Traditional search engine volume will fall 25% by 2026 as search marketing loses market share to AI chatbots and other virtual agents, according to an analysis by Gartner Inc.

“Organic and paid search are vital channels for tech marketers seeking to reach awareness and demand generation goals,” Alan Antin, VP analyst at Gartner, said in a press release. “Generative AI solutions are becoming substitute answer engines, replacing user queries that previously may have been executed in traditional search engines. This will force companies to rethink their marketing channels strategy as GenAI becomes more embedded across all aspects of the enterprise.”

Gartner also noted search engine algorithms will further value the quality of the content to offset the sheer amount of AI-generated content.

“Companies will need to focus on producing unique content that is useful to customers and prospective customers,” Antin said. “Content should continue to demonstrate search quality-rater elements such as expertise, experience, authoritativeness and trustworthiness.”