It’s no secret that online search has changed drastically over the past few months. Now, users from all walks of life are looking to Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT for help like never before. Hannah Cooke is a committed generative AI user. While she always made use of these tools, about 18 months ago, she began using them in a more serious and strategic way. ChatGPT’s rapid rise in popularity, with more than 800 million weekly active users, has been unprecedented. The third quarter of 2025 showed a massive leap, growing from 400 million users as of February 2025. It also emphasizes our increasing dependence on AI for information search and assistance.
The transition is more than just math. Recent estimates indicate that LLMs accounted for 5.99% of all desktop search queries last July—a figure more than twice the percentage LLMs represented just a year earlier. This trend is indicative of a much larger trend towards user-centric services and experiences. This is leading users to prefer AI-driven solutions over traditional search engines, looking for faster, more efficient, and personalized experiences.
Our ongoing user Anja-Sara Lahady is one of those who have taken to using ChatGPT as their second henchman. Fast forward to today and she often realizes that the dependence on LLMs has supplanted her use of Google Search. Lahady’s ChatGPT use case spans many different applications—like the time she used it to research travel options ahead of her recent trip to Japan. The generative AI assisted her in planning two weeks worth of travel and figuring out restaurants that accommodate vegetarian diets.
“For example, I used ChatGPT to research ahead of a recent visit to Japan. It saved [me] hours of research,” – Hannah Cooke
Lahady appreciates the efficiency that LLMs provide. She explains, “I’ve always been an early adopter… and in the past year have started using ChatGPT for just about everything.” Be it looking for decoration tips for her bedroom or fashion-forward outfit ideas, Lahady finds LLMs make her decision-making easier.
“Or, I have three things in the fridge, what should I make? I don’t want to spend 30 minutes thinking about these admin tasks. These aren’t my expertise; they make me more fatigued,” – Anja-Sara Lahady
Benefits of LLMs go further than just personal productivity. Professor Feng Li, in a recent Smart Cities Dive op-ed, emphasizes their power to reduce decision-making cognitive load when searching for information. He emphasizes the feature that users no longer need to be overwhelmed by different links from legacy searches. Instead, they get short summaries that are more easily revised and developed through multiple rounds.
“Instead of juggling 10 links with search, you get a brief synthesis that you can edit and iterate in plain English,” – Professor Feng Li
Li also emphasizes the various applications of LLMs, stating, “LLMs are particularly useful for summarising long documents, first-pass drafting, coding snippets, and ‘what-if’ exploration.”
For all the benefits these tools provide, experts are issuing a clarion call to understand the data that LLMs are trained on. Leila Seith Hassan stresses that users need to be aware of which sources the model considers authoritative within their category. This deep understanding is key because users are beginning to put trust in AI-generated recommendations.
“Users need to understand which sources the model considers authoritative within their category,” – Leila Seith Hassan
Additionally, as Hassan explains, referrals produced right from LLMs are more likely to result in more quality leads. Customers that have previously used AI to find products are usually more likely to complete a purchase.
“Referrals coming directly from LLMs often appear to be higher quality, with people more likely to convert to sales,” – Leila Seith Hassan
Hannah Cooke, who is pleased to have LLMs find answers and recommendations quickly and efficiently. She notes that using ChatGPT simplifies her search process: “There’s fewer websites I need to go through.”
The development and deployment of LLMs has exploded in recent months. One thing is obvious — these tools have become indispensable extensions of their users’ everyday lives. More and more users are discovering how they can use AI to be more productive, to think about concepts that drive creativity, artistic innovation and future work.