South Africa, Feb. 5 -- While Google remains the traditional search engine of choice, we're seeing social, artificial intelligence (AI) and shopping platforms challenge the Google homepage as the natural place for customers to start a search journey. Meanwhile, a smartphone-native young population interacts with tech in a different way to previous generations. Here are three key trends we see shaping search in 2025.

1. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)

The trend: Generative AI apps such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek are becoming the place where many users look for answers first. Meanwhile, search players like Google and Bing are incorporating gen AI summaries into their search engine results, usually at the top of the page. This is acceler...