ChatGPT drops to 52.7% as Claude triples its AI traffic share

Similarweb’s June 2026 replace on generative AI web site visitors share reveals a market that has shifted extra sharply in twelve months than most forecasts anticipated – with ChatGPT surrendering almost 1 / 4 of its worldwide dominance whereas Anthropic’s Claude posted the largest month-over-month proportion level achieve among the many tracked platforms.

ChatGPT’s 12-month slide: from 76.4% to 52.7%

Twelve months in the past, in line with Similarweb knowledge revealed on LinkedIn on June 11, 2026, ChatGPT held 76.4% of worldwide generative AI web site visitors. By Could 26, 2026 – the measurement date for the June replace – that determine had fallen to 52.7%. The arithmetic is blunt: OpenAI’s flagship product misplaced 23.7 proportion factors in a single yr, roughly two factors monthly.

The decline was not linear. Six months in the past ChatGPT nonetheless held 65.2%, which means the platform shed 11.2 further proportion factors within the second half of that window – a sooner tempo of abrasion than the primary six months. Three months in the past it stood at 56.7%, and one month in the past at 52.7%, suggesting the speed of decline could also be stabilising considerably, although the general development stays downward.

PPC Land has tracked this trajectory closely since mid-2025, documenting how ChatGPT fell under 65% for the primary time in January 2026, a milestone that on the time appeared vital. The Could 26 knowledge now locations the platform’s share greater than 12 factors under that stage.

Gemini’s ascent: 8.9% to 27.3%

Google’s Gemini platform is the clearest beneficiary of ChatGPT’s retreat. Twelve months in the past, in line with Similarweb, Gemini accounted for 8.9% of generative AI web site visitors. By the one-month-ago snapshot it had reached 27.3% – a rise of 18.4 proportion factors over the interval.

The trajectory, month by month, is hanging. Six months in the past Gemini held 20.3%. Three months in the past it reached 25.5%. One month in the past it stood at 27.3%. Every knowledge level represents an acceleration that compounds the aggressive stress on OpenAI. In proportional phrases, Gemini’s visitors share greater than tripled over twelve months.

The questions this knowledge raises for the advertising and marketing and media shopping for group are usually not trivial. As PPC Land noted when Gemini passed 22% in January 2026, the platform’s progress creates direct implications for GEO and AEO methods – the optimization disciplines that govern whether or not model content material surfaces inside AI-generated solutions. A platform commanding greater than 1 / 4 of worldwide AI visitors calls for critical consideration from anybody managing natural or paid visibility.

One methodological query circulated within the feedback underneath Similarweb’s LinkedIn submit: whether or not Gemini’s visitors figures incorporate Google’s AI Mode and AI Overviews surfaces, or whether or not they signify solely visits to the Gemini chat utility particularly. Similarweb described the dataset as masking generative AI web site visitors worldwide, which suggests direct visits to AI platform domains relatively than AI-generated reply surfaces embedded inside search outcomes pages. The excellence issues as a result of AI Mode utilization, if included, would considerably inflate Gemini’s depend. If excluded, the 27.3% determine represents Gemini’s standalone chat product – and makes the expansion much more outstanding.

Claude’s 2.9-point leap: the quickest riser within the newest interval

Essentially the most commented-upon discovering in Similarweb’s June replace was not the highest two platforms however the third-place mover: Anthropic’s Claude. One month in the past Claude held 6.0% of worldwide generative AI visitors. By Could 26, it had reached 8.9% – a achieve of two.9 proportion factors in a single month.

Darren Goldstein, a Senior Progress Advertising and marketing Supervisor, famous in feedback on the Similarweb LinkedIn submit that Claude had turn into the quickest riser within the newest interval, gaining 2.9 proportion factors forward of Gemini’s 1.8-point enhance over the identical interval. Twelve months in the past Claude held simply 1.6%. At 8.9% right this moment, the platform has multiplied its visitors share greater than fivefold over the yr.

This trajectory aligns with impartial measurement from different sources. Comscore’s March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings, reported by PPC Land on May 26, documented Claude increasing 130.1% from February to March 2026, reaching 2.66 million U.S. desktop distinctive guests. That determine moved Claude firmly into fourth place among the many platforms Comscore tracked – although it’s price noting that Comscore measures U.S. desktop distinctive guests whereas Similarweb’s visitors share knowledge covers worldwide all-device web site visitors. The 2 methodologies are usually not immediately comparable, however each level in the identical course.

The tempo of Claude’s progress carries implications past model sentiment. Platforms that appeal to a quickly rising share of AI-mediated queries turn into extra related surfaces for GEO optimization – the self-discipline of enhancing the probability that AI techniques will cite a model or retrieve content material when producing solutions. As PPC Land has covered since at least July 2025, Similarweb itself has constructed product infrastructure particularly to assist entrepreneurs monitor their visibility and referral visitors throughout AI platforms together with Claude.

DeepSeek, Grok, Copilot, and Perplexity

The remaining 4 platforms tracked in Similarweb’s replace present a extra complicated image, with some gaining and others shedding floor over the interval.

