AI search statistics for 2026: every figure sourced and dated
Key point. AI assistants are now mainstream: in a February 2026 Pew survey, 44% of US adults said they use ChatGPT, and Google reports more than a billion monthly users for AI Mode. Nearly every figure on this page links to its primary source, with the date and the scope the publisher gave.
Statistics about AI search spread fast and lose their sources on the way. This page collects the figures we could trace to the publisher that produced them, quotes each with its own scope and date, and says where we could not open a source. We refresh it every quarter.
A word on comparing them: companies report users in different ways. OpenAI reports weekly active users, Google reports monthly users, and Pew asks people whether they ever use a tool. The three are not the same measure, so do not set one against another as a market share.
How many people use ChatGPT?
OpenAI and independent surveys both put ChatGPT's use in the hundreds of millions of people, measured in different ways.
| Statistic | Scope | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| 900 million weekly active users | OpenAI's own count, announced February 27, 2026 | OpenAI, Scaling AI for everyone, as reported by TechCrunch, February 27, 2026. We could not open OpenAI's page (it refused our request); the figure is as TechCrunch reports it |
| "A little under half of U.S. adults (44%) now report using the chatbot, up from 34% last year." | Survey of 5,119 US adults, February 17 to 23, 2026 | Pew Research Center, Americans and AI 2026, June 17, 2026 |
| US adults who say they ever use ChatGPT: 18% (2023), 23% (2024), 34% (2025), 44% (2026) | Same survey series; Pew notes the 2026 question changed and also asked about other chatbots | Pew Research Center chart, June 11, 2026 |
| Ever use ChatGPT, by age: 61% (18 to 29), 55% (30 to 49), 37% (50 to 64), 19% (65 and older) | US adults, February 17 to 23, 2026 | Pew Research Center chart, June 17, 2026 |
Which AI chatbots do people use besides ChatGPT?
In Pew's February 2026 survey, ChatGPT led, followed by Gemini and Copilot. Pew notes that not every difference between the figures is statistically significant.
| Chatbot | US adults who say they ever use it |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 44% |
| Gemini | 24% |
| Copilot | 17% |
| Meta AI | 14% |
| Grok | 8% |
| Claude | 6% |
| Character.ai | 3% |
Source: Pew Research Center, "ChatGPT tops the list of chatbots Americans use, across age groups", survey of US adults February 17 to 23, 2026, published June 17, 2026.
How many people use Google's AI features?
Google reports its AI features in monthly users. The most recent figures we could read on Google's own pages:
| Statistic | Source and date |
|---|---|
| "Next, the Gemini app, which now has 950 million monthly active users, with daily active users tripling in the last year." | Alphabet Q2 2026 earnings remarks, Google, July 22, 2026 |
| "Since expanding AI Mode globally last October, we've surpassed 1 billion monthly active users." | Same remarks, July 22, 2026 |
| "AI Overviews now has over 2 billion monthly users across more than 200 countries and territories and 40 languages." | Alphabet Q2 2025 earnings remarks, Google, July 23, 2025 |
Newer AI Overviews figures are quoted in the trade press from Google's May 2026 developer conference. We could not find them on a Google page, so they are not listed here.
Do people use AI to find local businesses?
Consumers say they do, and far more than a year ago, but AI assistants recommend only a small share of the local businesses that Google's map results show. Both figures come from companies that sell local search software, and the first is what people report, not what they did.
| Statistic | Scope | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| US adults who use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for local recommendations: 45% in the 2026 survey, against 6% a year earlier | Survey of about 1,000 US adults (online panel), self-reported; a local SEO software vendor's survey | An industry survey, February 11, 2026, read 2026-10-22 |
| ChatGPT recommends about 1% of brand locations, against an average appearance rate of about 36% in Google's local 3-Pack | More than 350,000 locations of nearly 3,000 multi-location brands, the vendor's own index; the release page does not describe the queries or the method | A local marketing software vendor's index, January 28, 2026, read 2026-10-22 |
Do people click less when an AI summary appears?
Yes, in Pew's measurement of real Google use in the US. People who saw an AI summary clicked a traditional search result less often.
| Statistic | Scope | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Users who saw an AI summary clicked a traditional search result link on 8% of visits, against 15% without one | Browsing of 900 US adults, March 1 to 31, 2025 | Pew Research Center, Chapekis and Lieb, July 22, 2025 |
| Users clicked a link inside the AI summary itself on 1% of visits | Same study | Same source |
| 18% of the Google searches in the study produced an AI summary | 68,879 unique searches, 12,593 with an AI summary | Same source |
How do AI answers choose and cite sources?
