Google became a verb to search long before ai chatbots arrived to answer their first prompt, but now these two trends are merging as Google solidified AI’s position in search with full rollout of AI mode for all of us Google -seekers. Google published the message as part of Google I/O that is underway in California.
Finding results from a generative model that often gives you everything you need on the Google results page is a fundamental shift in traditional web search paradigms.
For over 25 years now we have traditionally searched for a period, phrase or even complete thought and found pages and pages with links. The first page is the links that mean the most, as they will mostly be close to line with your query. It’s no secret that companies, including the one I’m working on, fight Tooth and Nail to create content that lives on the first page of these results.
Things began to change in the Google search as Google introduced AI listings in 2023. From this week they are used by 1.5 billion monthly users, according to Google.
Where the AI overview was an easy-touch approach to introducing generative AI to search, AI mode goes deeper and beyond. The latest version of AI mode introduced on Google I/O 2025 adds more advanced reasoning and can handle even longer and more complex queries.
It is sufficient to say that your Google Searching experience may never be the same.
Views from the top
However, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has a different view. In a conversation with journalists before Google I/O and in response to a question about the emergence of AI -Chatbots like Gemini and the role of search, Pichai said, “It’s been a pretty exciting moment for search.”
He said that commitment with AI listings and even the limited AI states tests have shown increased commitment, where people spend more time in search and entering longer and longer queries.
No one asked if the increase of chatbots could mean the end of the search as we know it, but maybe derived the Pichai subtitle and added, “It’s very far from a zero-sum moment.”
If something, Pichai noticed, “People, I think, just get more curious; people use a lot of this much more.”
While AI overview is often accused of having some actual problems, Google promises that AI mode that uses more powerful models than AI overview will be more accurate. “AI MODE uses more powerful models and uses more reasoning across – kind of doing more work – … and then reaching an even higher bar,” said Google -Sykhoved Liz Reid.
As for where searching goes, Pichai sees features such as AI mode “Expand use of use cases”. He also believes that agentic ai “gives people glimpses of a proactive world.”
I think Pichai knows this means that AI-driven search will eventually teach your needs and make your bid even if your query or fast does not fully describe your needs.
What it means in practice is still up for debate, but for Google and Picahi the emergence of AI is in search all.
“I think it has made the internet even more exciting. People are engaging much more everywhere, so it’s a very positive moment for us.”
