The news: Use of AI search tools is surging, which could soon spell trouble for Google’s market dominance.

• The share of consumers using of AI search tools on a daily basis doubled to 29% in August, per HigherVisibility’s 2025 How People Search Today report, up from 14% in February.
• Meanwhile, Google’s share of general information queries fell from 73% to 67%.

Trouble for Google: The shift isn’t just about volume; it's also about purpose, as AI tools gain traction not only in general search but also in categories previously controlled by Google.

• ChatGPT use tripled between February and August, from 4.1% to 12.5%, for general searches.
• The share of consumers who have never used AI dropped from 29% to 16%.
• The share of consumers using AI for local business searches—one of Google’s strong suits—doubled from 5% to 10%.

Fragmenting market: Different search platforms have their own specialties, per HigherVisibility, making multi-platform search strategies more common.

• Amazon leads for direct product queries, while social media has a growing importance in discovery-based shopping.
• Google still dominates the early stages of product research, but AI is gaining ground in comparison shopping and personalized recommendations.

What’s next? If current trends hold, Google could shift from being the default starting point for online search to one of several specialized tools in a diverse ecosystem. As users grow more comfortable with AI and trust its ability to provide personalized results, platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity will continue to eat into Google’s territory.

Our take: Brands and marketers need to tailor their campaigns and strategies based on user intent. Those looking to attract new shoppers should invest in social media and AI search placements, while those focused on driving traffic for services or capturing high-intent buyers should prioritize Google, especially for initial discovery and location-based queries.