The AI numbers reshaping digital marketing in 2026
Over a billion weekly users for ChatGPT, a billion monthly users for Gemini: the sourced numbers redrawing where your customers look for answers.
Updated September 11, 2026: the numbers have been refreshed and each one now links to its source.
Three years ago, asking an AI a question was still a novelty. Today, hundreds of millions of people do it to choose software, compare services, or research before making a purchase. That behavior is fundamentally redrawing the rules of digital marketing.
AI platforms by the numbers
The vendors don't publish the same metric: OpenAI reports weekly users, Google reports monthly users, Perplexity reports query volume, and Anthropic publishes no user count for Claude. Comparing them row by row would be misleading, so here is what each one announces.
| Platform | Latest published figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | Over 1 billion weekly active users (August 2026), up from 900 million in February 2026 | OpenAI, reported by Yahoo Tech and TechCrunch |
| Gemini (Google) | Over 1 billion monthly active users (August 2026), up from over 950 million in July 2026 | Sundar Pichai, reported by TechCrunch |
| Perplexity | 780 million queries in May 2025 | Aravind Srinivas at Bloomberg's Tech Summit, reported by TechCrunch |
| Claude (Anthropic) | No user count published | — |
For context: Instagram, launched in October 2010, announced its billionth monthly user in June 2018, almost 8 years later (TechCrunch). ChatGPT, launched in November 2022, passed a billion weekly users in under 4 years, a stricter metric than a monthly one.
What these numbers mean for brands
The direct consequence is straightforward: a growing share of "discovery" — the moment a consumer first encounters a brand or compares options — now happens inside an AI interface, not a search engine.
When a manager asks ChatGPT "what's the best project management tool for a team of 20?", they get a synthesized response with specific recommendations. If your brand doesn't appear there, you simply don't exist in that purchasing journey.
For a brand, the question is no longer whether its customers use these assistants, but what these assistants tell them when they look for a solution like yours.
Google search is still massive, but clicks are getting scarcer
Google remains by far the main entry point: the company says it handles more than 5 trillion searches a year (Google, March 2025, reported by Search Engine Land). But a growing share of those searches never reaches a website:
- In 2024, 58.5% of Google searches in the US and 59.7% in the European Union ended without a single click: the searcher found the answer on the results page, or rephrased the query (SparkToro and Datos, July 2024).
- Among younger people, the AI assistant is becoming a search reflex: 34% of Gen Z use AI chatbots to look for information, far more than any other age group (Claneo survey of 2,000 people in the US and Germany, reported by Search Engine Land in July 2025).
Both channels coexist, but AI is growing fast, and brands that ignore this channel are building a structural disadvantage.
The categories most affected
Not every sector is equally exposed. The table below is our qualitative reading, not a measurement: it shows where the questions people ask assistants look most like a buying journey.
| Sector | Exposure | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Technology & SaaS | Very high | B2B buyers use AI to compare tools |
| Health & wellness | High | Frequent questions, sourced answers expected |
| Finance & fintech | High | Comparing accounts, investments, insurance products |
| E-commerce | High | "Best product for..." queries are extremely common |
| B2B consulting & services | High | Buyers build shortlists before contacting vendors |
What CMOs need to take away
1. AI is no longer an experimental channel
With over a billion weekly users on ChatGPT alone, this is a mass channel. Treating it as a technological curiosity is a strategic mistake.
2. AI visibility cannot be measured with traditional tools
Google Analytics, Search Console, SEMrush — none of these tell you whether your brand is mentioned in Claude or Gemini responses. You need purpose-built tools.
3. The time to act is now
Assistants rely on the sources they find today. Brands that work on their AI presence now are building a lead while their competitors look the other way.
Conclusion
The numbers speak for themselves: AI has moved from novelty to a full-fledged acquisition channel. Brands that understand this shift and adapt early will be the ones assistants recommend tomorrow.
Ready to track your AI visibility? Mentova analyzes your brand mentions across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity in minutes.
Sources
- ChatGPT, 1 billion weekly users: Yahoo Tech, August 6, 2026
- ChatGPT, 900 million weekly users: TechCrunch, February 27, 2026
- Gemini, 1 billion monthly users: TechCrunch, August 11, 2026
- Gemini, over 950 million monthly users: TechCrunch, July 23, 2026
- Perplexity, 780 million queries in May 2025: TechCrunch, June 5, 2025
- Instagram, 1 billion monthly users: TechCrunch, June 20, 2018
- Google, more than 5 trillion searches a year: Search Engine Land, March 2025
- Zero-click searches: SparkToro, July 2, 2024
- Gen Z and AI chatbots: Search Engine Land, July 31, 2025
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