Apple is gearing up to enter the AI search race with a bold reimagining of Siri. According to reports, the company will roll out a system known as World Knowledge Answers in 2026, marking its biggest leap forward in how iPhone users find information.

Unlike today’s Siri, which largely retrieves simple facts or web links, the new platform will function as a true “answer engine.” It will draw from the web and generate rich, multimodal responses - mixing text, images, video, and local insights - designed to feel more natural and complete.

The integration won’t stop at Siri. 

Apple plans to embed the technology into Safari and Spotlight, giving users multiple entry points into its AI-driven ecosystem. Behind the scenes, the system will blend Apple’s proprietary models with Google’s Gemini AI to deliver speed and accuracy.

Apple reportedly considered launching a standalone chatbot app but opted to weave the functionality directly into its core services. This approach could instantly put AI search in the hands of hundreds of millions of iPhone users, potentially altering how billions of queries are answered each day.

For businesses and brands, the implications are significant. Visibility in search may no longer be determined solely by Google rankings. Instead, Apple’s summarisation engine will become another gateway - deciding which sources to highlight and how content is packaged in voice and web results.

The launch positions Apple as a direct competitor to Google’s AI Overviews, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and newer challengers like Perplexity. 

With Siri finally evolving beyond its reputation as a limited voice assistant, the 2026 update could mark the beginning of a new chapter in the search wars - one where Apple takes a more active role in shaping the answers we all see.