Addsearch upgrades UX as consumer search goes conversational

AddSearch has launched an AI-powered website experience platform that brings together keyword search, AI-powered answers and conversational discovery in a single connected experience, as consumer behavior transforms how buying journeys and digital experiences are initiated. 

Developed over two years the platform responds to what the Finnish company calls "an observable shift" in consumer behavior. For example, some users still type keywords and browse results, while others expect an immediate AI-generated answer. Some may begin with a broad question before exploring further through conversation and a growing number incorporate all three modes during a single search journey. 

Rather than replacing one interaction model with another, AddSearch Experience is promising to enable organizations to support these different behaviors "within a single configurable experience that adapts to how people naturally seek information".

AddSearch CEO Helena Rebane said: "For the last two years, the conversation around website AI has focused on whether chat will replace search. Our experience with customers has led us to a different conclusion.

"People don't all discover information in the same way. Some visitors want direct answers. Others prefer conversations. Many still rely on search results. Different visitors use search differently. That's not a problem to solve; it's a reality to design for.

"The future isn't one interface replacing another. It's experiences that adapt to people instead of expecting people to adapt to websites," Rebane continued. 

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How AI search has changed digital CX and buying journeys 

The launch from AddSearch is a direct response to two major areas of development: conversational AI and agentic commerce.

As observed by AddSearch, visitors increasingly arrive on websites asking complete questions rather than isolated keywords. They also expect a continuation of the natural interactions they have become accustomed to through their AI assistants and other conversational experiences. 

At the same time, consumers continue to use search when it best suits their task, moving naturally between searching, asking questions, and exploring information. However, many websites still separate these interactions into disconnected experiences built around navigation structures rather than around user intent and the way people naturally think.
Quantifying these observations, earlier this year AddSearch analyzed more than 337,000 real-world searches across 11 university websites. It found 

• 58 percent of searches ended without users taking further action
• 16 percent returned no meaningful results. 

Together with customer research conducted during the development of AddSearch Experience, the findings reinforced a consistent conclusion: organizations no longer simply need better search functionality; they need website experiences that understand user intent and support multiple ways of discovering information.

Moamen Kohail, senior UI/UX designer at AddSearch said users "simply want the quickest path to the information they're looking for". 

"Good user experience isn't about introducing another interface. It's about removing unnecessary friction and allowing people to interact in whatever way feels most natural," he added.

Transforming search into a source of customer intelligence 

AddSearch says its new platform addresses one of the biggest barriers to enterprise adoption of conversational AI: ensuring organizations remain in control of both the information their AI uses and the way it communicates.

Building on the experience provided by general-purpose AI assistants, every answer generated through AddSearch Experience is grounded in an organization's own indexed content. It includes visible source citations so visitors can verify exactly where information originated, while organizations decide which pages, documents and knowledge sources are included, excluded or updated. They also retain full control over AI behavior, prompt configuration and brand voice.

As such, the platform brings together capabilities that organizations have traditionally deployed separately into one configurable discovery layer that adapts to different information discovery behaviors instead of forcing visitors into a single way of interacting. 
This enables organizations to introduce conversational AI without sacrificing governance, transparency or consistency, particularly important in financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, government and other knowledge-intensive sectors where confidence in information is essential. 

The shift also encourages organizations to rethink how website performance is measured, placing greater emphasis on successful task completion and user outcomes than on total traffic or traditional engagement metrics alone.

Looking ahead, the company believes the future lies in "configurable experiences that allow different information discovery behaviors to coexist within one connected platform, putting users in control of how they choose to discover information".

"For decades, websites have been designed around how companies organize information," Rebane added. "AI gives us an opportunity to redesign that relationship. The next generation of websites will adapt to the way people naturally discover information instead of expecting people to adapt to how information is organized. We believe that's where digital experiences are heading, and it's the future AddSearch Experience was built to support."

Quick links 

• AI search and loyalty: Why the first question matters more than the last purchase
• 6 Essential tools to drive visibility in AI search
• How generative AI search is changing the customer journey

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