As we move through 2026, the industry is finally moving past the AI hype phase and into a new reality: the “Great Decoupling” of search and intent. For decades, the search bar was the undisputed front door to the internet. Today, that door has been replaced by a fragmented landscape of LLMs, ambient wearables, and task-oriented AI agents.
In this new era, the battle for the consumer isn’t fought over keywords; it is fought over moments. Here is how the search landscape has evolved, and why Search Intelligence is now the only way for brands to maintain their bearings.
1. Google Ads defends the commercial core
The Prediction: Google will maintain query growth into 2026 by leveraging its dominance in structured data across Shopping, Travel, and Local verticals.
Despite the noise surrounding AI-first platforms, Google has spent the last two years proving why it remains a titan. By leaning into its decades-long lead in high-intent data, Google has successfully manufactured new ad supply through Performance Max and Merchant Center Next, even as traditional text queries began to flatten.
However, this growth has come at the cost of transparency. We are witnessing a fundamental shift as search moves from keywords to conversations; a transition that makes an independent Whole Market View more critical than ever. Without it, advertisers are effectively flying blind, trusting the platform to grade its own homework within a privacy-safe black box.
2. LLMs move down targeted vertical paths: The year of retail
The Prediction: OpenAI and other LLM players will invest heavily in retail experiences, making retail the first major vertical where LLM search challenges Google’s dominance.
While Google defends the core, 2026 has become the year of Retail for LLMs. Retail fits the LLM workflow perfectly because it relies on discovery, comparison, and deep personalization. We are now seeing “Transactional LLMs” that handle the entire process: a user asks for a specific cold weather running shoe, and the LLM returns a curated shortlist with embedded product data and direct checkout links. This represents a direct threat to the Google Shopping ecosystem, forcing major brands to split their search budgets to capture users who are bypassing traditional search bars entirely.
3. OpenAI wearables accelerate the consumer shift
The Prediction: The maturity of AI wearables will create a new “default” layer for consumer interaction, intercepting search intent before it ever reaches a mobile browser.
The shift toward Proactive AI agents is being accelerated by AI glasses, pins, and integrated assistants that intercept intent at the source. Last year, OpenAI made a significant move into this space by officially merging with Jony Ive’s io Products, signaling a future where hardware is designed specifically for screenless, voice-first interaction.
When a wearable agent can proactively suggest a better price on items while you are standing in a supermarket, the traditional search moat is breached. If these devices become the primary interface for research and comparison, many formerly “Google-able” moments never reach the search bar, fundamentally weakening Google’s greatest advantage: being the first layer of the mobile experience.
4. Google Chrome: The "Default" era ends
The Prediction: Google will retain ownership of Chrome, but 2025 legal rulings have ended their ability to “buy” market dominance through exclusive default search deals.
The Reality: The courts recently rejected a forced sale of Chrome, but they stripped away Google’s most powerful moat: exclusive contracts. As of January 2026, Google is prohibited from paying billions to be the only search provider on Apple and Samsung devices.
For brands, this marks the end of the “default” era. With exclusive lock-ins gone, we are seeing a more competitive browser landscape where users are finally prompted to choose their own search partner. To win in 2026, your strategy must account for a fragmented market where intent is captured across multiple engines and AI assistants.
6. AI Search introduces the "outcome based" auction
The Prediction: New AI-driven engines will move beyond keywords to monetization models focused on intent clusters, life events, and task completion.
This shift in how consumers interact with the web has forced a change in how we buy media. We are seeing the rise of outcome based ad auctions. Rather than bidding on isolated keywords like “Paris flights,” advertisers are now bidding on “Holiday Planning Bundles” that span flights, hotels, and insurance. This shifts the battle from bidding on queries to owning moments; a major change in how paid search budgets get deployed.
Navigating the new frontier of intent
The transition from bidding on individual queries to owning entire moments is the defining challenge of 2026. LLMs are already positioned well to own the beginning of the user journey because their conversational nature provides a much clearer window into explicit buyer intent, particularly as they expand into device and wearable integration.
To succeed, advertisers must move toward contextual targeting. The winners will be those who use Search Intelligence to stay relevant across these unpredictable, agent-driven user patterns. These brands will ensure they are present not just when a user searches, but when they are ready to act.