DeepSeek held 5.3% twelve months in the past and sits at 4.0% in the newest knowledge – after reaching a short excessive of three.8% six months again, the platform has recovered to 4.0%, although the twelve-month comparability exhibits a modest web loss. The Chinese language-developed mannequin attracted vital Western consideration in early 2025, and the information suggests a sustained however considerably diminished presence.

Grok, developed by xAI, stood at 2.8% twelve months in the past, reached 3.8% six months in the past alongside DeepSeek, pulled again to three.7% three months in the past, and now sits at 2.8% – returning to the place it began a yr in the past. PPC Land documented Grok overtaking DeepSeek for the first time in January 2026, when xAI’s platform reached 3.5% towards DeepSeek’s 3.3%. That benefit seems to have compressed by Could.

Microsoft Copilot has moved in a slender band: 1.9% twelve months in the past, 1.8% six months in the past, 2.0% three months in the past, and a pair of.0% one month in the past. The platform’s stability is notable given Microsoft’s in depth distribution benefits by way of Home windows and Workplace integrations. Copilot’s incapacity to meaningfully broaden its share regardless of these distribution levers suggests the product has not but discovered a utilization sample that converts put in base into constant AI platform visits.

Perplexity ran at 1.8% twelve months in the past and has drifted barely decrease, reaching 1.3% in the newest studying. The platform has constantly generated consideration for its citation-heavy search strategy, and PPC Land reported in mid-2025 that Perplexity processed 780 million queries monthly. Its declining visitors share relative to rivals suggests that question quantity and web site visitors share don’t at all times transfer collectively – a spot probably defined by heavy API and cell utilization not totally captured by website-level monitoring.

What visitors share doesn’t measure

A remark posted by Ofir Halfon, World Partnerships and GTM chief, underneath Similarweb’s LinkedIn submit identifies an vital restrict of the dataset: “What this knowledge does not present is intent high quality by platform. Visitors share tells you the place folks go, it does not let you know what they’re asking, how deep into the acquisition journey they’re, or which platform is driving probably the most business outcomes. Somebody asking ‘what are the very best trainers’ could be very totally different from somebody asking ‘evaluate On Cloudmonster and New Stability 1080’. Similar class, fully totally different business worth.”

It is a related caveat for anybody decoding the numbers by way of a media shopping for or conversion lens. Visitors share is a attain metric. It says nothing concerning the question varieties, the business intent, the session depth, or the downstream conversion charges related to every platform. Research covered by PPC Land in November 2025 found that AI traffic converts at three times higher rates than traditional channels across more than 1,200 publisher and news websites. However that discovering is an mixture; it doesn’t disaggregate by platform, and the combo of economic versus informational queries probably varies considerably throughout ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity.

The decentralisation argument

A separate remark from Chuks Wesley, a content material strategist, makes a structural remark: “The visitors share is changing into extra decentralised over time.” The information helps this studying arithmetically. Twelve months in the past, ChatGPT held 76.4% alone – a place approaching the form of monopoly focus that characterises early-phase platform markets. As we speak, the highest three platforms collectively account for roughly 89% of tracked visitors, with that share distributed throughout ChatGPT at 52.7%, Gemini at 27.3%, and Claude at 8.9%. The remaining 11% is cut up throughout 4 platforms.

Decentralisation of this sort creates particular operational challenges for entrepreneurs who’ve constructed AI visibility methods round a single platform. Similarweb’s own product development has reflected this reality, with the corporate’s GenAI Intelligence Toolkit – launched in July 2025 – designed to trace model visibility and referral visitors throughout a number of AI surfaces concurrently relatively than optimising for any single platform. As PPC Land reported in November 2025, Similarweb analysis discovered that quotation units change 50% month-to-month and that solely 11% of citations overlap between main AI platforms – a discovering that makes multi-platform monitoring operationally needed relatively than elective.

Context: 12-month benchmarks and what shifted

The twelve-month development captured in Similarweb’s knowledge maps onto a interval of serious product releases and adoption occasions. ChatGPT’s share stood at 76.4% in June 2025, across the time when PPC Land first began tracking AI traffic conversion advantages. By January 2026, the platform had fallen to 65.2% in six-month phrases. Google’s launch of Gemini updates and growth of AI integration into its search merchandise accelerated Gemini’s uptake by way of the latter months of 2025 and into 2026. Claude’s progress curve steepened sharply by way of early 2026, which Anthropic’s product growth – together with new API capabilities and enterprise integrations – probably contributed to.

The broader context for all these numbers is one which PPC Land’s reporting on Datos’ Q1 2026 State of Search reportmakes plain: AI instruments collectively account for lower than 2% of whole desktop internet visits in each the US and Europe. The visitors share figures Similarweb publishes measure the distribution of visitors amongst AI platforms themselves – not AI platforms’ share of the entire internet. Each dimensions matter to entrepreneurs, however they reply totally different questions. The primary exhibits which AI platform is profitable the race for AI-mediated queries. The second exhibits how massive a job AI-mediated queries play in whole digital visitors general.

