essentras

Live study

AI Market Share: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Every Major AI Chatbot

As of September 2026, ChatGPT accounts for 80.5% of AI chatbot referrals worldwide, followed by Gemini (10.9%) and Perplexity (5.8%). This is StatCounter's measure of the share of website visits that arrive from each assistant, across 18 months of data. It is not a count of users. See the section on which number is right.

October 2026 to date: ChatGPT 68.4%, Gemini 18.5%. Provisional until the month closes.

By Essentras Editorial Team. Data: StatCounter Global Stats. Figures and sentences on this page are computed from the data at every refresh.

Updated October 14, 2026. Data through September 2026.

October 2026 is still in progress (14 days in). It is shown separately as month to date and is not used in headline figures.

What this measures. Share of AI chatbot referrals: of all website visits that arrive from an AI chatbot, the percentage that came from each assistant. It measures traffic sent to websites. It is not a count of users.

Best AI chatbot: the data-ranked list, combining this usage data with blind-vote quality.

Key stats

Eight numbers you can quote. Each one carries its month and source, and has its own anchor to link or cite.

  1. ChatGPT accounts for 80.5% of AI chatbot referrals worldwide as of September 2026 (StatCounter Global Stats). Link to this stat #stat-1
  2. ChatGPT leads Gemini by 69.6 percentage points in worldwide AI chatbot referrals as of September 2026 (StatCounter Global Stats). Link to this stat #stat-2
  3. ChatGPT's share of worldwide AI chatbot referrals went from 81.1% in September 2025 to 80.5% in September 2026, a change of -0.6 percentage points (StatCounter Global Stats). Link to this stat #stat-3
  4. Gemini's share of worldwide AI chatbot referrals went from 2.8% in September 2025 to 10.9% in September 2026, a change of +8.1 percentage points (StatCounter Global Stats). Link to this stat #stat-4
  5. Claude holds 1.0% of worldwide AI chatbot referrals as of September 2026, ranked 5 of 6 assistants tracked (StatCounter Global Stats). Link to this stat #stat-5
  6. ChatGPT leads AI chatbot referrals in 115 of 116 countries with valid data as of September 2026 (StatCounter Global Stats). Link to this stat #stat-6
  7. In the United States, ChatGPT leads AI chatbot referrals with 74.9% as of September 2026, ahead of Gemini at 13.4% (StatCounter Global Stats). Link to this stat #stat-7
  8. Google accounts for 89.9% of search engine referrals worldwide as of September 2026. That is a different measure from AI chatbot share and the two cannot be added (StatCounter Global Stats). Link to this stat #stat-8

AI chatbot market share leaderboard

Share of AI chatbot referrals worldwide, September 2026. Change is in percentage points.

RankAssistantSharevs 1 month agovs 3 months agovs 6 months agovs 12 months ago
1ChatGPT80.5%+1.1+3.6+2.3-0.7
2Gemini10.9%0.0+3.0+2.3+8.1
3Perplexity5.8%+1.5-2.0-1.2-5.0
4Microsoft Copilot1.8%-1.0-1.7-1.4-2.3
5Claude1.0%-1.6-2.8-2.00.0
6DeepSeek0.0%0.00.00.0-0.2

AI chatbot market share over time

Monthly share of AI chatbot referrals worldwide, April 2025 to October 2026.

  • ChatGPT
  • Gemini
  • Perplexity
  • Microsoft Copilot
  • Claude
  • DeepSeek
0%20%40%60%80%100%Apr 25Jul 25Oct 25Jan 26Apr 26Jul 26Oct 2612345678ChatGPT68.4%Gemini18.5%Perplexity9.5%Microsoft Copilot2.0%Claude1.5%DeepSeek0.0%

Dashed line: October 2026, month to date. Provisional until the month closes.

