Face it: search engines are dead and AI is doing a great job replacing them

08 May, 2025

This post is part of a series for #WeblogPoMo2025. Read the introduction here.

Here's a juicy secret for you:

Y'know how the web is full of AI-generated nonsense nowadays? That you go to DuckDuckGo or Kagi or Google (or whatever) and search for "hot singles near me" (or whatever) and all of the results link to generic empty nonsense?

There's a way to find better results, great results...

...by using AI instead.

In an earlier blogpost I outlined how six in ten results to a search engine query about changing the temperature of a refrigerator were AI-generated websites that were unhelpful at best and downright annoying at worst.

I ran the exact same query - a partial sentence with bad syntax¹ - through Perplexity.

It came back with a very good plan of action, stating:

The method to adjust your fridge’s temperature depends on the type and brand of your appliance, but most fridges use either a numbered dial or digital controls.

Before following up with instructions for dials versus digital controls:

Turn the dial to a higher number for a colder temperature and a lower number for a warmer temperature. For everyday use, setting the dial to 2 or 3 is usually recommended, aiming for an internal temperature of around 3°C to 5°C. ①⑥⑧

After making adjustments, wait 24 hours for the temperature to stabilize before making further changes.⑥

Sounds about right, but I'm sceptical and don't trust the machine. But you see those numbered circles?

They are hyperlinks to authoritative, human-made sources.

The irony: search engines are polluted by AI, and the best way around this is to use another AI.

An industry of search engine optimisation professionals know how to game Google's rankings. They know the main levers to pull. It's laughably easy to get AI to write #content that will hit the top of the first page of results, content which isn't helpful and doesn't link elsewhere to prove the point it is making.

Using something like ChatGPT or Perplexity solves this problem. It'll give a response but it will show how it came to its conclusion by linking to validating authoritative content elsewhere. ²

I don't see a rosy future for the sort of websearch first popularised by Google, the empty box in which you type a few words to try and find a link to a source elsewhere. People do a websearch so they can answer a question: if your DuckDuckGo query just links to six hollow blogposts while ChatGPT gives a firm answer with links to good examples, one of those services isn't giving the user what they want or need while the other very much is.

I'm not alone in feeling this way.

During the current US vs Google Alphabet court case, Apple's Eddy Cue was called to answer questions relating to Alphabet paying Apple for referral traffic from Safari. Bloomberg reports:

AI is already making gains with consumers. Cue noted that searches on Safari dipped for the first time last month, which he attributed to people using AI. Cue said he believes that AI search providers, including OpenAI, Perplexity AI Inc. and Anthropic PBC, will eventually replace standard search engines like Alphabet’s Google. He said he believes Apple will bring those options to Safari in the future.

(Emphasis mine)

Take this with a grain of salt. These are statements made in court where Eddy Cue doesn't want to risk the $20bn+ that Apple receives per year from Alphabet.

But from my experience, from what I'm starting to see personally and professionally, from looking for the same information in traditional-versus-AI search engines, the statement does ring true.

#AI #WeblogPoMo2025 #main #technology