Search Engine Volume To Drop 25% By 2026 Due To AI Chatbots, Virtual Agents: Gartner

By 2026, traditional search engine volume will drop 25%, with search marketing losing market share to artificial intelligence chatbots and other virtual agents, according to research and consulting firm Gartner. 

Organic and paid search are vital channels for tech marketers seeking to reach awareness and demand generation goals. However, generative AI solutions are becoming substitute answer engines, replacing user queries that previously may have been executed in traditional search engines.

“This will force companies to rethink their marketing channels strategy as generative AI becomes more embedded across all aspects of the enterprise,” said Alan Antin, vice president analyst at Gartner.

Quality and authenticity will be focal points as virtual agents replace traditional search. With generative AI driving down the cost of producing content, there is an impact around activities, including keyword strategy and website domain authority scoring.

According to Gartner, search engine algorithms will further value the quality of content to offset the sheer amount of AI-generated content, as content utility and quality still reign supreme for success in organic search results.

There will also be a greater emphasis placed on watermarking and other means to authenticate high-value content. Government regulations across the globe are already holding companies accountable as they begin to require the identification of marketing content assets that AI creates. This will likely play a role in how search engines will display such digital content.

“Companies will need to focus on producing unique content that is useful to customers and prospective customers. Content should continue to demonstrate search quality-rater elements such as expertise, experience, authoritativeness and trustworthiness,” said Antin.