TLDR
- Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority has proposed giving Android and Chrome users more choice over which search services they use.
- The proposal could make it easier for consumers to select alternatives to Google Search, including AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Perplexity.
- Google was designated as having strategic market status in UK general search and search advertising in October 2025.
- The CMA has already imposed separate rules covering publisher treatment, fair ranking and search-data portability.
- The latest consultation closes on October 9, 2026.
Britain’s competition regulator has proposed new rules aimed at giving consumers more control over the search services they use on Google’s Android and Chrome platforms.
The Competition and Markets Authority wants Google to present search choices in a way that gives rival services a clearer opportunity to compete, including newer AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Perplexity.
CMA Targets Google’s Search Choice
The proposal forms part of the UK’s digital markets regime after Google was designated as having strategic market status in general search and search advertising. That designation gives the CMA powers to impose targeted conduct requirements on the company.
The watchdog first consulted on user-choice rules in January and has now updated its proposals after reviewing responses and changes in the search market. The consultation will remain open until October 9.
The focus is on Google’s “choice architecture,” or how search options are presented to users and how that presentation can influence decisions. The CMA is examining whether Android and Chrome users should have more control over selecting their preferred search provider.
That could create more visibility for traditional search rivals as well as AI-based services. ChatGPT and Perplexity increasingly compete with conventional search by answering questions directly rather than returning a list of links.
Google Already Faces New UK Rules
The user-choice proposal follows several other measures already imposed on Google this year.
In June, the CMA introduced a publisher conduct requirement giving publishers more control over how their content is used in Google Search, including AI-powered features.
The regulator also imposed fair-ranking and data-portability requirements. The portability rule requires Google to provide authorised third parties with tools allowing UK users to move their search data free of charge.
Those measures show that the CMA is focusing not only on Google’s dominance in search, but also on how emerging AI services could change competition in the market.
AI Search Adds New Competition
The rise of AI assistants has changed the competitive landscape around online information. Consumers can now use platforms such as ChatGPT and Perplexity for research, recommendations and direct answers that previously may have started with a Google search.
The CMA’s latest proposal does not amount to a final requirement yet. It is asking for feedback before deciding whether and how the user-choice rules should be imposed.
For Alphabet, the issue is important because Google Search remains one of its core businesses. Greater default choice on Android and Chrome could make it easier for rivals to gain users if consumers are shown alternative search and AI services more prominently.
The next step will depend on the consultation outcome. For now, the UK regulator is signaling that search competition will increasingly include both traditional engines and AI assistants.
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