View data table
MonthChatGPTGeminiPerplexityMicrosoft CopilotClaudeDeepSeek
Oct 26 month to date68.4%18.5%9.5%2.0%1.5%0.0%
Sep 2680.5%10.9%5.8%1.8%1.0%0.0%
Aug 2679.4%10.9%4.3%2.8%2.5%0.0%
Jul 2677.9%9.9%5.9%3.1%3.2%0.0%
Jun 2676.9%8.0%7.9%3.5%3.7%0.0%
May 2679.1%7.0%7.7%3.2%3.0%0.0%
Apr 2676.9%9.0%7.7%3.8%2.7%0.0%
Mar 2678.2%8.7%7.1%3.2%2.9%0.0%
Feb 2680.0%7.5%7.9%3.3%1.4%0.0%
Jan 2680.5%7.2%7.9%3.5%0.9%0.0%
Dec 2579.7%4.7%10.8%3.6%1.1%0.0%
Nov 2581.8%3.0%11.1%3.1%1.1%0.0%
Oct 2581.4%3.0%11.1%3.5%1.0%0.0%
Sep 2581.1%2.8%10.9%4.0%1.0%0.2%
Aug 2580.9%2.2%8.1%5.2%0.9%2.7%
Jul 2582.7%2.2%8.0%4.6%0.9%1.6%
Jun 2579.9%2.2%11.0%4.8%1.1%1.0%
May 2579.8%2.0%11.8%5.2%0.5%0.8%
Apr 2584.2%2.3%12.1%0.2%0.3%0.9%

Major launches on the chart

Numbers on the chart mark the month of each launch. Every date is taken from the vendor's own announcement page, linked here. Launches we could not confirm at the vendor's page are not shown.

  1. May 22, 2025 Anthropic: Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4
  2. July 9, 2025 Perplexity: Comet browser
  3. September 29, 2025 Anthropic: Claude Sonnet 4.5
  4. November 18, 2025 Google: Gemini 3
  5. November 24, 2025 Anthropic: Claude Opus 4.5
  6. April 24, 2026 DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Preview
  7. September 22, 2026 Anthropic: Claude Opus 5.5
  8. September 30, 2026 Google: Gemini 4 Argon

Key takeaways

  • ChatGPT leads with 80.5%, 69.6 points ahead of Gemini.
  • Over the last 3 months, ChatGPT gained the most: +3.6 points, from 76.9% to 80.5%.
  • Over the last 3 months, Claude lost the most: -2.7 points, from 3.7% to 1.0%.
  • Over the last 12 months, Gemini gained the most: +8.1 points, from 2.8% to 10.9%.
  • Over the last 12 months, Perplexity lost the most: -5.1 points, from 10.9% to 5.8%.
  • ChatGPT is the top referral source in all 16 regions we track.
  • The tightest race is in Mexico, where ChatGPT leads Gemini by 49.4 points (70.9% to 21.5%).
  • On mobile ChatGPT reaches 83.7%, vs 80.0% on desktop.
  • October 2026 to date is provisional: ChatGPT 68.4%, Gemini 18.5%.

Which number is right? It depends what you measure

Search for AI market share and you will see ChatGPT at anywhere from 46.4% to 80.5%. The figures are not in conflict. They answer different questions.

MeasureChatGPTGeminiClaudeSource

Referral share

Website visits that arrive from an AI chatbot

80.5%10.9%1.0%StatCounter, September 2026

App audience share

Share of people using AI assistant apps

46.4%27.7%10.3%Sensor Tower, data to May 2026

Official user counts

Active users as defined by each company

900M weekly active users950M monthly active usersNo verified figureCompany announcements, dates in table

Enterprise API usage

Share of production LLM workloads in a survey of developers

25%20%32%Menlo Ventures, mid-2025

Referral share counts visits that land on websites after a click from an assistant. App audience counts people using an assistant app. Official user counts are the companies' own definitions, which vary from weekly to monthly and from consumer to enterprise. Enterprise API share counts which models developers build products on. An assistant can be small in one view and large in another.

Official user counts

Numbers the companies published themselves, with the date each applies to. They use different definitions (weekly or monthly, app or whole product), so do not read one off against another.

ProductMeasureFigureAs ofSource
ChatGPTWeekly active users900MFebruary 27, 2026OpenAI, "Scaling AI for everyone"
ChatGPTPaid subscribers50MFebruary 27, 2026OpenAI, "Scaling AI for everyone"
GeminiMonthly active users950MJuly 22, 2026Google, Alphabet Q2 2026 earnings remarks (Sundar Pichai)
Meta AIMonthly active users1BMay 28, 2025Meta annual shareholder meeting (Mark Zuckerberg), reported by TechCrunch
Microsoft 365 CopilotPaid seats30MJuly 29, 2026Microsoft FY26 Q4 earnings (Satya Nadella)

Third-party app audience estimates (Sensor Tower, data to May 2026)

