Is this because LLMs are getting better, or because search engines are getting worse?

Because they are definitely getting worse. I get redirected to a brand new slopsite daily.

A good blogpost on this: The Enclosure feedback loop

When everybody uses AI to search, it becomes a closed system that holds all info. Doesn't need to be productive, but it gatekeeps the knowledge that was free on the internet. It's a self-reinforcing loop.

I work in infrastructure and what's concerning is that younger guys are skipping learning to script to automate processes and instead just getting slop from LLMs that they have no idea what it's doing.

Some have also relegated learning problem solving to it as well so when things go wrong, they're clueless without it.

Google started making their search engine worse and always pushing things that they thought would make them money. It's not surprising people are trying something else.