Why Google search traffic is declining as AI chatbots grow?

Google is facing a major shift in user behavior as Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way people search for information online.

According to a CNBC report, Google is now dealing with a twofold challenge. On one side, it faces increasing competition from AI-powered chatbots such as ChatGPT which has surpassed 1 billion monthly active users.

Due to growing user preference, ChatGPT is now ranked as the top free app on Apple’s iOS platform while Anthropic’s Claude ranks eighth, just one position behind Google’s own Gemini app.

This shift presents a double challenge for Google. On the one hand, many users seeking smarter and more direct answers have started relying on AI chatbots. On the other hand, a growing number of users are rejecting AI-powered search experiences altogether.

DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine has taken advantage of this backlash by offering “No-AI” search options and browser extensions. According to the company, installation rates have been increasing by as much as 40 percent per week and after Google’s I/O conference in May that growth reportedly surged to 75 percent.

Why are users leaving Google?

Google now finds itself caught between users who embrace AI and those who oppose it. Users who favour AI increasingly prefer chatbots because they provide information in a conversational manner eliminating the need to sift through multiple search results and making information retrieval more efficient.

Meanwhile, users who do not want AI feel that Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode features are being imposed on them making the search experience more intrusive. Google CEO recently acknowledged that people are understandably concerned about the unprecedented changes brought about by this technology.

The shift is also affecting publishers and website owners. Research indicates that approximately 68 percent of Google searches result in no clicks to external websites meaning users find the information they need without visiting another site. Despite these challenges, Google still dominates the search engine market with around 90 percent market share and its stock price has more than doubled over the past year.

However, as more people turn to ChatGPT for answers and choose DuckDuckGo for privacy-focused searching, the cracks appearing in Google’s long-standing dominance are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.