The Browser Wars Are Back

Why Perplexity's Comet and OpenAI's browser plans mean marketing as we know it is about to change—again

Remember when the biggest browser decision was Internet Explorer versus Netscape? Those battles seem quaint now that we're staring down AI-powered browsers that don't just load web pages—they think, recommend, and make decisions for users.

Perplexity just rolled out Comet for premium users, and reports suggest OpenAI is building their own browser experience. But before we dive into what this means for marketers, let's get our facts straight about the current landscape.

Google Continues to Dominate

Here's what many people miss: Google continues to dominate with 89.62% market share as of March 2025, and they're not just watching competitors innovate. Google has rolled out AI Overviews (which 39% of marketers say has already reduced their website traffic since launching in May 2024) and launched AI Mode, their own conversational search experience.

Google's AI Mode uses live web browsing capabilities and works with partners like OpenTable, Resy, Tock, Ticketmaster, and StubHub to help users take actions directly in search results. Sound familiar? That's the same "keep users in the platform" strategy that Perplexity and OpenAI are pursuing.

The difference is scale. Google handled roughly 373× more queries than ChatGPT in 2024, with all AI-powered search tools combined making up less than 2% of the market. But here's the thing about disruption—it starts small and happens fast.

The Real Competition Isn't Coming—It's Here

While everyone's talking about Perplexity and OpenAI browsers, Google has quietly been testing similar features. According to Fractl and Search Engine Land, 39% of marketers say their website traffic has declined since Google launched AI Overviews in May 2024. That's not future disruption—that's current impact.

The writing is on the wall: whether it's Google's AI Mode, Perplexity's Comet, or OpenAI's upcoming browser, the direction is clear. Search results that keep users in-platform, AI assistants that make recommendations with authority, and conversational experiences that compress the traditional buyer's journey.

Your Marketing Funnel Just Got Compressed

Here's the uncomfortable truth: everything we've built—SEO strategies, content marketing, paid search campaigns, landing page optimization—assumes people will click through to your website. AI-powered search experiences are designed to eliminate that step entirely.

Think about it. When someone asks Comet's AI assistant to "help me find project management software for a 20-person team," they're not asking to browse ten different vendor sites. They want a recommendation, comparison, and ideally, a way to get started—all in one conversation.

Your carefully crafted buyer's journey? It just became a single AI response.

The shift isn't from optimizing for discovery to optimizing for conversion. It's from optimizing for traffic to optimizing for selection. The AI has to pick you before users ever know you exist.

The Attribution Nightmare Is Here

Remember when iOS 14.5 broke Facebook attribution and everyone scrambled to figure out which ads were actually working? AI browsers are about to make that look simple.

When an AI recommends your product in a conversation, how do you track that back to your marketing efforts? Was it your SEO-optimized blog post that made the difference? Your PR campaign? Your presence in industry databases? The answer is probably "all of the above" and "impossible to measure."

We're entering an era where marketing success gets harder to measure precisely because it gets harder to trace. The AI synthesizes information from dozens of sources before making a recommendation. Your marketing team needs to excel everywhere because you never know what input will tip the AI toward selecting you.

What Smart Marketers Are Doing Right Now

The companies that will win in this transition aren't waiting for perfect information about how AI browsers work. They're adapting their content and positioning strategies now:

Becoming Answer-Ready Instead of creating content designed to generate clicks, forward-thinking brands are creating content designed to be AI source material. Comprehensive FAQs, detailed product specifications, clear benefit statements—information that remains valuable even when filtered through an AI response.

Building Authoritative Presence AI systems favor authoritative sources. This means investing in the unglamorous work of maintaining accurate business listings, creating industry-specific content, and establishing thought leadership in your space.

Focusing on First-Party Relationships When AI browsers can bypass your website entirely, direct customer relationships become even more valuable. Email lists, customer communities, and retention strategies aren't just nice-to-have—they're survival tools.

Strategies for the Invisible Web

Smart marketers aren't waiting around to see how this plays out. They're already adapting:

Become the Source, Not the Destination Instead of trying to drive traffic to your content, focus on becoming the authoritative source that AI systems reference. This means creating comprehensive, factual content that answers questions directly and completely.

Invest in Structured Authority AI systems love structured data, verified information, and authoritative sources. Your press releases, product specifications, and company information need to be as machine-readable as they are human-readable.

Build Relationships with AI Platforms Just like we once focused on Google relationships through SEO, the future might require direct partnerships with AI platforms. Getting your products into their knowledge bases or training data becomes crucial.

Master the Art of AI-Friendly Communication Your brand voice needs to work in two contexts: direct human communication and AI synthesis. This means clear, factual messaging that retains its impact even when paraphrased by an algorithm.

The Personalization Wild Card

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of AI browsers is their promise of deep personalization. These systems don't just know what you searched for—they understand your preferences, your purchase history, your communication style, and your decision-making patterns.

For marketers, this creates both an opportunity and a challenge. Hyper-personalized recommendations could be incredibly effective, but only if your brand makes it into the AI's consideration set for that specific user.

The Long Game

The shift to AI-powered browsing won't happen overnight. Google's dominance won't crumble in a quarter, and traditional web browsing isn't disappearing next year. But the direction is clear, and early movers have significant advantages.

The brands that figure out how to maintain visibility, authority, and influence in an AI-mediated world will have a massive competitive advantage. Those that don't risk becoming invisible precisely when their customers are ready to buy.

The revolution isn't coming—it's already here, hiding in browser tabs across the internet. The question isn't whether AI will change how people discover and choose brands. The question is whether your brand will be part of that conversation.

The future of marketing isn't about driving traffic to your website. It's about ensuring your brand is the answer when the AI is asked the question.