June Brought Stronger Evidence For Where Search Is Heading

Over the past few months we’ve explored how AI is becoming part of modern search, how visibility is extending beyond traditional website clicks, and why reporting those changes has become increasingly complex. June didn’t fundamentally change that direction. Instead, it provided some of the clearest evidence yet that these trends are becoming established.

New consumer research has shown how people are actually using AI alongside traditional search, Google has started introducing dedicated reporting for AI search performance, and UK regulators have begun placing greater accountability on how search results, including AI-generated answers, are presented. At the same time, Google’s latest core update reinforced something that hasn’t changed at all: high-quality, relevant websites continue to provide the foundation for visibility, regardless of how people discover them.

In Short:

• We now have a much clearer picture of how people are using AI in search.
• Strong SEO continues to underpin AI visibility.
• Search platforms are becoming easier to measure and more accountable.
• Several emerging developments are worth watching over the coming months.

The Evidence Behind AI Search Is Becoming Clearer

Business Impact

If you’ve been looking at your reports and wondering why search visibility, website traffic and referral sources no longer seem to move together as neatly as they once did, June provides several useful explanations. Customers are increasingly researching across multiple platforms before making a decision, meaning your website may influence a purchase even if it isn’t the first or final destination within that journey.

AI Is Becoming Part Of Search Rather Than Replacing It

What happened

One of the biggest questions surrounding AI search has been whether people are replacing Google with AI assistants. A new YouGov study suggests that isn’t what’s happening.

The research found that 85% of UK online searchers used a traditional search engine during the previous 30 days, compared with 31% who used an AI assistant. More importantly, only 15% of AI users described AI as their typical starting point. Most instead use AI alongside traditional search engines or after searching elsewhere.

The report also found that AI is most commonly used for answering direct questions, summarising information, verifying findings and comparing options rather than replacing wider research altogether.

Why this matters

Earlier this year we discussed how search journeys were becoming more fragmented across AI assistants, search engines, maps and other discovery platforms. June provides much stronger evidence that this is exactly how people are behaving.

Rather than replacing search engines, AI is becoming another stage within the wider decision-making process. That means businesses shouldn’t think about AI visibility and SEO as competing priorities. Increasingly, they support one another throughout the same customer journey.

AI Referrals Continue To Emerge As A New Traffic Source

What happened

Adobe reported that AI referral traffic to US travel websites increased by 194% year on year. While the research focuses on one industry and one geography, it adds to a growing body of evidence that AI assistants are beginning to generate measurable referral traffic alongside traditional search.

Why this matters

We’ve touched on AI referrals in previous updates, but June strengthens the case that this is becoming an emerging acquisition channel rather than simply an interesting statistic. Referral volumes remain considerably smaller than traditional organic search, but more businesses are likely to begin noticing AI traffic appearing within their analytics over the coming months.

Website Traffic Tells Less Of The Whole Story

What happened

SparkToro’s latest clickstream analysis estimated that approximately 68% of Google searches now end without a click to an external website, while only around 23% result in an organic website visit. The research also found that a growing proportion of user activity remains within Google’s own ecosystem, including AI-generated experiences, Maps, Images and other Google-owned surfaces.

Why this matters

Viewed on its own, this could suggest organic search is becoming less valuable. When combined with the wider evidence from June, however, it paints a different picture.

People are increasingly discovering, comparing and validating information before deciding whether they need to visit a website at all. Success therefore isn’t defined solely by generating a click. Visibility throughout the wider research journey is becoming increasingly important.

ChatGPT Is No Longer The Only AI Platform Businesses Should Watch

What happened

New market data reported by TechCrunch found ChatGPT’s measured share of the AI assistant market has fallen below 50% for the first time, with Gemini, Claude and several other AI assistants continuing to grow their audiences.

Why this matters

This doesn’t necessarily mean ChatGPT is losing users. Instead, it reflects a more competitive AI landscape where businesses can no longer assume a single platform represents AI search as a whole.

As AI discovery expands across multiple assistants, measuring visibility across different ecosystems will become increasingly important.

What This All Means For Brands

June doesn’t suggest traditional SEO is becoming less important. Instead, it provides stronger evidence that visibility is becoming broader than website traffic alone.

Customers increasingly move between search engines, AI assistants, maps, news websites and other trusted sources before making decisions. Businesses that understand how these journeys connect, rather than measuring each channel in isolation, will be better placed to understand their true visibility as search continues evolving.

Search Quality Continues To Shape AI Visibility

Business Impact

If rankings shifted following Google’s May Core Update, or you’ve questioned why some competitors appear within AI-generated answers despite having similar organic visibility, June provides useful context. The latest analysis suggests the qualities that drive strong SEO continue to underpin AI visibility, even if being cited by AI introduces another layer of competition.

Google’s May Core Update Continued Rewarding Relevance

What happened

Google’s May Core Update completed at the beginning of June. Analysis of the rollout suggested that pages more closely aligned with user intent and local relevance generally performed better than broader, less targeted alternatives. Rather than favouring authority alone, the update appeared to reward content that most effectively answered the searcher’s intent.

Why this matters

This closely reflects patterns we’ve observed across client portfolios over recent months. While every Core Update affects websites differently, June’s analysis reinforces that Google’s direction remains consistent. Producing genuinely useful content that closely aligns with user intent continues to outperform simply expanding keyword coverage or publishing more content.

Strong Rankings Don’t Always Mean Strong AI Visibility

What happened

Research into enterprise B2B search found that AI Overviews appeared for around half of the relevant searches analysed, yet the median enterprise brand was cited in only 3% of those AI-generated answers.

Why this matters

This is one of the clearest examples we’ve seen of SEO and AI visibility working together rather than being identical.

