Google maintains search dominance despite AI chatbot growth, report finds

Image credit: Abondance

WASHINGTON – Traditional search engines, especially Google, continue to dominate in the United States, even as AI chatbots gain users, a new report released by Similarweb on Tuesday indicated.

The 2026 analysis showed that 95 percent of ChatGPT users continued to utilize Google, underscoring AI’s role as a supplementary tool rather than a direct replacement for conventional search.

Traditional search platforms collectively recorded 3.3 billion monthly visitors, significantly more than the 655 million monthly visitors across all AI chatbots combined, according to Similarweb data.

Generative AI platforms experienced substantial growth, with monthly visits reaching 9.5 billion between June 2025 and May 2026, a 70 percent increase year-over-year.

Despite this growth, the report found that only 6.8 percent of ChatGPT responses in the U.S. included an external link in May 2026. This marked an increase from 1 percent previously but still represented a minority of responses.

Aleyda Solis, an international SEO consultant at Orainti, stated that while AI tools are enhancing the search experience, they are not fundamentally altering the core reliance on established search engines for comprehensive information retrieval.

The report also identified a mismatch in content engagement. While 65 percent of URLs cited by ChatGPT were deep pages, 58.8 percent of AI-generated referral traffic landed on home pages.

AI visibility varied significantly across sectors and platforms. ChatGPT primarily served general consumer searches, while Claude was more prevalent for academic and student profiles. Gemini, by contrast, showed stronger visibility for technical content, Similarweb reported.

Meta AI demonstrated notable expansion, with its active monthly users increasing from 384 million in September 2024 to 1.2 billion in March 2026. This growth was largely attributed to Meta AI’s integration into existing platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

The demographic profile of AI users is also shifting, with half of all AI platform users now over 35 years old. This indicates a broader adoption beyond early tech enthusiasts.

Kevin Indig, a growth advisor at Growth Memo, noted that brands like CeraVe and NYX Cosmetics are beginning to adapt their strategies to account for the increasing, albeit complementary, role of AI in consumer information gathering.

AI Integration and Future Outlook#

The findings suggest that AI is establishing itself as an additional layer in the digital information ecosystem, providing quick answers and summaries, but users still turn to traditional search for deeper exploration and verified sources.

Similarweb’s analysis concluded that while AI platforms are rapidly evolving and attracting a growing user base, Google’s established position as the primary gateway to online information remains largely unchallenged by current generative AI offerings.

Source: Abondance