Naver, South Korea’s leading internet portal, plans to introduce an AI agent feature within its search engine to integrate services such as shopping, maps, and finance.

During a press conference in Seoul, executive director of Naver’s Search Quality Kim Sang-bum discussed the evolution of search technology.

He noted that AI now enables search engines to summarize and generate information. This year, the company rolled out an AI briefing feature that uses its services like Naver Shopping and Naver Pay to provide curated search results.

By the end of 2025, Naver aims to expand the AI briefing feature to cover 20% of all searches.

Head of Naver’s Search Creative X Kim Jae-yeop mentioned that this initiative will lay the groundwork for a new integrated AI feature, tentatively named “Tab,” set to launch in the first half of 2026.

The AI Tab will offer a seamless user experience by allowing users to perform tasks such as making restaurant reservations, planning outings, or purchasing items directly within the search engine.

🔗 Source: The Korea Times

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Regional search engines gain ground through AI-powered localization

Naver’s AI strategy mirrors a broader global pattern where regional search engines are leveraging AI to defend and expand their market positions against global giants.

Similar to Naver, Baidu in China has been aggressively integrating generative AI into its search experience, focusing on knowledge integration and multimodal applications 1.

This regional competition is intensifying as local players like Naver (Korea) and Baidu (China) capitalize on their deep understanding of local markets and languages, where they’ve collected data for decades.

Regional search engines’ resilience contradicts the assumption of inevitable consolidation, as Google’s global organic traffic share has actually decreased by 0.91% in 2024, suggesting small but meaningful shifts in user preferences 2.

2️⃣ Vertical integration emerges as the dominant AI search strategy

Naver’s approach of combining its shopping, maps, and financial services into an integrated AI experience reflects a fundamental shift happening across the search industry.

This integration strategy parallels developments at companies like Coveo, which centralizes access to various data sources through a single intelligent search index to enhance content discoverability 3.