Will AI assistants like Doubao/Kimi/ChatGPT replace search engines?

Chapter 1: Fundamentals · Question 8

Current state: How fast are AI assistants growing?

First, a few data points (as of 2025-2026):

Note: MAU figures above arecomprehensive estimatesbased on public reports (as of 2025-2026); Doubao data references QuestMobilethe "2026 H1 China Mobile Internet Strength & Value Ranking" (about 382 million MAU); Kimi, ERNIE Bot and others are industry estimates, not officially disclosed.

In terms of growth, Doubao's user base nearly quadrupled from mid-2024 to the end of 2025; Kimi went viral in 2024 with its "2-million-character long-text processing," with quarterly user growth exceeding 50% (the above growth rates are industry estimates).

What do these numbers mean?Chinese internet users have formed a new habit of "ask AI first when you have a question". Especially among young white-collar workers in tier-1 and tier-2 cities, AI assistants are used almost as often as, or even more often than, traditional search engines. A user survey at the end of 2025 showed that 42% of people aged 25-35 said they "turn to AI assistants first for everyday information queries rather than search engines" (industry estimate, based on aggregated public survey data).

Verdict: AI assistants are rapidly taking over search engines' work, but they are far from replacing them.

Which queries are "moving house"?

Scenarios shifting to AI assistants

• Knowledge Q&A: “What is the principle of quantum computing” → Ask Kimi directly, more efficient than reading 10 articles
• Text processing: “Help me summarize these meeting minutes” → Search engines simply can't do this
• Code/formulas: “Write a Python web scraper” → ChatGPT/Doubao give you the code directly
• Creative assistance: “Help me come up with 5 slogans” → AI is better at this

Scenarios staying with traditional search

• Local services: “Good Sichuan restaurants in Chaoyang District” → Needs maps, reviews, real-time information
• Shopping decisions: “Where to buy iPhone 16 cheapest” → Needs price comparison, e-commerce links
• Timely news: “Why did the stock market crash today” → AI information lags behind
• Navigational queries: “JD.com official website” → The user simply wants to go to a specific website

“Coexistence" rather than "replacement”

A more accurate assessment:AI assistants and search engines will coexist long-term, but their respective use scenarios will be redivided.

Analogy: Food delivery didn't kill restaurants, short videos didn't kill long videos—new channels redistributed user attention, but old channels can continue to exist as long as they adapt to change.

Baidu itself is also becoming AI-driven (AI summaries, Ernie Bot integrated into search); the essence is not wanting to be replaced, actively embracing change.

Implications for marketers

1. Content must be "citable by AI": Can the articles you write be searched by Kimi and cited by Doubao's web-connected mode? This is a new traffic entry point.
2. Pay attention to AI platforms' distribution logic: Kimi's exploration version cites web content and labels sources, which is essentially a new "search engine."
3. Don't panic, don't ignore: Search traffic won't disappear overnight, but if your target user persona is 25-35 year old white-collar workers, they may already be using AI assistants to solve 50% of their information needs.

Practical recommendations

• Monitor changes in traffic structure: If your website's "informational"KeywordTraffic keeps declining, but "transactional" keywords remain stable, which shows AI is diverting the former—adjust your content direction promptly.
• Build a presence on AI platforms: search your brand/industry keywords in Kimi Explorer and see whose content the AI cites. If it's not yours, think about how to make your content the AI's "preferred source".
• Dual-track approach: keep doing traditional SEO (your traffic base) while starting to optimize content for "AI readability"—clear structure, well-defined viewpoints, accurate data.