Naver on Friday officially launched its **AI Tab** for all mobile and desktop users, signifying a major strategic move by the **Korean internet giant**. This initiative aims to transform **Naver search** into a comprehensive gateway for essential tasks like **shopping, local discovery, and making reservations**.
This innovative **AI-powered tab**, now seamlessly integrated into **Naver’s main search box**, is engineered to intuitively grasp user intentions. It then connects them directly to pertinent services across Naver’s extensive ecosystem, encompassing **shopping, maps, local places, and booking functionalities**.
Distinct from traditional search features that primarily deliver links or summaries, **Naver AI Tab** pioneers what the company terms ‘agentic search.’ This advanced approach actively guides users from their initial query directly to subsequent actions, all within a unified and fluid search experience.
As part of this significant rollout, **Smart Lens** – Naver’s cutting-edge multimodal search tool previously accessed via Green Dot (its **AI-powered mobile search hub**) – has been strategically positioned adjacent to the **AI Tab button** in the search box for enhanced user convenience. Furthermore, **music search** capabilities have been seamlessly integrated into the **AI Tab platform**.
Commencing next month, users will gain the ability to access **Naver AI Tab** directly from the chat box situated beneath **AI Briefing results**. This crucial update will enable the continuation of a search session in a more dynamic and conversational format, boosting user engagement.
**Naver AI Tab** was initially unveiled at DAN, Naver’s premier annual technology and business conference, last year. Beta testing for the service commenced in April, exclusively for Naver Plus Membership users. This preliminary version attracted an impressive cumulative total of over 4 million users within approximately two months, underscoring its early success.
Throughout the extensive test phase, both product and place card click-through rates impressively surpassed 20 percent. Naver’s internal data unequivocally demonstrated that consistent utilization of **AI Tab** significantly enhanced engagement with its comprehensive commerce and local services.
Users who engaged with **Naver AI Tab** at least 11 times showed a remarkable 2.7 times higher click rate on product cards compared to one-time users. Similarly, place-card clicks doubled among this highly engaged demographic, further validating the platform’s stickiness.
The official launch introduces an array of more action-oriented features to **Naver AI Tab**. These include real-time answers displaying precise **Naver Map information** and live availability for reservation time slots, offering immediate utility to users.
For this momentous full launch, Naver has implemented a sophisticated new model specifically optimized for **conversational search**, designed to directly facilitate user actions. The company characterizes this as a ‘product-native large language model,’ meticulously engineered for stable performance across its vast suite of consumer services and rigorously trained on real-world product scenarios.
This advanced model is built upon **HyperClova X**, Naver’s foundational **large language model**, and is further enriched by incorporating the company’s proprietary service data, industry-specific vertical information, and invaluable user feedback. Naver reports substantial improvements in critical areas such as **query understanding, intelligent answer summarization, and sophisticated tool use**.
The introduction of **Naver AI Tab** underscores the company’s proactive strategy to fortify and expand its core **search business**. This launch comes amidst a global technological race where competitors are rapidly embedding **generative AI** into search, e-commerce, and personal assistant functionalities.
Naver is poised to integrate additional **agent features** into **AI Tab** during the latter half of this year. A forthcoming function, for instance, will intelligently recommend real estate listings tailored precisely to a user’s budget and preferred geographical location.
Furthermore, the company is actively developing a specialized **health agent**. This innovative tool will be capable of reviewing uploaded medical checkup results and providing personalized, actionable guidance for lifestyle and health management, offering significant value to users.
Finally, Naver also intends to extend the reach of its **AI Tab** feature to its **Whale web browser** within the current year. This expansion will broaden the feature’s accessibility beyond its primary search application and website, ensuring wider user adoption.
