 |
(SK telecom) |
The conversational search market, powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology, is becoming the new trend in South Korea. The format, where AI provides organized answers in a Q&A style, aligns well with consumers’ desire for quick and accurate information.
The competition for dominance in the AI search market is intensifying, and involves telecom companies and startups alongside traditional portal companies like Google LLC and Naver Corp.
SK telecom Co. announced the launch of the Adot Chrome Extension, which enables users to access its AI assistant service, Adot, directly from Google Chrome, on Tuesday. With Google Chrome holding over 40 percent of the domestic browser market, this move aims to expand the reach of AI search.
This function is currently only available in a PC web environment. If a user searches for “April travel destinations” on Naver via the Chrome PC version, for example, Adot will provide a concise summary of the best travel spots by region in addition to the information presented by Naver.
While Naver recently introduced its AI-powered search service, AI Briefing, the range of queries it can respond to remains limited. In contrast, Adot differentiates itself by offering summarized information for most queries.
Adot supports up to 13 different AI models, including A.X, Perplexity Sonar, GPT-4o Mini, and Claude 3.5, allowing users to select their preferred AI model for generating summaries.
Although AI search services still account for a small portion of the search market compared to traditional search engines, they are growing rapidly. Industry estimates suggest that over 98 percent of global search queries are still handled by traditional search engines, but AI search is likely to emerge as a dominant service in the future with the development of powerful AI tools.
According to Open Survey’s AI Search Trend Report 2025, released on Tuesday, 71.8 percent of Korean respondents said they frequently use Naver for searches while over 10 percent reported primarily using ChatGPT for searches, indicating AI search’s increasing influence.
AI search services such as Adot, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Wrtn are also gaining traction.
Wrtn by Wrtn Technologies, which offers free AI search services, has become particularly popular among younger users.
“The era of traditional portals is over,” an industry official said. “Now, anything the consumer desires can become a search engine.”
