Over the past months we’ve seen search giant Google make a string of AI announcements that confirmed what has long been expected: Google search, and with it the web as it currently exists, is entering a new era.
The company unveiled an ambitious roadmap centered around AI agents, which are capable of answering complex queries, observing a user’s environment, drawing on their preferences, increasing personalization, and performing tasks and actions on their behalf.
These changes, alongside growing momentum from Perplexity and other AI-fueled search alternatives, are reshaping how people consume information online. These rapid shifts have led to speculation that AI might replace traditional search and, by extension, diminish the role of websites themselves.
But here’s the reality: AI isn’t replacing websites. It’s changing how people find and interact with them. AI is raising the stakes for what those sites need to deliver. Just as eCommerce changed the retail landscape without killing in-person shopping, AI will accelerate the evolution of the web, not eliminate it.
The need for a digital home for trust, credibility, and experience isn’t going anywhere. In fact, it’s becoming more essential than ever.
The website remains your digital front door
Fears that websites will no longer be relevant have existed almost as long as websites themselves. Social media was once supposed to replace websites, and apps were supposed to render them obsolete. Yet, each time, websites remain the most direct and complete way for a brand to engage an audience.
Today, AI is simply the latest force impacting the way that engagement takes place but the rise of AI agents will make web experiences more competitive, not less important. Just as Google search is introducing new demands for relevance and quality, AI agents will favor websites that provide more information with better structured data. Businesses will need to focus even more on creating sites that are fast, flexible, personalized, and interactive. Standing out will, more than ever, demand a foundation of well-structured content, clear purpose, and an elevated standard of substance, structure, and speed.
We’ve seen shifts like this before in other industries like when eCommerce began surging, headlines declared the death of brick-and-mortar. A decade later, the in-person experience is alive and well. In fact, the National Retail Federation predicted 4–6% retail growth last year, with 75% of purchases still occurring in physical stores which underscores how technology shifts behaviors, but it rarely replaces value.
The same is now true of websites. While AI may drive a new class of experiences through chat, agents, or search, it will ultimately route users back to websites to transact, engage, and explore.
According to McKinsey, 70–80% of customer interactions are already happening through self-service channels like websites and apps. That number will only rise, which means your website isn’t just a channel. It’s the very foundation of your business.
Accordingly, those sites will need to deliver stronger experiences than ever before. Instead of a decline in the need for websites, we’re seeing an increase in expectations. Simply put, now is the time to invest in website innovation, not write them off as obsolete.
Getting your site AI-ready doesn’t have to be overwhelming
AI will change the web forever, but instead of a warning for companies that rely on it, this new reality should be viewed as an opportunity, and businesses that adapt early will be best positioned to thrive.
The steps to prepare a site for AI are more accessible than many assume, starting with understanding what AI agents prioritize. Similar to traditional SEO, AI discoverability depends on how well your site is structured, how relevant your content is, and how easily it can be parsed and personalized.
There are key steps companies can take to prepare their sites for AI today:
- Consider how your data is presented. AI agents will increasingly rely on structured content to surface meaningful answers.
- Integrate tools that personalize user experiences, optimize performance, and measure outcomes.
- Most importantly, don’t lose sight of your audience. A great website still needs to entertain, inform, and inspire customer delight, no matter how users arrive there.
AI can be a powerful ally in improving that foundation through Smart Search, personalization, automation, and optimization. Businesses that see AI not as a detour from their web strategy—but as a catalyst for improving it—will be the ones that benefit most. Because in the age of AI, the web isn’t dying, it’s entering its next chapter, and the brands that build for it will be the ones we remember.