Organic rankings remain an important prerequisite for discovery, but they don’t automatically guarantee that a brand will be referenced within AI-generated answers. AI systems appear to apply an additional level of confidence when deciding which sources to cite directly, reinforcing the importance of expertise, authority and genuinely useful content.

Technical Foundations Continue Supporting AI Discovery

What happened

Cloudflare reported that automated systems now account for 57% of worldwide webpage requests. While these requests include search engines, monitoring services, AI crawlers and other automated systems, the research highlights the growing role machines play in accessing and understanding website content before it reaches users.

Why this matters

As AI assistants increasingly rely on automated systems to understand websites, established technical SEO fundamentals continue becoming more valuable.

Crawlability, logical site architecture and accessible content all help search engines and AI systems understand what a page is about. Structured data sits firmly within this category. It remains valuable because it improves the quality and clarity of information available to machines, rather than acting as a shortcut to AI visibility or guaranteed citations.

Community Content Continues Gaining Visibility

What happened

Following Google’s May Core Update, Reddit continued increasing its visibility across a wide range of industries, although improvements remained considerably more limited within sensitive sectors such as health and finance.

Why this matters

As AI assistants increasingly rely on automated systems to understand websites, established technical SEO fundamentals continue becoming more valuable.

Crawlability, logical site architecture and accessible content all help search engines and AI systems understand what a page is about. Structured data sits firmly within this category. It remains valuable because it improves the quality and clarity of information available to machines, rather than acting as a shortcut to AI visibility or guaranteed citations.

What This All Means For Brands

One of the clearest messages from June is that AI visibility continues to build upon strong SEO rather than replacing it.

Businesses investing in relevant content, technical quality, structured information and genuine expertise are building the same foundations that increasingly support both traditional rankings and AI-generated search experiences. While new AI tactics continue to emerge, June provided little evidence that they outweigh the importance of established SEO best practice.

Search Platforms Are Becoming More Accountable

Business Impact

One of the biggest frustrations surrounding AI search has been explaining its commercial impact. Businesses know customer behaviour is changing, yet reporting has often lagged behind reality. June marked the first meaningful step towards improving that visibility, while also introducing greater scrutiny of how search platforms rank and present information.

Google Begins Reporting AI Search Performance

What happened

Google announced dedicated Generative AI performance reports within Search Console, providing reporting for impressions generated through AI Overviews, AI Mode and generative AI experiences in Discover. The rollout is currently phased, meaning not every Search Console property will have immediate access.

Why this matters

Until now, understanding AI visibility has relied heavily on third-party tools and observation.

Google’s own reporting represents an important step forward. Although the current reports focus primarily on impressions and availability remains limited during rollout, businesses are beginning to receive first-party evidence showing how their websites appear within Google’s AI experiences.

Microsoft Continues Expanding AI Reporting

What happened

Microsoft expanded Bing Webmaster Tools with additional AI reporting, including search intents, topics, citation share and competitor comparison.

Why this matters

While Google and Microsoft approach reporting differently, both platforms are moving towards making AI visibility more measurable.

That should gradually improve businesses’ ability to understand where they appear within AI-generated search experiences and how that visibility develops over time.

The UK Introduces Greater Accountability For Search

What happened

The Competition and Markets Authority introduced new fair-ranking requirements for Google Search covering both traditional organic rankings and generative AI search features. The measures require Google to apply objective and non-discriminatory ranking criteria, provide greater transparency around significant changes affecting publishers and improve processes for raising concerns.

Why this matters

This is one of the first significant UK regulatory developments to explicitly recognise that AI-generated search experiences should be subject to similar expectations around fairness and transparency as traditional search results.

Businesses shouldn’t expect Google’s ranking systems to suddenly become fully transparent, but this represents an important step towards greater accountability as AI becomes a larger part of online discovery.

What This All Means For Brands

Reporting is gradually catching up with the way people now search.

Over the coming months, businesses should expect AI visibility, traditional SEO performance and wider discovery metrics to become increasingly interconnected. Rather than replacing established reporting, these developments should provide additional context for understanding how customers discover brands across an increasingly diverse search landscape.

What To Watch Next

1. Google Reporting On Brand Platform SERP Performance
   • Google has also begun rolling out support for connecting eligible YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and X accounts to Search Console. Once available, businesses will be able to understand how their social content performs within Google Search, extending first-party reporting beyond traditional websites.
2. Google Introducing Search Profiles
   • Google has also launched Search Profiles for publishers and creators in the United States. These profiles bring together articles, videos and social content into a single discoverable profile, with wider international availability expected in the future.
3. Cloudflare Introduce AI Publisher Controls
   • Finally, publisher controls over AI crawlers continue developing. Cloudflare and beehiiv have introduced new tools allowing publishers to control how AI systems access their content while also providing better visibility into AI crawler activity. Although these developments are currently more relevant to publishers than most lead-generation businesses, they demonstrate how AI discovery and content ownership continue to evolve together.

June’s Key Learnings

June didn’t introduce a completely new direction for search. Instead, it provided much stronger evidence for trends that have been developing throughout the first half of 2026.

Customers continue to research across an increasing number of platforms, AI assistants are becoming another stage within the search journey rather than replacing it, and search engines are beginning to provide better reporting into how that visibility is generated.

Perhaps the strongest message from June, however, is that the fundamentals remain remarkably consistent. High-quality content, technical accessibility and genuine expertise continue to underpin visibility across both traditional search and AI-generated experiences. The businesses most likely to benefit are those that continue investing in those foundations while broadening how they measure success.

Looking back across the first six months of the year, one thing has become increasingly clear. Traditional SEO has not become less important, but success is no longer defined solely by rankings or website visits. Understanding how your brand is discovered, represented and measured across search engines, AI assistants and other discovery platforms is becoming an increasingly important part of modern search marketing.