AI Search: What Changes and What Stays the Same
Snapshot: Orbit Media and QuestionPro surveyed U.S. users in May 2025 to compare how people use AI chatbots and search engines. Most respondents say they read Google’s AI overview when it appears, which means informational clicks are more likely to be absorbed on the results page.
Daily chatbot use is now commonplace, which nudges complex or multi-step tasks toward conversational tools. Even so, self-reported behavior shows search holding steady or rising for many people. Taken together, the numbers point to a two-track discovery funnel rather than a total switch. People still use search for quick facts, reviews, and location queries. They turn to AI for low-recall questions, multi-parameter requests, and content creation that needs iteration.
For financial marketers, the job is to show up in assistant answers while protecting commercial-intent pages that still convert.
What will change
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Discovery and advertising will appear inside AI answers, so visibility depends on being cited or summarized by assistants.
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Buyers will ask AI to assemble shortlists and side-by-side comparisons, so vendors need structured proof pages, pricing clarity, and verifiable claims.
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Reliance on the browser will soften as more research happens inside apps and agents, shifting attention away from traditional results pages.
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Teams will add “optimize for AI answers” to their playbooks, including schema, citations, and content designed to be quoted.
What will not change
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Content marketing anchored in first-party data, product specifics, and expert points of view will remain central to trust.
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Word of mouth and credible voices will keep moving prospects from curiosity to consideration.
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Live events and community programs will continue to create relationships that algorithms cannot.
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The goal will still be to be easily discovered by people who need your insight and services, even if the path runs through an assistant.
Full story: Orbit Media
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