ProductMeasureFigureAs ofSource
ChatGPTShare of AI assistant app audience46.4%May 2026Sensor Tower, State of AI 2026 (reported by TechCrunch)
GeminiShare of AI assistant app audience27.7%May 2026Sensor Tower, State of AI 2026 (reported by TechCrunch)
ClaudeShare of AI assistant app audience10.3%May 2026Sensor Tower, State of AI 2026 (reported by TechCrunch)
ChatGPTMonthly active users1.1BMay 2026Sensor Tower, State of AI 2026 (reported by TechCrunch)
GeminiMonthly active users662MMay 2026Sensor Tower, State of AI 2026 (reported by TechCrunch)
ClaudeMonthly active users245MMay 2026Sensor Tower, State of AI 2026 (reported by TechCrunch)

Enterprise LLM API usage (Menlo Ventures survey, mid-2025)

Survey of 150 technical decision-makers, June 30, 2025 to July 10, 2025. Disclosure: Menlo Ventures is an investor in Anthropic.

ProductMeasureFigureAs ofSource
AnthropicShare of enterprise LLM API usage32%July 2025Menlo Ventures, 2025 Mid-Year LLM Market Update
OpenAIShare of enterprise LLM API usage25%July 2025Menlo Ventures, 2025 Mid-Year LLM Market Update
GoogleShare of enterprise LLM API usage20%July 2025Menlo Ventures, 2025 Mid-Year LLM Market Update
Meta (Llama)Share of enterprise LLM API usage9%July 2025Menlo Ventures, 2025 Mid-Year LLM Market Update
DeepSeekShare of enterprise LLM API usage1%July 2025Menlo Ventures, 2025 Mid-Year LLM Market Update

Not included: any figure we could not verify at a primary source, including the widely repeated 1.2 billion ChatGPT user claim.

AI chatbot market share by region

Leader and top 3 assistants by share of AI chatbot referrals, September 2026. Select a region for its full breakdown.

ChatGPT is the leading AI chatbot in 115 of 116 countries with valid data as of September 2026. See the world map and every country

AI chatbots vs Google search

Google accounts for 89.9% of search engine referrals worldwide as of September 2026. ChatGPT accounts for 80.5% of AI chatbot referrals as of September 2026. These are different measures: one is a share among search engines, the other a share among chatbots, so the two numbers cannot be added or compared point for point. Read Google vs ChatGPT: search engine market share

Desktop vs mobile

Worldwide share of AI chatbot referrals by device, September 2026.

AssistantAll devicesDesktopMobile
ChatGPT80.5%80.0%83.7%
Gemini10.9%11.3%8.8%
Perplexity5.8%5.7%6.9%
Microsoft Copilot1.8%2.0%0.3%
Claude1.0%1.1%0.2%
DeepSeek0.0%0.0%0.0%

ChatGPT has 83.7% of mobile referrals and 80.0% of desktop referrals.

Essentras AI Answer Index

Referral share shows how much traffic each assistant sends. The Answer Index shows how each one answers. We run buyer-style questions through six assistants in our free AI Check tool and record whether they name the brand being checked, how many companies they mention and which sources they cite.

Based on 2,209 answers from 110 checks, September 23, 2026 to October 14, 2026 (last 90 days). This is a small sample from our own tool, so read it as a directional signal and not as a market measure.

AssistantAnswersNames the brand checkedCompanies per answerCitations per answer
ChatGPT33415.9%5.86.8
Gemini33421.3%8.11.9
Claude33424.6%7.66.5
Perplexity33418.0%5.622.5
DeepSeek33411.4%4.93.0
Grok33417.7%7.556.7

Most cited domains across all assistants

  1. forbes.com94
  2. reddit.com92
  3. apps.apple.com87
  4. play.google.com80
  5. youtube.com77
  6. trustpilot.com71
  7. linkedin.com66
  8. en.wikipedia.org65
  9. zapier.com64
  10. itechguides.com63
Most cited domains by assistant

ChatGPT

  1. en.wikipedia.org30
  2. support.google.com20
  3. reddit.com17
  4. techradar.com11
  5. learn.microsoft.com10
  6. aad.org9
  7. bbb.org9
  8. clutch.co9
  9. gartner.com8
  10. shopify.com8

Gemini

No domain list: this assistant returns its sources as search redirect links (Google grounding URLs), which hide the destination site, or no source passed the 3-check, 3-category threshold yet.

