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How Are Google AI and ChatGPT Changing Search Behaviour in 2025?

  • Writer: Elaine Angel
    Elaine Angel
  • Sep 14
  • 2 min read


Search behaviour has shifted dramatically in 2025, with over 50% of Google searches triggering AI Overviews and 66% of young adults using ChatGPT as a search tool. The takeaway? Your business needs to optimise for both to stay visible.


Split-screen comparison of Google search and ChatGPT. Left side shows Google results for “benefits of green tea,” listing bioactive compounds, brain function, fat burning, and cancer risk reduction. Right side shows ChatGPT answering “what is green tea good for?” with detailed benefits including antioxidants, L-theanine, and metabolic improvements. Title text above reads “How Are Google AI and ChatGPT Changing Search Behaviour.”



Search Is Changing Faster Than Ever

If you’ve been following our blog, you’ll know we’ve talked a lot about how AI search works and why it matters for businesses. But now, we have the numbers and they show we’re already living in a generative-AI search world.


Not long ago, search behaviour was predictable: type a query into Google, click one of the top results. Today, it’s anything but. Generative AI is front-and-centre. Users expect direct answers, fast, and often don’t need to click at all.


The Hard Data: How Search Behaviour Has Shifted

Here’s what’s happening right now:

  • 50%+ of searches trigger an AI Overview in Google, often taking up the most valuable space on the page.

  • 66% of 18–24-year-olds now use ChatGPT for finding information — nearly the same as Google usage (69%).

  • 41% of users say they rely more on summaries (AI answers) than full page links.

  • 1.5 billion people use Google’s AI Overviews globally.

  • Queries are getting longer and more conversational, closer to natural speech than keyword fragments.

  • Zero-click searches (where no website gets the visit) are rising, pulling traffic away from traditional SEO channels.

These are massive shifts and they’re not slowing down.


Why This Matters for Kiwi Businesses

If you’re not appearing in AI summaries, you’re invisible at the exact moment your customer is asking for help.

For New Zealand businesses, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. Many competitors still haven’t moved beyond basic SEO. If you optimise for generative search now, you can leapfrog them.


What GEO Really Means

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the next evolution of SEO. It’s about making sure your content is understood, trusted, and cited by AI models — so you’re present in AI Overviews, ChatGPT answers, and other generative results.



What You Can Do Right Now

  • Add structured data and schema markup to your site so AI tools can read it.

  • Refresh and update content regularly to stay trustworthy.

  • Monitor where you appear (or don’t appear) in AI answers.

  • Diversify traffic — don’t rely solely on Google clicks.


Conclusion

The way people find information is changing faster than ever. The good news? If you act early, you can get ahead of the curve.


 
 
 

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