What happened

Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL -1.23%) (GOOG -1.10%) turned higher Monday, gaining as much as 2.1%. As of 1:59 p.m. ET, the stock was still up 1.2%.

The catalyst that sent the tech giant higher was an analyst report that suggested that, for now at least, its search market share was secure.

So what

In late January, Microsoft (MSFT -1.27%) confirmed a "multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment" in ChatGPT-creator artificial intelligence (AI) start-up OpenAI. In February, the company went even further, saying it was infusing the AI-infused chatbot into its Bing search engine. At the time, some market watchers suggested this might be just the boost Bing needed to challenge Google's dominant search -- but it appears those prognostications were a bit too optimistic. 

Bank of America analyst Justin Post has done some digging and come to the conclusion that Google's market share remains secure. A review of Google's web traffic and download activity reveal both have remained stable since November, which suggests that while ChatGPT has created a lot of buzz, its integration with Bing hasn't yet siphoned off any of Google's search customers. 

In fact, a quick review of worldwide search engine market share shows that Google's market share has edged higher in each of the last several months, while Bing's has actually declined, though the changes were nominal. 

As a result, the analyst maintains a buy rating and $125 price target on Alphabet shares, which suggests potential gains of 38% for investors.

Now what

Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat spoke at an event last week, providing some insight into Google's advancements in AI, which the analyst viewed as "constructive." Porat suggested that more AI-infused products were in the pipeline and costs remained manageable.

The economy has weighed on Alphabet stock in recent months, as marketers reined in ad spending to preserve precious capital and shore up their financial positions in the face of uncertainty. While that remains a concern over the short term, Google's unrivaled position in both search and digital advertising, as well as its Top 3 position in cloud computing, give Alphabet the tools it needs to reward shareholders well into the future.