Google's AI Search Goes Local in Southeast Asia
Google's AI search has reached five local languages in Southeast Asia, including Filipino, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, and Vietnamese. According to a report by Seotal, businesses that depend on search in the region must now cover the answer as well as the ranking.
The report highlights three key shifts for businesses: AI answers are available in local languages, AI assistants have become major web destinations, and product discovery often starts outside search engines.
Seotal's research found that 71% of shoppers in SEA markets discover products on marketplaces, while only 57% do so through search engines. ChatGPT drew more web visits than Facebook in Indonesia and Singapore, with a staggering 86.13% of AI chatbot referrals to websites coming from the platform.
'Search work in Southeast Asia now has to cover the answer as well as the ranking,' said Ali, co-founder of Seotal. 'Local-language pages, marketplace listings, and clear structured data belong in the same plan as Google rankings.'