Southeast Asia Embraces Local-Language AI Search Amid Shifts in Product Discovery
Google's AI Mode has expanded to five local languages in Southeast Asia, including Filipino, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, and Vietnamese. This change marks a significant shift in how businesses approach search engine optimization (SEO) in the region.
A report by Seotal found that searches are getting longer, with queries 2-3 times the length of traditional searches. Visual search is also growing rapidly, increasing by 70% annually as of July 2025.
The report also highlighted the importance of AI assistants, with ChatGPT ranking among the most visited websites in Indonesia and Singapore. In fact, ChatGPT drew more web visits than Facebook in these countries, according to Similarweb traffic rankings.
Product discovery is no longer limited to search engines, with 71% of shoppers discovering new products on online marketplaces, according to a report by impact.com, Cube Asia, and dentsu. AI features are also influencing purchases, with 75% of consumers saying that AI chatbots, translators, and image search helped them discover content.
Ali, co-founder of Seotal, noted that local-language pages, marketplace listings, and clear structured data must now be included in SEO plans, as discovery is spreading across multiple channels. He stated, 'Search work in Southeast Asia now has to cover the answer as well as the ranking, in Thai, Vietnamese and Bahasa Indonesia as well as English.'