What Are Agentic Browsers & How Are They Used?
Agentic browsers are AI-powered web browsers that can actively perform tasks for users - making decisions, completing multi-step actions, and exploring sites based on a user’s instructions. Instead of manual clicks and queries, users can prompt these browsers to complete a task ("put an enquiry in for CRM Saas businesses" or "open LinkedIn and search for leads for me"), and the browser autonomously completes the operation. This streamlines user journeys and presents new challenges and opportunities for business visibility and conversion.
Front Runners: Atlas & Comet
Atlas (by OpenAI) brings immediate credibility by leveraging the ChatGPT brand, which is now a household name in AI. This gives Atlas a substantial advantage in awareness, trust, and initial adoption.
Comet (by Perplexity) is rapidly innovating and differentiating itself by aggressively marketing - including paying users for referrals. This bold push is making waves and driving growth in their user base.
Both use Chromium as their backend, making their experiences similar to Chrome and Edge users and the transition easier. Mainstream adoption would accelerate the need for Google and Microsoft to react and compete in the space.
The Chrome Monopoly, Disruption & What’s Next
Google’s Chrome has long shaped how users access and find content online. Agentic browsers threaten this model by changing the way information is discovered. If Google doesn’t evolve quickly, Chrome's dominance may erode as users gravitate toward outcomes-based browsing and streamlined experiences.
How Will This Impact Your Website?
Analytics & Reporting: Atlas and Comet currently appear as “Chrome” in Google Analytics (GA4), because they are Chromium-based. This can blur the lines between AI-driven and traditional traffic, affecting your ability to analyse true user behaviour.
Security: The same automation that benefits users can empower malicious actors. Spammers, scrapers, and hackers will harness these agentic browsers, so businesses need robust protection - bot filtering, strong firewalls, and resilient architecture.
SEO & Search Opportunity: The old norm of multi-click, multi-site journeys is fading. With AI browsers, a single prompt can yield one definitive result: if your site isn’t the answer chosen by the AI, visibility drops off. This means GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is becoming as important as SEO - sites must be optimised for both search engines and AI agents summarising web content.
Traffic Shifts: Unlike many traditional browsers, agentic browsers do not default to Google for search. If substantial numbers of users transition, Google will inevitably lose market share and site traffic. Both Atlas and Comet show up in GA4 as Chrome, making their usage more difficult to identify on a site level.
Design & Experience: If users convert or interact without ever seeing your site, the importance of human-centric design shifts. UX must still capture users who land, but sites should also clearly encode trust signals and conversion details for machine interpreters.
UX Considerations: Planning for both human and bot interactions becomes essential. This means optimising content for AI parsing and ensuring defences against automated spam and attacks.
What's Next?
Agentic browsers are set to transform how people and businesses interact with the web. Businesses should:
Understand how visible their site is in ChatGPT & Perplexity
Enhance site protection and resilience against automated threats
Prioritise both SEO and GEO, recognising the overlap and emerging importance of optimising for AI-driven search and summarisation
Agentic browsers aren’t just a trend - they’re a shift. Be ready to stay visible, secure, and relevant.
If you want to future-proof your strategy, now’s the time to get in touch with Revolution.
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