The rise of AI‑powered search

You need to know this now

31 July 2025

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Louis Eksteen

A new search era dawns

As of July 2025, 43% of consumers now use AI search tools such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini daily. Trust in these tools is substantial. Yext’s global survey (March / April 2025) reveals that 62 % of users trust AI to help them discover and evaluate brands. This marks a monumental shift from traditional search.

Platforms such as ChatGPT handle over 2.5 billion prompts per day. Google Gemini has nearly 450 million monthly users. Other AI search engines such as Perplexity and Grok also attract growing audiences. These tools no longer just echo existing web pages. They generate unique summaries, explanations and recommendations on‑the‑fly. This includes structured, curated information rather than 10 blue links.

Traditional search vs generative AI search

In traditional keyword‑matching search, content must exist on a website using relevant terms. Google (and the second-ran Bing) surface pages via crawling, indexing and ranking. Users click links to consume information on the website to where they are directed, away from the traditional search engine itself.

By contrast generative AI search interprets a user’s prompt and synthesises (or generates) an answer. It draws from multiple data sources and structures responses in natural language, often with citations and source links. The result is personalised, immediate and conversational. No click is required to get the answer. It’s ready-made for you inside the AI chatbot.

Thus, marketers must urgently optimise not only for keywords and SEO, but for the underlying data and content structures that generative systems ingest and use. Consistent brand content and data across platforms is critical.

Google’s response: AI Overview and AI Mode

Google has responded to the threat posed by AI search, specifically ChatGPT, by integrating AI‑generated overviews at the top of the so-called Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). These AI Overviews summarise answers and reduce click‑through behaviour, though its ad revenue remains resilient, for now. Google’s AI Mode embeds generative answers with interactive follow‑ups. While these tools may reduce traffic to websites, they reinforce the importance of being visible in AI output.

Organic visibility now includes structured data, optimised FAQs and authoritative content that generative models may reference or cite. Appropriately created website and digital platform content in general, by experts, has never been more important.

ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok and Google Gemini at work

  • ChatGPT (from OpenAI) now processes over 2.5 billion prompts per day. It acts as an “answer engine” replacing simple search.
  • Google Gemini offers conversational search and powers Google’s AI Overviews. It has roughly 450 million monthly users (Googling is for old people…).
  • Perplexity and Grok AI offer alternative generative search tools used by both professional and regular users. They compile unique answers in response to prompt queries rather than only serve links that lead to other websites. Sources are cited if users want to explore more.
  • Read more here about a range of AI tools.

These tools prioritise properly created content that is authoritative, updated, consistent and aligned with known user intents (basically, what users want answers for). Brands must clearly now optimise content at its own digital sources.

TikTok is a major emerging search and advertising platform

TikTok now handles billions of searches every day, up more than 40% year‑on‑year. Many users begin their TikTok session with a search within 30 seconds. This search habit goes across product advice, lifestyle tips, brand research and discovery (trying to find information and stuff).

TikTok Search Ads launched in the US in Q4 2024 and entered testing in the UK in Q2 2025. These ads appear at the top of in‑app search results and blend short video and keyword intent. They offer competitive ROI, with click‑through rates increasing up to 66% and cost‑per‑acquisition (CPA) decreasing by 33% in certain case study examples. Engagement metrics remain strong. Average TikTok CTR across ads is around 0.84%, and CPM around US $7 in 2025.

TikTok’s rapid growth in advertising revenue (to US $5.2 billion in the US alone) signals its expanding role as both a search and commerce engine.

Why all of this matters to marketing decision‑makers

Brand visibility across new digital access points

Consumers now search for and find brands in AI summaries, TikTok search results and generative AI agents. You can no longer rely solely on traditional SEO. Brand content must be expertly created, structured appropriately for AI, accurate and consistent across your website (which is becoming increasingly crucial in the AI era), social platforms and third‑party content sources.

Content strategy and execution must adapt

Your written company and brand content must speak to personas whose queries might be answered directly by ChatGPT, Gemini Perplexity, etc. That means clear, factual, authoritative expert writing enhanced with data structures and AI-friendly formats. You need to be visible within generative models, not just in website results.

AI agents demand trust and transparency

Despite growing trust in AI, only 10% of consumers actually trust the first AI‑generated answer automatically. Almost half cross‑check with other sources. Consistency across AI platforms is essential, which means brand voice, content accuracy and clarity must be structured and aligned.

The reality is that now, people do not need to go to your websites themselves to find your brand and company content. The AIs do it for them. This means your website and other digital platform content must clearly resonate with the AI engines to enable answers for users, even though people may not even visit your websites themselves any longer. This is a major shift change in how to manage content on your digital platforms, which is best left to experts to handle for you.

Advertising strategy must broaden

Google search ads remain important, not least because users trust it and it has significant brand recognition. The term “googling” is not going to simply disappear any time soon. But major new platforms, such as TikTok search ads, also give access to intent‑driven younger audiences in a visual, authentic environment. Timing and creative alignment matter. This is another reason why you need expert to help in an AI era, where traditional strategies will not work as well as before.

How Twisted Toast Digital guides clients through these shifts in search

  • We conduct AI visibility audits across AIs such as Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and TikTok Search.
  • We optimise structured data and content markup, including FAQs and schema tagging to feed AI correctly.
  • We develop generative AI‑aware content that aligns with user-friendly “promptable” queries in marketing, brand and business strategy.
  • We design TikTok Search Ad campaigns with creative-first video matched to keyword intent, blending brand and performance objectives.
  • We monitor and optimise brand presence consistently across AI agents to prevent gaps or discrepancies.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What exactly is AI‑powered search?
A: AI‑powered search uses generative models to interpret user queries and synthesise answers dynamically. Tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Grok deliver direct responses, without relying on existing website keyword matches.

Q: How does AI search differ from traditional SEO?
A: Traditional SEO depends on explicit content using keywords. AI search delivers generative summaries based on data training, structured sources and up‑to‑date content. SEO now needs to account for data visibility as well as page indexing.

Q: Should I still invest in Google SEO and ads?
A: Yes. Google search and ads remain core to visibility and conversion. But strategy should now include optimisation for AI overviews and conversational search interfaces. Generative engine optimisation (GEO), managed by experts such as Twisted Toast Digital, is now crucial for AI search visibility.

Q: If only 10% of users trust the first AI result, does it still matter?
A: Yes. AI output shapes impression and discovery. Consistent brand data across AI and search ecosystems ensures better perception and trust, even if (and perhaps especially if) users cross‑check.

Q: Is TikTok really a search engine?
A: Increasingly, yes. TikTok now receives billions of daily search queries, particularly from Gen Z and younger millennials. Its search ads offer high intent targeting with engaging video formats.

Q: How should marketers optimise for AI search, also called generative engine optimisation (GEO)?
A: Ensure structured, consistent data across channels. Create concise questions and answer content that generative models may reference. Monitor brand presence in AI outputs and align messaging across all platforms.

Twisted Toast Digital is expertly positioned to guide clients through this new search landscape. Our hybrid agency methodology means we balance digital innovation with strategic expertise. We know how to create and structure content and ads for generative AI systems and emerging platforms such as TikTok search. Through precise execution clients gain visibility ahead of the curve.

We would welcome the opportunity to audit your AI‑search visibility, design optimised content and ads and integrate your brand across this important new digital frontier.