Traditional search engines remain the first choice for finding information online despite the growing use of artificial intelligence, according to new research from YouGov.
The study, Searching for answers: How AI is changing online discovery in 2026, found that 85% of online searchers in Great Britain used a search engine during the previous 30 days, while almost a third had also used an AI assistant or chatbot.
Rather than replacing search engines, AI is becoming another tool people use alongside them.
Nearly two thirds of Britons now search for information online every day, with Gen Z and Millennials searching most frequently and making greater use of video platforms, social media, online communities and AI assistants than older generations.
Smartphones remain the dominant device for searching, particularly among younger users.
The report found that 58% of online searchers sometimes begin a query with an AI assistant, although only 18% do so daily.
Among existing AI users, adoption continues to accelerate, with 71% saying they use AI more than they did a year ago and almost half expecting their usage to increase further over the next 12 months.
However, 59% of people who currently do not use AI assistants say they have no plans to start.
People primarily turn to AI for direct answers, summaries and verifying information, with comparing options and troubleshooting also proving popular.
Even so, AI is rarely the sole destination, as most users continue to check other sources or follow links provided by the assistant before making decisions.
Trust remains the biggest challenge for AI-powered search. While 77% of respondents said they trust traditional search engines, only 31% expressed the same confidence in AI assistants.
That figure rises to 49% among people who already use AI for searching, highlighting a clear divide between existing users and non-users.
Respondents said links to official sources, greater transparency over how answers are generated and clearer citations would help increase confidence in AI-generated responses.
The research concludes that the future of online discovery is unlikely to be a choice between search engines and AI. Instead, consumers increasingly expect fast AI-generated answers that are backed up by reliable sources they can verify for themselves.
