In November 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT 3.5 to incredible success. Within two months, the chatbot had amassed 100 million users, who found the human dialogue and code and text generation to be groundbreaking.
Any time a widely adopted product or service enters the market, investors worry about the threat it can pose to the incumbents. This was certainly the case with Alphabet (GOOGL 0.47%) (GOOG 0.50%). There were fears that its crown jewel, Google Search, was counting down the days until it became obsolete.
We're now more than three years after ChatGPT's launch. And Alphabet shareholders shouldn't worry. Here's one reason why.
Image source: Getty Images.
Early concerns were understandable
The risk to Google Search when ChatGPT and its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities hit the scene was obvious. If people start to use chatbots more often when seeking information, it will lead to a lower number of queries going to Google Search. As a result, this will pressure advertising revenue, which is key to Alphabet's financial success.
To add fuel to the fire, Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars into OpenAI, decided to power its Bing search engine with the help of ChatGPT. It also didn't help that Alphabet fumbled its early AI efforts, with Bard (now called Gemini) providing inaccurate answers.
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Key Data Points
Google Search still dominates the market
Fast-forward to early 2026, and Google Search still sits on the throne. According to statcounter, it has 90% share of the global search market. Bing has less than 5% share.
This is why investors have no reason to worry. ChatGPT was perhaps the biggest risk factor that Alphabet faced in recent memory. And Google Search still reported $63.1 billion in revenue in 2025, up 17% year over year.
It continues to dominate, with the success of AI Overviews and AI Mode as notable developments that expand the ways people look for information. "Search saw more usage in Q4 than ever before, as AI continues to drive an expansionary moment," CEO Sundar Pichai said on the Q4 2025 earnings call.
This is clear evidence that Alphabet's most important platform has successfully adapted to the rise of AI. In the future, there will certainly be new AI products and services that are released by other companies. But Alphabet's ability to respond and lean on its advantages, mainly around data, tech know-how, network effects, and unrivaled distribution, give it the upper hand.
This adds support to the argument that Alphabet remains a no-brainer AI stock for investors to buy and hold.
