Google introduced generative AI to its search engine last year in May, but it was limited to an experimental feature and only to Chrome users who signed up for it. It featured a ChatGPT-like experience, summarizing search results into key points to save time.
Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is now becoming the default way to search things online regardless of whether you signed up for it. This is because many users in the US are seeing SGE by default, as reported by Search Engine Land.
For those seeing SGE in Chrome, it will appear as a shaded section at the top of search results. As mentioned earlier, it provides a quick summary of your search results and also offers reference links for a deeper dive. Here is what it looks like.
This only appeared for Chrome users if they signed up for SGE, but now it has become the default option for many in the US. Users don’t even need to be logged into their Google account for this to work.
This may be a response to rumors surrounding OpenAI building its search tool. The AI startup has been a formidable rival to Google thanks to ChatGPT, which has a far bigger user base compared to Google’s Gemini chatbot. The search engine giant has no plans to sit idly while OpenAI seeks to take a bite out of its search engine market share.
Still, Google remains the default search option for most users worldwide, and taking on the tech giant in this realm is going to be significantly tough for OpenAI unless it can provide a better experience than the former.
