AI vs Google Traffic Split

How much of customer discovery is shifting from Google to AI assistants โ€” and what does that mean for your business by 2028?

How People Discover Businesses: 2020 โ†’ 2028

The share of customer discovery queries going to AI assistants vs. Google Search

2020
Google 98%AI 2%
Google
2022
Google 93%AI 7%
Google
2024
Google 71%AI 29%
Google
AI
2026proj.
Google 62%AI 38%
Google
AI
2028proj.
Google 50%AI 50%
Google
AI
By 2028, AI assistants are projected to handle 50% of all customer discovery queries. Businesses that optimize for AI search now will own this channel. Those that don't will lose half their discoverability.

What Does This Mean for Your Industry?

Select your business category to see the AI discovery share in your space.

What This Means For Your Business

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Google alone is no longer enough

If you're only optimizing for Google, you're already missing a growing share of customer discovery. That share doubles by 2028.

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AI recommends โ€” you either show up or you don't

Unlike Google where you can be on page 2, AI gives one or two recommendations. If you're not in the answer, you're invisible.

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First mover advantage is real

Businesses that build AEO authority in 2026 will be the default recommendations in 2028. The window to get there first is now.

Is your business ready for the AI era?

Take the AEO Readiness Score to find out exactly where you stand โ€” and what it takes to get AI recommending your business.

Check My AEO Score โ†’Get a Free Quote โ†’