For media consumers, companies, and model entrepreneurs, the shift documented in Similarweb’s June replace has sensible penalties throughout a minimum of three areas.

First, GEO technique – the optimization of brand name content material to seem in AI-generated solutions – now must weight platforms in a different way than it did twelve months in the past. Claude’s transfer from 1.6% to eight.9% means it’s now not a secondary concern. Gemini’s 27.3% share makes it the second most vital floor for visibility optimization, forward of all different platforms by a substantial margin.

Second, attribution and measurement require updating. As PPC Land covered in August 2025, AI platforms are increasing past standalone chat interfaces into browser integrations and agentic workflows. Web site visitors knowledge from standalone area visits might more and more undercount precise AI-mediated touchpoints as these expansions mature.

Third, the query of economic intent by platform – raised within the LinkedIn remark thread by Ofir Halfon – stays largely unanswered by visitors share knowledge alone. Advertisers and publishers evaluating which AI surfaces deserve funding want richer sign than go to share alone. That hole represents each a measurement problem and a product alternative for analytics suppliers.

The Similarweb June replace, primarily based on knowledge by way of Could 26, 2026, covers worldwide all-device visitors to generative AI platform web sites. It displays twelve months of measurement throughout seven named platforms – ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok, Claude, Perplexity, and Copilot – plus an “Different” class. The information was revealed on LinkedIn by Similarweb on June 11, 2026.

Timeline

• June 2025 – ChatGPT holds 76.4% of worldwide generative AI web site visitors; Gemini at 8.9%; Claude at 1.6%, in line with Similarweb.
• July 28, 2025 – Similarweb launches GenAI Intelligence Toolkit combining AI model visibility monitoring with visitors measurement as AI platforms generate 1.1 billion referral visits in June 2025.
• November 6, 2025 – Research shows AI traffic converts at 3x higher rates than conventional channels throughout greater than 1,200 writer and information web sites.
• November 12, 2025 – Similarweb publishes AI citation analysis framework exhibiting quotation units change 50% month-to-month and solely 11% overlap throughout main AI platforms.
• December 2025 – ChatGPT falls to 66.8%; Gemini climbs to 19.5%, in line with Similarweb.
• December 22, 2025 – Similarweb releases November 2025 data exhibiting ChatGPT maintains two-thirds U.S. market share regardless of a 35% visitors decline.
• January 16, 2026 – ChatGPT drops to 64.6% as Gemini surges to 22%; Grok overtakes DeepSeek for the primary time in Similarweb monitoring.
• January 2026 – Six-month snapshot in Similarweb knowledge: ChatGPT at 65.2%, Gemini at 20.3%, DeepSeek and Grok each at 3.8%, Claude at 2.0%.
• February 15, 2026 – Similarweb launches AI Studio for enterprise clients following beta growth.
• March 2026 – Three-month snapshot: ChatGPT at 56.7%, Gemini at 25.5%, Claude at 6.0%, Grok at 3.7%, DeepSeek at 3.4%.
• April 27, 2026 – Datos Q1 2026 State of Search report exhibits AI instruments collectively account for lower than 2% of whole desktop internet visits within the US and Europe.
• Could 2026 – One-month snapshot: ChatGPT at 52.7%, Gemini at 27.3%, Claude at 8.9%, DeepSeek at 4.0%, Grok at 2.8%, Copilot at 2.0%, Perplexity at 1.3%.
• Could 18, 2026 – Comscore March 2026 AI Chatbot Rankings present Claude rising 130.1% month-over-month to 2.66 million U.S. desktop distinctive guests.
• Could 26, 2026 – Similarweb publishes June replace capturing twelve months of generative AI visitors share knowledge by way of Could 26, 2026; Claude information quickest month-to-month achieve amongst tracked platforms.
• June 11, 2026 – Similarweb posts the June replace on LinkedIn, with full twelve-month comparability throughout ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok, Claude, Perplexity, and Copilot, worldwide all-traffic.

Abstract

Who: Similarweb, the net analytics platform with 91,644 LinkedIn followers, launched the information. The platforms tracked are ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google), DeepSeek, Grok (xAI), Claude (Anthropic), Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot.

What: A twelve-month comparability of worldwide generative AI web site visitors share, as of Could 26, 2026, exhibits ChatGPT declining from 76.4% to 52.7%, Gemini rising from 8.9% to 27.3%, and Claude tripling from 1.6% to eight.9% – with Claude posting the biggest month-over-month achieve in the newest interval at 2.9 proportion factors.

When: The information covers the twelve months to Could 26, 2026. Similarweb revealed the June replace on LinkedIn on June 11, 2026.

The place: The dataset covers all worldwide visitors to generative AI platform web sites, throughout all machine varieties.

Why: The information issues as a result of it paperwork a structural shift wherein AI platform customers are selecting for his or her queries – with direct penalties for GEO, AEO, model visibility optimization, and any media shopping for technique that treats AI platforms as a discovery or conversion floor.