Marie Haynes Finds Google Still Dominates Online Search

Marie Haynes analyzed 12 months of data across 100 websites and found that sessions from ChatGPT accounted for only 0.62% of the volume driven by Google Organic, according to Search Engine Journal. This number increased to 0.73% when all other large language models (LLMs) were included. Haynes' findings suggest that optimizing for LLM visibility may not be the best use of resources, as the return on investment is relatively low.

The data also showed that while ChatGPT visitors converted at a higher rate than Google organic visitors, Google still drove the majority of conversions. ChatGPT visitors converted at a rate of 13.8%, compared to 3.02% for Google organic visitors. However, Google organic visitors accounted for 96.5% of total conversions, with Google driving 27 times more conversions than all LLMs combined.

Haynes notes that the growth of ChatGPT sessions ended in August 2025, and the number of visitors from ChatGPT has been declining since then. This challenges the prediction that LLMs would eventually send more traffic than Google. Instead, Haynes argues that Google is still the most important search engine, and that AI is changing how businesses are found on the internet, but not in the way that many expect.

Google's use of AI in its search engine is driving millions of people to businesses every day, without them ever leaving Google. Haynes suggests that businesses should focus on improving user satisfaction and tracking key events, rather than optimizing for machines. This is because Google's ranking systems are heavily influenced by deep learning algorithms that prioritize helpful content.

Haynes also discusses the opportunities in agentic search, where search shifts from being a passive way to find links to an active work coordinator. Google's CEO Sundar Pichai has stated that search will become an agent manager, and Haynes notes that this will change the way that businesses are found online. She highlights the importance of getting to know Google's Merchant Center and mastering Merchant Center data, in order to take advantage of new features such as the Universal Cart.

The Universal Cart aggregates products from multiple retailers into a unified checkout within Google Wallet, and allows searchers to add products from multiple vendors and check out without visiting their sites. Haynes also discusses the Universal Commerce Protocol, which provides an open discovery layer for AI agents to compare inventory and purchase natively. She notes that this will require SEOs to expand their technical skills to include agentic discovery endpoints.

Finally, Haynes touches on the WebMCP (Model Context Protocol), which enables websites to expose their interactive functions directly to AI agents via declarative markup and imperative APIs. She notes that there is still much to learn about this protocol, but that it has the potential to revolutionize the way that businesses interact with customers online.