Is AI Becoming the New Browser?

The latest OpenAI Dev Day wasn’t simply a product event. It was the formal declaration that the web browser as we know it is dying, and with it, an entire digital marketing industry built over the last two decades.

ChatGPT is no longer a chatbot. It’s an operating system, an app store, and increasingly, the place where users complete tasks without ever leaving the conversation. And this radically changes the rules of the game for any business that depends on web traffic.

The Tools That Change Everything

Apps SDK: The End of “Going to a Website”

The Apps SDK allows developers to create complete applications within ChatGPT. Users can book hotels, edit designs, manage tasks—all without leaving the conversation.

The result? User attention is centralized within the ChatGPT ecosystem. The result is that your corporate website, with its carefully designed navigation and optimized conversion funnel, becomes irrelevant.

Agent Kit and ChatKit

Agent Kit is a visual agent builder that allows non-technical users to design AI workflows. This could threaten the specialized SaaS tool development industry in the future.

Why hire an automation tool when you can build the exact workflow you need in minutes?

ChatKit allows embedding conversational interfaces on external websites, but keeps the user in the OpenAI ecosystem, not on your site.

Will Corporate Websites Become Obsolete?

Think about the current process: a user has a question or need. They open Google, search for your company, navigate your site, find the information, maybe fill out a form, wait for a response.

Now compare: ask ChatGPT directly, get an immediate answer, complete a transaction or schedule an appointment—all in the same conversation. No navigation. No forms. No waiting.

The www was built for an era where information was scarce and users needed to navigate to find what they were looking for. But in a world where AI can synthesize, personalize, and deliver exactly what you need instantly, web navigation is unnecessary friction.

The corporate website would be relegated to the role that business cards or printed brochures have now. Something many companies have but for marginal uses.

The Impact on Digital Marketing

The entire digital marketing industry is built on a model that’s crumbling:

  • Traditional SEO: Irrelevant when users no longer visit your site
  • Conversion optimization: Meaningless when there’s no funnel to optimize
  • Web design: Less important or irrelevant when the interface is conversational
  • Display ads: Obsolete when attention is on AI
  • Content marketing: Works, but needs to be optimized for AI citation, not clicks

When I discussed how the internet you knew no longer exists and about the great SEO decoupling, I reached the same conclusion: organic traffic is evaporating. Not because your content is bad, but because Google and other AI platforms respond directly without sending you visits.

What to Do: Three Adaptation Paths

1. Build Native ChatGPT Apps

If you’re a developer or have a technical team, build applications that live within the AI ecosystem: it might be ChatGPT now, but similar approaches will appear on other platforms. These apps will be discovered by millions of users without the need for traditional marketing.

2. Optimize for AI Citation

If your business depends on content and authority, you need to apply strategies to be cited by ChatGPT and other AI models. This goes beyond traditional SEO—it’s about building presence in the knowledge graph that AI uses to generate responses.

3. Create Experiences That AI Can’t Replicate

Build interactive tools, calculators, simulators—experiences that require more than a simple text response. As I mentioned in the concept of Search Everywhere Optimization, the future isn’t just content, but experiences.

The Uncomfortable Conclusion

Your corporate website may become obsolete. At least in its current form. Those who continue to invest exclusively in traditional web optimization are betting on a model that’s ending.

The question isn’t whether this transformation will happen. It’s already happening. The question is: will you adapt now, or will you wait until it’s too late?

At HAL149, we help companies navigate exactly this transition: optimization for AI platforms, custom application development, and strategic consulting to transform AI into a competitive advantage.

Are you ready to build your strategy for the post-web era? Let’s talk!