This part is our own measurement. Each figure is quoted as we published it, with its scope; the samples and intervals are on our methodology cards.
- Google AI Overviews (US, non-branded searches, July 2026): "In our study of 150 non-branded Google searches (US, July 2026), about 57% of the websites cited in AI Overviews did not appear in that same search's top 10 organic results (95% interval 54% to 60%)."
- Google AI Overviews: "A Google AI Overview cites about 6 different websites on average, so a single citation is roughly one sixth of the answer."
- Google AI Overviews, repeated checks: "When we checked the same 118 searches three times over two days, only 14 of them returned the exact same set of cited websites each time."
- ChatGPT, read from its interface through a third-party service: "Asking ChatGPT the same question three times in a row, the sets of websites it cited overlapped by only about 30% on average, across 100 non-branded questions."
More of our Google figures are on Google AI Overviews statistics.
Do websites block AI crawlers?
Startup websites rarely block the crawlers AI search engines use. On the robots.txt files of 600 sampled Y Combinator-backed B2B software, fintech and developer-tool sites, read on October 7, 2026: 3 of 569 sites (0.5%; 95% interval 0.2% to 1.5%) block at least one of OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot and PerplexityBot.
"A newer kind of line is still rare. 26 of 569 sites (4.6%; 95% interval 3.1% to 6.6%) carry a Content-Signal line in robots.txt, which states preferences such as search, ai-input and ai-train, and 2 of 569 (0.4%; 95% interval 0.1% to 1.3%) say no to AI input." The full study is the AI Crawler Access Report.
Can AI models write facts they do not know?
Not when the facts exist only in unpublished data. "We asked two OpenAI writer models to write short, publishable expert copy answering 38 questions whose answers exist only in our own unpublished measurements. Across 71 answers, none got the fact right (0 of 71; 95% interval 0% to 5%)." "On ordinary facts the same models do know, the same checker scored 140 of 140 correct, so the zero is not a broken ruler."
Which tools report AI citations directly?
Microsoft does, for its own AI experiences. In February 2026 it launched AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools as a public preview, which "shows how publisher content appears across Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing, and select partner integrations" (Microsoft Bing Webmaster blog, February 10, 2026). We read our own report in a worked example.
Frequently asked questions
How many people use ChatGPT every week?
OpenAI announced 900 million weekly active users on February 27, 2026, as reported by TechCrunch. We could not open OpenAI's own page to confirm the wording, so check it before you quote the figure.
What share of US adults use ChatGPT?
In Pew Research Center's survey of 5,119 US adults in February 2026, 44% said they use ChatGPT, up from 34% the year before. Pew notes the 2026 question changed slightly, so the comparison with earlier years is not exact.
Can I compare ChatGPT's and Gemini's user numbers?
Not directly. OpenAI reports weekly active users and Google reports monthly users, and the two measures count people differently. Pew's survey, which asks the same question about every chatbot, is the closest like-for-like comparison.
What to do next
- Pick the two or three figures that matter to your buyers and quote them with their source and date.
- Ask your own buyers which assistants they use; national surveys describe the average, not your market.
- Check how ChatGPT and Gemini answer your buyers' questions today.
Work with us
If you want a team to measure and improve how AI search treats your company, our managed AEO services do that work with you: Book a call. If you would rather see where you stand first, Lenz gives you a free analysis of how ChatGPT and Gemini answer your buyers' questions: Get your free AI visibility report.
Sources
All third-party sources were read on October 22, 2026, except where marked.
- OpenAI, Scaling AI for everyone, February 27, 2026. Could not be opened (HTTP 403); figure taken from TechCrunch, ChatGPT reaches 900M weekly active users, February 27, 2026.
- Pew Research Center, Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact, June 17, 2026.
- Pew Research Center, The share of Americans who say they use ChatGPT has more than doubled since 2023, June 11, 2026.
- Pew Research Center, ChatGPT tops the list of chatbots Americans use, across age groups, June 17, 2026.
- Google, Q2 2026 earnings call: Remarks from our CEO, July 22, 2026.
- Google, Q2 2025 earnings call: Remarks from our CEO, July 23, 2025.
- A. Chapekis and A. Lieb, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, Pew Research Center, July 22, 2025.
- Microsoft Bing, Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools Public Preview, February 10, 2026.
- Elementera, our own measurements; samples and intervals on the methodology cards.
Known professionally as Dr. Med with 12+ years of experience implementing AI products. Strategic advisor to multiple successful founders including a unicorn, US patent holder. Ex-SOTI, UC Berkeley PhD.
AI/ML scientist with 20+ years of research & industry experience. Ex-Google DeepMind, MIT, Harvard, Mila. McGill-Mila PhD.
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