Claude

  1. yelp.com14
  2. apps.apple.com9
  3. clutch.co7
  4. en.wikipedia.org7
  5. forbes.com7
  6. heygen.com7
  7. play.google.com7
  8. angi.com6
  9. techradar.com6
  10. amazon.com5

Perplexity

  1. play.google.com48
  2. apps.apple.com46
  3. forbes.com39
  4. reddit.com38
  5. justdial.com32
  6. zapier.com32
  7. pcmag.com24
  8. techradar.com21
  9. amazon.com20
  10. clutch.co19

DeepSeek

  1. zapier.com10
  2. forbes.com7
  3. penguinrandomhouse.com6
  4. salesforce.com6
  5. adobe.com5
  6. goodreads.com5
  7. pcmag.com5
  8. apps.apple.com4
  9. canva.com4
  10. cnet.com4

Grok

  1. youtube.com76
  2. itechguides.com56
  3. trustpilot.com53
  4. facebook.com44
  5. linkedin.com41
  6. forbes.com40
  7. instagram.com37
  8. reddit.com37
  9. revenuebase.ai34
  10. pcmag.com30

Only aggregate counts are shown. A domain is listed only when it was cited in at least 3 separate checks across at least 3 different question categories, so the lists show the sources each assistant leans on across topics. Search redirect hosts (Google grounding links, the Exa search engine) are excluded so the real cited site counts.

Run your own check

How we verify numbers

Five rules every figure on this page has to pass.

  • Primary sources only. Referral shares come from StatCounter Global Stats. User counts come from the company that reports them (OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Meta) or from a named research firm with its report linked. We do not repeat figures that only circulate on aggregator sites.
  • Every figure shows its date. A number without an as-of month or day does not appear on the page.
  • Automated checks before anything is shown: known assistant columns only, every month adding up to 100% within rounding, at least 3 months of history, numbers only. Data that fails is rejected and the last good saved copy is used.
  • What we exclude: the current month from every headline number until it closes (it is shown separately as month to date), country series that fail our reliability test, and any claim we could not trace to a primary source, such as an unsourced 1.2 billion ChatGPT user figure.
  • Launch dates on the chart are copied from the vendor's own announcement page. If we cannot open that page, the launch is left out.

Methodology, sources and license

Market share figures come from StatCounter Global Stats, AI Chatbot Market Share. StatCounter measures the share of website referrals that come from each AI chatbot, using traffic recorded across the sites in its network. It does not measure users, queries or time spent.

We fetch the data as CSV from StatCounter and validate it before use: known assistant columns, every month adding up to 100% within rounding, and at least 3 months of history. Data that fails validation is rejected, and the page falls back to the last good saved copy.

StatCounter's history for this measure begins in April 2025. Headline numbers use the latest complete month. The current month is shown as month to date because a few days of traffic are not comparable to a full month.

Official user counts, Sensor Tower and Menlo Ventures figures are entered by hand from the sources linked in the tables, with the date each applies to. They do not refresh automatically.

Sources

Disclosure: Menlo Ventures is an investor in Anthropic.

License. StatCounter data is licensed CC BY-SA 3.0 and requires attribution with a link to StatCounter. Tables and charts we derive from it on this page are shared under the same license. You may copy and reuse them with credit to Essentras and StatCounter. CC BY-SA 3.0

About this data

Published by the Essentras Editorial Team. First published October 13, 2026; data last refreshed October 14, 2026. The latest complete month is September 2026. Every number is computed from StatCounter Global Stats (CC BY-SA 3.0) or taken by hand from a dated primary source linked beside it. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct it and note the change. About Essentras

What changed each month

Month-over-month moves in worldwide AI chatbot referral share, in percentage points (pts), for the last 6 complete months. Only assistants that moved by 0.3 points or more are listed.

  • September 2026: Claude -1.6 pts, Perplexity +1.5 pts, ChatGPT +1.1 pts.
  • August 2026: ChatGPT +1.5 pts, Perplexity -1.5 pts, Gemini +1.0 pts.
  • July 2026: Gemini +2.0 pts, Perplexity -2.0 pts, ChatGPT +1.0 pts.
  • June 2026: ChatGPT -2.2 pts, Gemini +0.9 pts, Claude +0.8 pts.
  • May 2026: ChatGPT +2.2 pts, Gemini -2.0 pts, Microsoft Copilot -0.5 pts.
  • April 2026: ChatGPT -1.3 pts, Perplexity +0.7 pts, Microsoft Copilot +0.6 pts.

Update log

  • Data is re-checked every 2 days. StatCounter publishes monthly: the new month appears in the first days of the month and the previous month closes.
  • Latest complete month: September 2026. Last refresh: October 14, 2026.
  • Page launched with 17 regions, 18 months of history and device splits.

