Google’s AI search experience is moving from an add-on to a central part of how people find information online. New Similarweb data shows that AI Overviews, Google’s AI-generated search answers, appeared in 43% of searches after being present in 15% a year earlier.
That growth signals a major change in the search journey. Instead of using Google mainly to reach other websites, users are increasingly receiving answers directly inside Google’s own results, then continuing through more conversational tools such as AI Mode.
AI answers are becoming routine in Google search
Similarweb’s analysis describes a search experience where AI is no longer just a layer placed over traditional results. AI Overviews now sit inside the search path itself, giving users summarized responses before they decide whether to click through to a website.
The same trend appears in Google’s AI Mode. Visits to AI Mode rose from 126 million in June 2025 to 279 million by May 2026. That increase points to a growing user habit: asking follow-up questions and exploring topics in a conversational format without immediately leaving Google.
This is a different model from the familiar page of blue links. In the older version of search, Google helped users discover sources across the web. In the newer AI search experience, Google often becomes the place where the answer is consumed, using information from indexed websites to generate a response.
Search queries are getting longer and more conversational
Similarweb’s data also shows that the average length of Google searches has risen over the past year. That matters because it suggests people are changing how they phrase their questions.
Short keyword searches are giving way to longer, more natural queries built for AI-generated answers. A user who once might have typed a few keywords may now ask a fuller question, expecting Google AI Overviews or AI Mode to interpret the intent and provide a direct answer.
This behavior fits the broader shift toward conversational search. When users expect an AI system to respond, they may give it more context up front. That can make Google feel less like a directory and more like a research interface.
For Google, this change can keep people engaged on its platform for longer. If the answer, the citation, and the follow-up path are all available inside the search product, users have fewer reasons to move quickly to outside sites.
Publishers face a harder referral traffic problem
The rise of AI search has created a clear challenge for publishers. The source material notes that publishers have not welcomed the shift, because AI citations do not always turn into clicks.
That issue is especially important for news publishers, which Similarweb had previously identified as heavily affected by declining referral traffic. When users get enough information from an AI-generated answer, the original website may lose the visit even if its content helped inform the response.
The article also notes that Cloudflare has introduced tools allowing publishers to block AI crawlers unless AI companies pay for access through its marketplace. That response shows how the relationship between AI platforms and content owners is becoming more contested.
For publishers, the central issue is not only whether their work is cited. It is whether citation leads to meaningful traffic. A search result that names or references a source can still leave the publisher with fewer visitors if users remain inside the AI interface.
Citations are increasing, but clicks remain uneven
Similarweb’s new report says the number of AI responses that include a citation has risen more than fivefold during the past year. That sounds like progress for publishers, but the details are more complicated.
As of May 2026, only 6.8% of U.S. ChatGPT desktop queries included citations. The source also says some industries do better than others, with travel, retail, and sports queries producing cited responses more often.
There is also a sign that links can still matter when AI search makes them prominent. For ChatGPT, U.S. desktop referrals improved after a May 7 search update. The share of visits landing on webpages more than doubled from 25% in March 2026 to nearly 60% by May 30, 2026.
That suggests users will use blue links in AI-driven results when those links are visible and useful. It does not reverse the broader trend, but it shows that interface choices can influence whether AI search sends people onward to the wider web.
The web’s gateway is becoming a destination
The larger pattern is clear from the data in the source: AI search is becoming a default experience for many users, whether or not every user asked for that change. Google AI Overviews now appear across a much larger share of searches, while AI Mode is drawing more visits.
For users, the benefit is convenience. A single search can produce a synthesized answer and support a more conversational research process. For websites, the risk is that Google’s role changes from sending traffic outward to absorbing more of the user’s attention directly.
The tension will likely remain central to the future of search. AI-generated answers can make research feel faster, but they also change the economics of online publishing. The more Google becomes the destination, the more publishers must fight to make citations, links, and access to their content translate into real value.