A year long surge in AI generated results is reshaping how people find information online. Publishers face falling referrals and must rethink discovery strategies.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming the primary way people search the Internet, regardless of whether users like this approach. According to a new study, AI-generated answers in Google search results under the label AI Overviews have grown over the past year from 15% to 43% of queries, indicating changes in how information is consumed online.

In a fresh analysis of the generative landscape, research firm Similarweb notes that at first it looked like a layer of AI over ordinary search, but now AI has become an integral part of the search process itself: Google directs users to AI Overviews, after which they have the option to continue researching in a more conversational AI Mode.

During the same period visits to AI Mode rose from 126 million in June 2025 to 279 million as of May 2026.

The Changing Search Landscape and Its Impact on Publishers

This trend means that Google is increasingly acting as a source of answers formed from sites indexed by the company, rather than just as a provider of a list of links to click.

These changes lead to longer dwell times on Google’s platform, not merely using it as a tool to open resources. Over the past year, the average duration of search sessions has increased, indicating a shift from short queries to longer, more natural conversational formulations oriented toward AI.

Publishers are concerned about declining referral traffic due to the rise of AI quotes that do not always lead to clicks. Previously Similarweb warned about a significant impact on media. Recently Cloudflare introduced tools that allow publishers to block AI crawlers on their sites if AI companies do not pay for access through their marketplace.

The number of AI responses that include quotes has grown more than fivefold in the last year, according to Similarweb.

However in the United States as of May 2026 only 6.8% of desktop queries to ChatGPT contained quotes. Some industries, notably travel, retail, and sports, show higher quote rates for AI answers.

There are some signs of hope for publishers: after the search results update on May 7, desktop referral traffic rose to almost 60% as of May 30, 2026 – up from over 25% in March 2026. This indicates that users are more often turning to the more prominent blue links in the results when AI results are available.

Even with improvements, the overall trend of AI search keeps Google not only as a gateway to the Internet but also as a place where answers are formed directly through the integration of content from indexed sites.

In sum, the world of search is undergoing a significant shift: Google is increasingly turning into a center of answers, rather than just a transitional stage to other resources. Such changes require publishers and advertisers to adapt digital strategies to engage with audiences in the new conditions of visual and textual content.