Download and cite this data

Free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 with credit.

Worldwide, all devices (CSV)Worldwide, desktop (CSV)Worldwide, mobile (CSV)

Cite this data

Essentras. AI Market Share (September 2026). Data: StatCounter Global Stats, AI Chatbot Market Share (CC BY-SA 3.0). https://essentras.com/ai-market-share. Retrieved October 14, 2026.

Embed this headline

<p>As of September 2026, ChatGPT accounts for 80.5% of AI chatbot referrals worldwide. Source: <a href="https://essentras.com/ai-market-share">Essentras AI Market Share</a>, data by <a href="https://gs.statcounter.com/ai-chatbot-market-share">StatCounter</a> (CC BY-SA 3.0).</p>

FAQ

AI market share: frequently asked questions

What is the most used AI?▾

ChatGPT leads by share of AI chatbot referrals: 80.5% worldwide in September 2026. In Sensor Tower's app audience data (to May 2026), ChatGPT is first at 46.4%. Official counts use different definitions: OpenAI reports 900 million weekly users for ChatGPT, and Google reports 950 million monthly users for the Gemini app. The gap to the rest is narrower in app audience than in referrals.

Is ChatGPT losing market share?▾

By referral share, ChatGPT went from 84.2% in April 2025 to 80.5% in September 2026, a change of -3.7 points. Its high in the series was 84.2% in April 2025. Other measures show a bigger shift: Sensor Tower reports ChatGPT's share of AI assistant app audience fell below 50% for the first time in March 2026.

Who is the number 2 AI chatbot?▾

By referral share, Gemini is number 2 at 10.9% in September 2026. In Sensor Tower's app audience data (to May 2026), Gemini is second at 27.7%. Different measures can order the middle of the table differently.

How many people use ChatGPT vs Gemini?▾

OpenAI reported 900M weekly active users for ChatGPT on 27 February 2026. Alphabet reported 950M monthly active users for the Gemini app on 22 July 2026. These are different measures from different dates, so they are not directly comparable. Sensor Tower estimates 1.1 billion vs 662 million monthly app users for May 2026.

What is Claude's market share?▾

Claude accounts for 1.0% of AI chatbot referrals worldwide in September 2026, ranking number 5. Sensor Tower puts Claude at 10.3% of AI assistant app audience and 245 million monthly users (data to May 2026). In enterprise API usage, Menlo Ventures found Anthropic at 32% in mid-2025. Menlo is an Anthropic investor.

Why do StatCounter, Similarweb and Sensor Tower disagree?▾

They count different things. StatCounter counts website referrals from AI chatbots. Sensor Tower estimates people using assistant apps. Similarweb estimates visits to assistant websites. Each uses its own panel and methodology, so ChatGPT's share ranges from about 46.4% to 80.5% across the two measures we publish here. None is wrong. Choose the one that matches your question.

What is Perplexity's market share?▾

Perplexity accounts for 5.8% of AI chatbot referrals worldwide in September 2026, ranking number 3. That is down 5.1 points from 10.9% in September 2025.

What is the enterprise LLM API market share?▾

In Menlo Ventures' mid-2025 survey of 150 technical decision-makers, enterprise LLM API usage was Anthropic 32%, OpenAI 25%, Google 20%, Meta Llama 9% and DeepSeek 1%. This is a survey of production workloads, not spend. Menlo is an Anthropic investor.

Which AI chatbot is most used in the US and in Europe?▾

In the United States, ChatGPT has 74.9% of AI chatbot referrals, followed by Gemini (13.4%). In Europe, ChatGPT has 78.8% followed by Gemini (12.8%).

What is DeepSeek's market share?▾

DeepSeek accounts for 0.0% of AI chatbot referrals worldwide in September 2026. Its high was 2.7% in August 2025.

Will Gemini overtake ChatGPT?▾

We do not forecast. In the data, the gap between ChatGPT and Gemini was 81.9 points in April 2025 and is 69.5 points in September 2026, so it has narrowed. Month to date for October 2026 shows 49.9 points. Trends can reverse, and this series is only 18 months old.

How often is this data updated?▾

The page re-checks StatCounter every 2 days. StatCounter publishes monthly, so a new month appears in the first days of the following month. Official user counts are updated by hand when companies announce new figures.

See what ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude say about your brand

Market share tells you how much traffic assistants send. The free AI Check shows what they say when a buyer asks about your category.

Run the free AI CheckHow AI SEO works