By Geert-Jan Waasdorp
Did you ask ChatGPT (or another AI) during your last holiday for great local places to eat, drink, or things to do in the city or area you were visiting? Most people did. For an increasing number of people, AI (read: ChatGPT) has become their starting point on the internet instead of Google.
We are now seeing the same shift happening at record speed when it comes to searching for a job or exploring potential employers. Based on Intelligence Group’s data and forecasts, ChatGPT will be among the top three orientation and job-finding channels for job seekers and career changers by early 2027.
Never before have we witnessed such a rapid change in the search behavior of employees and job seekers – a shift that carries major and fascinating consequences for labor market communication and the recruitment industry.
Most recruiters and labor market communication specialists have already started noticing it in their data: an increasing share of organic traffic to their career sites and job postings now comes from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or other LLMs, with ChatGPT being the most dominant by far.
For many employers and staffing or recruitment agencies, these AI tools already rank among their top ten, and sometimes even top three, traffic drivers. (Tip: check your website traffic data, and if it is not yet in your top ten, it is time to make this a serious focus area.)
This rapidly growing source of traffic aligns perfectly with what workers, job seekers, and career changers indicate in Intelligence Group’s continuous Dutch and European labor market research (ITAM) about the tools they use when exploring new job opportunities.
In the second quarter of 2024, only three percent reported using or planning to use AI in their job search. Just one year later, that number had already risen to ten percent, and among those actively changing jobs, it was as high as fifteen percent. Within the group under thirty, the innovators in search behavior, the percentage was even higher.
All this provides clear numerical evidence of a rapidly shifting search landscape. Projections show that AI will become a top ten orientation channel out of the twenty-three measured within just one year, the fastest adoption rate ever seen among job seekers. By early 2027, AI is expected to surpass thirty percent usage, making it a top three job orientation source, following job boards and personal networks. In many target groups, it will have even overtaken social media.
Source: Intelligence Group
Winners and Losers
ChatGPT is the most effective search channel we have ever seen and measured. With a well-configured AI agent, which can be learned in less than an hour, candidates receive highly targeted matches with minimal waste, unlike traditional online orientation channels.
The job seeker becomes the winner when they use ChatGPT effectively and create their own agent. The time investment is a one-off, and as a result, other online search channels such as job boards, Google, and agencies are outperformed in terms of user convenience. Even more importantly, the results are highly relevant, well-matched, and produce very little waste compared to other orientation channels, which often involve lengthy searches and frequent disappointments.
For recruiters and labor market specialists, it is therefore strongly recommended to take a close look at how this orientation channel works and to experience firsthand the power it offers. It is new, and its impact is immense. As with many innovations, the proof lies in trying it yourself.
During the Strategic Recruitment Masterclass, the logical question arose as to which channels will lose influence as a result. The answer is:
The first two are clearly in line with expectations. Agencies are becoming less important because AI agents are starting to function as intermediaries. Our projections therefore point to a drastic consolidation: a large share of today’s job boards, possibly up to 90 percent, and staffing agencies, up to 70 percent, are expected to lose their relevance or undergo major transformation before 2030. These figures are based on the current growth curve of AI adoption, although the real impact will depend on how quickly organizations adapt.
You can compare it to a massive earthquake taking place in the labor market. As the job search behavior of employees and job seekers changes rapidly, the online tectonic plates of the labor market are shifting, leading to significant transformations in the coming years. For agencies and job boards, both operating in a strongly shrinking market, the consequences will be severe, similar to when job advertisements moved from newspapers to online platforms. That process took about ten years at the time; this time, it will happen much faster. Other clear indicators pointing in the same direction include fake applicants, AI-generated applications, deepfakes, fraud, and the rise of SkillsCVs, among others.
At Intelligence Group, we continuously measure these shifts in candidate preferences and behavior. Giant is the beating heart that tracks these earthquakes, metaphorically speaking. From data, we move to insights, solutions, and execution. A wide range of solutions is already emerging. Below are several examples, though the list is by no means exhaustive, as we are still collectively discovering what works best. The field already has a name: geo, not to be confused with seo.
Geo stands for generative engine optimization, which means optimizing your content so that AI-based search or answer engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or Google’s AI overviews use or cite your content in their responses.
1. It is essential to know whether your job postings and career site are already AI-friendly. In other words, are you already receiving a significant portion of your traffic via ChatGPT? Are your website, content, and vacancies properly indexed and recognized by AI systems? If you are unsure, simply ask the AI tools themselves. Use multiple models such as Gemini, Grok-4, and DeepSeek to get a complete picture.
2. Adjust the structure of your website and job postings so that your content is complete, well structured, and clearly accessible to AI crawlers. You can use Google’s org/jobPosting structure and include all key data points also available in the Giant Talent Intelligence Dashboard, such as ISCO, ESCO, skills, alternative job titles, and pull factors. Clearly mention the role, skills, location, salary range (in line with the EU pay transparency directive), work arrangement, postcode, contract type, application process, and company culture. In this case, the rule less is more does not apply.
3. Refresh your SEO strategy and implement it thoroughly. Bring in an expert or hire one if necessary, a good alternative for sourcers who may see their roles replaced by AI. Optimize your content for AI consumption and become AI-friendly through APIs, crawlers, and feeds. In other words, open the data front door of your career site wide open.
4. Invest seriously in relevant content and in-depth information about what matters most when choosing an employer or job. Important foundations include:
a. Refer to Digitaal-Werven and its checklist for what a strong career site should include.
b. Make sure your employer brand is visible and well developed. Regardless of your opinion, AI relies heavily on Glassdoor, so make sure your profile there is complete and well maintained.
c. Write audience-specific job postings. AI-generated job descriptions that lack original input such as EVP, pull factors, motivations, and key recruitment factors result in significantly lower-quality conversions. This is also where Giant can help.
d. Add plenty of FAQs to your vacancies and website to ensure job seekers immediately find answers to their questions.
e. Prepare for zero-click search. This is when users receive answers directly on the results page without clicking through to another site.
f. Keep an eye on the development of GEA, which will allow paid advertising in AI-generated results.
5. Experiment with AI yourself and learn from marketing and e-commerce. For example, read articles on Frankwatching such as Van SEO naar GEO: de hybride contentstrategie voor 2025 and AI-reset van Google, Instagram-updates & E-E-A-T-checklist.
As we move through the fourth quarter of 2025 and start developing recruitment and labor market communication strategies for 2026 and beyond, it is strongly recommended to make geo one of the top priorities for next year. Otherwise, you risk losing touch with your target audience, and your vacancies will no longer receive visibility. The game is changing, and adapting now could very well be a golden move.
