AI assistants now equal 56% of global search engine volume: Study

AI instruments now generate 45 billion month-to-month periods worldwide — about 56% of search engine quantity, in line with a research by Graphite.io CEO Ethan Smith.

• The evaluation combines internet site visitors and cellular app utilization throughout main AI instruments and estimates AI exercise equals 56% of world search utilization and 34% within the U.S.
• A lot of this progress is happening in cellular apps equivalent to ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, and Claude.

Why we care. AI is increasing discovery, not shrinking search demand. Whole utilization throughout serps and AI assistants has grown 26% globally since 2023. In different phrases, it’s not web optimization vs. GEO — you want each LLM visibility and conventional rankings.

The main points. The report analyzed utilization throughout the 5 largest LLM merchandise — ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, and Claude — and in contrast them with the six largest serps. Key findings:

• AI platforms generate 45 billion month-to-month periods worldwide.
• Within the U.S., AI accounts for five.4 billion month-to-month periods.
• 83% of world AI utilization happens inside cellular apps (75% within the U.S.).
• ChatGPT dominates AI utilization, representing 89% of world AI periods.
• When isolating search-like prompts (“asking”), AI utilization equals 28% of search worldwide and 17% within the U.S.

The report excludes prompts categorized as “doing” or “expressing.” In line with OpenAI analysis, about 52% of prompts are information-seeking, the closest equal to conventional search queries.

Between the strains. Most projections evaluating AI to look use internet site visitors alone, usually evaluating Google.com visits with ChatGPT web site site visitors. That misses most AI utilization.

• The evaluation argues these comparisons underestimate AI exercise by 4–5x as a result of most utilization happens in cellular apps.
• It additionally contains a number of LLMs and a number of serps slightly than evaluating solely Google and ChatGPT.

What to look at. Google nonetheless dominates discovery, however its share of search-related exercise fell from 89% in 2023 to 71% in This autumn 2025, the report estimates.

• World AI utilization seems to have plateaued since July 2025, whereas U.S. utilization continues to develop quickly — up roughly 300% 12 months over 12 months by December 2025.

The report. AI Is Much Bigger Than You Think