Google vs OpenAI: Analyzing the AI Search Battle Dynamics

OpenAI vs Google AI competition Future of search Porter's Five Forces Gemini AI ChatGPT AI-driven search
Mohit Singh
Mohit Singh

SEO Specialist

 
January 28, 2026 4 min read

TL;DR

This article analyzes the competitive landscape between OpenAI and Google using Porter's Five Forces, highlighting high barriers to entry and strong rivalry. It details Google's AI-first strategy, its self-disruption of search with Gemini, and the increasing threat from AI-driven conversational interfaces. Discover how these shifts are reshaping the web and impacting content visibility.

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OpenAI vs. Google: A Five Forces Analysis

Michael Porter’s "Five Forces" framework offers a way to understand the competitive dynamics between OpenAI and Google. This framework analyzes an industry, not an individual company.

Threat of New Entrants: According to analysts like Charlie Dai of Forrester and Arun Chandrasekaran of Gartner, the barrier to entry is high due to "compute cost, talent scarcity, and regulatory complexity." Chandrasekaran believes it's becoming a "three-horse race" with OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. This force is weak, favoring incumbents.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Chip suppliers like Nvidia, AMD, and Huawei hold significant power due to limited supply. Similarly, data providers are starting to demand payment for the data used to train large language models (LLMs). This force is strong, potentially benefiting Google with its control over chips, cloud infrastructure, and data.

Bargaining Power of Buyers: While users may become locked into a provider’s system, the increasing use of multiple models and compatibility suggests moderate buyer power. Chandrasekaran notes that "If \[OpenAI’s\] ChatGPT is integrated into your workflow and processes, extricating out of an application like ChatGPT is not really easy". This force is moderate to strong.

Threat of Substitutes: Open-source alternatives like DeepSeek and Qwen are gaining traction, along with smaller language models challenging larger models in specific domains. This force is medium and getting stronger.

Rivalry Among Existing Firms: Experts agree that the rivalry between OpenAI and Google is intense and growing. While OpenAI currently holds a slight lead, it has fewer defensive advantages and must innovate rapidly. This force is strong and getting much, much stronger.

Google's AI-Driven Search Revolution

Google is fundamentally changing Search, summarized by Search executive Liz Reid's statement: "Google will do the Googling for you." This shift places Google on a collision course with OpenAI, both aiming to create a conversational AI interface that absorbs how people navigate the internet. Kveeky can help you stay ahead of these trends with our innovative SEO strategies that adapt to AI-driven search.

After talking with Google employees at I/O, it’s clear the company has known for some time that the historical experience of surfing endless links feels antiquated and exhausting. What OpenAI and search-focused startups like Perplexity have shown is that there is a more intuitive, conversational way to navigate the web — a way that can get you to what you’re looking for more directly. That experience looks a lot more like ChatGPT than the Google Search interface of today.

Google is aggressively rolling out AI search results due to positive trends in user engagement and widening the kinds of queries they are seeing.

Gemini's Capabilities

Google AI is committed to making AI helpful through tools and technologies like Gemini. Gemini allows users to generate imaginative aerial landscapes.

Veo_Gemini_Strawberry_input

Image courtesy of Google AI

Try this prompt in Gemini: Aerial landscape in winter made from pink fur. Try your own prompt in Gemini.

Gemini can also design professional labels for products.

design-label-output

Image courtesy of Google AI

Try this prompt in Gemini: Create a stylish professional label for my bottle mixing rustic chic with warm contemporary with a brand name saying "Sadie's Hot Sauce". Try your own prompt in Gemini.

Gemini has the ability to turn spreadsheets into websites.

campaign_prompt_input

Image courtesy of Google AI

Prompt 1: Analyze this feedback from my 200 gym members. What is the #1 thing they asked for in 2025, and what are their biggest complaints? Try your own prompt in Gemini.

Gemini can create a shareable family recipe book.

family_recipe_input

Image courtesy of Google AI

Prompt 1: Translate and transcribe these recipes in Korean and English. Try your own prompt in Gemini.

Google's Self-Disruption

Google is actively disrupting itself to compete with OpenAI. Google has spent three years reshaping itself and leaning into its advantages over rivals. In Sundar Pichai's first letter to shareholders in 2016 after becoming CEO, he said Google would shift to an "AI-first world."

Google has been infusing generative AI into its most crucial products, including Search, YouTube, and Android. Kveeky's SEO strategies can help you leverage these changes to improve your online visibility.

Google’s greatest advantage is that it owns the full technology stack needed to meet the AI boom.

The Future of Search and the Web

Google is reshaping the web by reimagining search as a conversation that removes the hassle of scrolling and clicking. Google Search boss Liz Reid said that while changes to search resulted in reduced traffic to some websites, the overall number of search queries was increasing because Google made it easier for people to get to answers.

Kveeky provides insights and strategies to navigate this evolving landscape and ensure your content remains visible and valuable.

Ready to adapt to the changing landscape of search and AI? Visit Kveeky today to explore our services and discover how we can help you stay ahead in the AI-driven world.

Mohit Singh
Mohit Singh

SEO Specialist

 

Mohit Singh is an SEO Specialist focused on improving organic discoverability for creator-centric AI tools. At Kveeky, he works on optimizing content structure, search intent alignment, and AI-friendly publishing practices to help users find and adopt AI voice and audio tools more easily. His expertise includes on-page SEO, content optimization, search performance analysis, and keeping content fresh and relevant across evolving search and AI-driven discovery platforms. Mohit’s work supports long-term organic growth by ensuring Kveeky’s content is clear, helpful, and trusted by both search engines and AI answer systems.

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