AI Search Market Share 2026

ChatGPT remains the largest AI assistant, but market-share estimates vary widely by source and methodology. Recent 2026 trackers put ChatGPT roughly in the 60-68% range, Microsoft Copilot around 13%, Google Gemini growing fast toward the high teens to low twenties, and Perplexity, Claude, DeepSeek, and Grok in the low single digits. Separately, Conductor's referral data shows ChatGPT driving 87.4% of AI referral traffic. There is no single agreed figure, so treat any precise percentage with caution. Sources: First Page Sage, Similarweb.

Where the estimates land

### AI assistant market share, 2026 tracker estimates

| Platform | Approximate share (2026 estimates) | Trend |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ChatGPT | ~60-68% | Still largest, share declining as rivals grow |
| Microsoft Copilot | ~13% | Stable |
| Google Gemini | ~high teens to low 20s (some trackers) | Growing fast |
| Perplexity | Low single digits | Growing |
| Claude | Low single digits | Growing |
| DeepSeek / Grok | Low single digits | Emerging |

Source: First Page Sage, Similarweb (2026 trackers)

Approximate ranges, not precise shares; trackers measure different things (assistant usage, app traffic, search sessions).

Estimates differ substantially between First Page Sage, Similarweb, and other trackers because they measure different things (assistant usage, search sessions, app traffic). The figures above are approximate ranges, not precise shares.

Key insights from the data

ChatGPT's lead is even larger in referral traffic

ChatGPT is the largest AI assistant by usage, and its lead is wider still in referral traffic: Conductor found it driving 87.4% of AI referrals to websites. ChatGPT users click through to sources more than users on most other platforms. For businesses, ChatGPT visibility is usually the top priority, which means Bing matters because ChatGPT search draws on the Bing index.

Gemini is the fast-growing challenger

Across 2025 and into 2026, Google Gemini gained share quickly, with some trackers putting it in the high teens to low twenties. It benefits from Google integration and from AI Overviews exposure. The picture is fluid and the ranking below ChatGPT differs between sources.

Perplexity returns strong traffic for its size

Perplexity is a smaller platform by usage but punches above its weight on referral traffic, because it always cites sources with clickable links. See its crawl-to-referral ratio, which Cloudflare data ranks best among the major AI crawlers.

Copilot matters more than its share suggests

Copilot's usage share (around 13% on some trackers) understates its reach because it is built into Microsoft Edge, Windows, and Office. It pulls from Bing's index, so optimising for Bing serves both ChatGPT and Copilot at once.

What this means for your AI search strategy

The first two priorities cover the large majority of AI search across the main platforms. Start there.

Methodology and limits

The figures on this page come from published third-party trackers (First Page Sage, Similarweb) and referral analyses (Conductor), not from a proprietary SEOCompare dataset. These sources measure different things (assistant usage, app traffic, search sessions, referral visits) and disagree on exact shares. We present ranges and name the source rather than asserting a single precise figure.

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