini. If you look for something via their search system, you will be surprised that at the very top of the page is an answer from the Gemini AI. Gemini will usually come into play if you type a question. The AI will give you a straightforward answer, plus the reference materials, or its sources.
Here are the things you will see in a Gemini answer when searching:
- A quick answer, usually in two sentences or a short paragraph.
- Lots of headings and bullet points.
- A recommended YouTube video or article, if any.
For every heading or bullet point in Gemini’s answer, there is a link icon at the bottom, which you can click. This links to the AI’s source of information, typically a web page like a blog post. If you want further information, you can click that link for further reading. Essentially, Artificial intelligence reads so many articles and answers your questions in a summarized form. Think of it like a Wikipedia article, but the answer is relevant to your question.
In addition, there is a widget on the right of the Gemini answer. This widget has three to four articles. The widget shows the article title, the publication date, a brief text like its meta description or beginning paragraph, the name of the website, and the link.
Will AI Replace Google Search?
No, artificial intelligence cannot replace it, and the reason is that it has been around for over twenty years; its search algorithm has data that AI will never have. For example, they have the following programs:
- Analytics;
- Tag Manager;
- Merchant Center;
- Business;
- Ads and Adsense.
All these platforms, when combined, create a powerful repository of data that no AI can match. For example, the Google Analytics platform knows how long a user stays on a webpage. This information tells the search engines so much about the “value” that the web page provides. If people stay on the web page for a long time, it is obvious that the article is useful. Because of this, Google Search can show this article in search results, the user will be happy. AI cannot do this.
Now, if you add this capability to Gemini AI, the user gets a summarized answer from the best blog pages online. Without data from something like Google Analytics, an AI program will not know if its information is correct or interesting. Add to that that Google owns YouTube. Although YouTube is a video hosting site, it does have billions, if not trillions, of data points—information that the Google AI search engine can use to serve its users.
This is the very reason why Gemini usually shows a YouTube video at the end of its answer. It not only gives you a list of articles to read but also a video you can watch, one that has the information you are looking for. As of today, Google is still the biggest and strongest search engine. Although AI is slowly becoming a default platform or tool for many people, perhaps we can say that Google will not allow itself to be left behind.
Google has been around for over 20 years. It simply means that whatever changes happen in the tech landscape, they will be on top of it. They have the resources and experience—the only thing they have to do is adapt.
