ChatGPT Holds 81% of AI Chatbot Traffic as Growth Rebounds

ChatGPT now accounts for more than 81% of worldwide traffic to six major AI chatbots, according to new research from Graphite, a research and growth marketing firm. No competitor has captured even 10% of the market.

The study, led by Graphite CEO Ethan Smith, analyzed worldwide web and mobile-app traffic to major AI services using Similarweb data. The finding is striking given the attention surrounding Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude, both widely viewed as increasingly serious threats to OpenAI.

Earlier this year, ChatGPT's dominance of the AI market appeared to be slipping as rivals from Google and Anthropic gained momentum. The new data suggests OpenAI's flagship product is making a comeback instead.

What do the numbers show?

The Graphite analysis measured worldwide visits to six leading AI chatbots between July and September 2026:

• ChatGPT: 81.4%
• Claude: 6.8%
• Gemini: 5.0%
• DeepSeek: 4.0%
• Grok: 1.9%
• Perplexity: 0.9%

Claude recorded extraordinary growth over the past year, and Gemini expanded quickly too. But those gains came from much smaller starting points, and neither has come close to dislodging ChatGPT from its commanding position.

Has ChatGPT's growth stalled?

The research also challenges the perception that ChatGPT's explosive growth has hit a wall. After surging through the first half of 2025, ChatGPT usage largely plateaued for seven months. Growth then resumed this year, with monthly visits climbing nearly 20% to a record 61.35 billion in September, according to Graphite's analysis.

The data echoes reporting by Katie Notopoulos, who reported last week that ChatGPT now has 1.2 billion weekly users.

Is AI traffic flowing both ways?

ChatGPT isn't just attracting visitors. It's increasingly sending people to other websites. Worldwide referral traffic from AI services jumped 92% over the past year, with ChatGPT responsible for 60% of those visits, according to Graphite.

That referral flow matters for publishers and marketers tracking where audiences actually come from. A single service controlling the majority of AI-driven referrals concentrates significant distribution power in OpenAI's hands.

What is happening to Google Search?

The study also highlights how AI is transforming Google's traditional search business. Google's AI Overviews, which provide AI-generated answers directly in search results, now appear in 62% of US searches.

Google's AI Mode, which lets users hold more conversational interactions with Search, is growing rapidly. In August, it attracted 491 million US web visits.

Where is AI usage actually happening?

Perhaps the biggest surprise is geography. Despite America's leadership in developing the technology, the US accounts for just 8.8% of worldwide AI traffic, according to Graphite's study. That means more than 90% of usage happens elsewhere, underscoring how global the AI boom has become.

Overall, monthly visits to major AI services reached 76 billion worldwide, up 37% from a year earlier. The AI market is still expanding rapidly, and ChatGPT remains overwhelmingly dominant.

The message from the data is clear for OpenAI's rivals: rapid percentage growth from a small base hasn't translated into market share, and ChatGPT's rebound suggests the gap could widen before it narrows.