Google Gemini Gains Market Share as ChatGPT Usage Declines, According to Similarweb Data

ChatGPT's dominance in the generative AI chatbot space is shrinking as Google's Gemini steadily captures market share, according to Similarweb's January Global AI Tracker. ChatGPT now accounts for 64.5% of worldwide traffic among gen AI chatbot websites, while Gemini has reached 21.5%.

This shift represents a significant change in the AI assistant landscape, with OpenAI's ChatGPT experiencing a 22% decline in tracked traffic over 12 weeks, while Google Gemini saw a 49% increase during the same period. The data highlights changing user preferences in how people directly access AI tools through web browsers.

Changing Landscape of AI Assistants

ChatGPT and Gemini Lead the Pack

The year-over-year shift in market share tells a compelling story about the evolving AI assistant ecosystem. According to Similarweb's data, ChatGPT's dominance has eroded considerably, dropping from 86% of worldwide traffic among tracked chatbot sites a year ago to 64.5% currently.

During the same period, Google's Gemini experienced impressive growth, increasing its market share from just 5% to 21.5%. This significant gain suggests Google's integration strategy—pushing Gemini through products like Android and Google Workspace—may be successfully driving adoption. This pattern follows the broader implementation of artificial intelligence capabilities across various platforms, demonstrating how strategic deployment affects market penetration.

The remaining competitors in the space hold substantially smaller portions of the market. DeepSeek captured 3.7% of traffic, while Elon Musk's Grok reached 3.4%. Both Anthropic's Claude and Perplexity registered at 2.0% each.

David Carr, digital marketing analyst at TechTrends, notes, "Google's advantage lies in its existing ecosystem. When you already have billions of users in your products, integrating AI becomes a natural extension rather than asking users to form a new habit."

It's important to understand what Similarweb's tracker measures. The data captures total visits at the domain level, reflecting only direct web traffic to these tools. It doesn't account for API usage, embedded assistants, or other integrations where much AI interaction now occurs.

Seasonal Factors and Overall Category Trends

The total visit count for AI tools experienced a seasonal dip during the winter break period, with average daily visits dropping to levels last seen in August-September. Similarweb specifically highlighted this seasonal effect in their reporting, helping to distinguish between temporary fluctuations and longer-term market share shifts.

This context is crucial for businesses and marketers trying to understand whether specific AI tools are losing popularity or whether the entire category experiences normal seasonal variations.

Specialized AI Tools Facing Challenges

Writing and Content Generation Tools Decline

The specialized AI writing and content generation sector appears to be under pressure. Similarweb's category view shows these sites declining by 10% over the most recent 12-week tracking period.

Individual writing platforms experienced even steeper drops, with several posting double-digit declines:

• Growthbarseo was down 100%
• Writesonic dropped 17%
• Jasper fell 16%
• Rytr declined 9%

Originality.ai was the exception, showing 17% growth during this period.

These numbers suggest users may be consolidating their AI usage toward general-purpose assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini rather than visiting specialized writing tools directly. Alternatively, they could be accessing these services through apps or integrations rather than direct web visits.

Sarah Johnson, content strategy consultant, explains, "We're seeing content teams shift toward using one primary AI assistant for multiple tasks rather than juggling several specialized tools. The convenience factor can't be underestimated."

Developer Tools Show Mixed Results

The picture for developer-focused AI tools was more varied. Similarweb's code completion category showed divergent trends:

• Bolt dropped 39% over 12 weeks
• Cursor grew 8%
• Replit increased 2%
• Base44 surged 49%

This mixed performance suggests the developer tool space may be experiencing different adoption dynamics than writing tools, with some platforms finding product-market fit while others struggle. Organizations exploring business benefits of implementing AI solutions should carefully evaluate these trends before committing to specific developer platforms.

Impact on Traditional Search and Discovery

Interestingly, traditional search traffic remained relatively stable according to Similarweb's "disrupted sectors" view. Year-over-year changes in search usage showed only modest declines of 1% to 3%, indicating that AI assistants haven't significantly eroded conventional search behavior yet.

The Q&A landscape shows more dramatic shifts, with Reddit traffic up 12% year-over-year while Quora declined 53%. This suggests users seeking answers to specific questions may be redistributing their attention among AI assistants, Reddit, and traditional search, with Quora losing out in this reshuffling.

Michael Tran, search marketing specialist at Digital Horizons, observes, "We're not seeing users abandon Google Search en masse for AI assistants. Instead, they're developing nuanced patterns of when to use each tool based on the specific information need."

Companies are increasingly implementing AI chatbots for customer service and business operations, complementing rather than replacing traditional search functionality.

What This Means for Businesses and Marketers

The shifting landscape of AI assistants has important implications for businesses developing their digital strategies:

1. Monitor where your audience engages: Understanding which AI platforms your target audience uses most frequently can help prioritize where to optimize your presence and monitor for brand mentions.

2. Reconsider specialized AI tools: If your workflow relies heavily on specialized AI writing or development tools, consider whether consolidating around primary assistants might improve efficiency.

3. Track your own referral sources: While Similarweb provides valuable market-level trends, your own analytics will provide the most accurate picture of how your specific audience discovers your content.

For businesses concerned about visibility in an AI-first world, these trends suggest maintaining strong content that performs well in traditional search remains important, while also understanding how different AI assistants present and cite information.

Looking Forward

The next few months should clarify whether the category-wide traffic dip was purely seasonal and whether Gemini continues gaining ground at the same pace. It will also reveal if specialized writing tools stabilize or continue losing direct traffic to more general AI assistants.

As AI becomes more deeply integrated into the digital experience, tracking direct web visits captures only part of the picture. The true adoption story likely includes significant usage through APIs, mobile apps, and embedded experiences that domain-level tracking can't measure.

According to recent findings from Statista's Digital Economy Compass, the generative AI market is projected to grow substantially in the coming years, suggesting that the competition between major platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini will only intensify as companies invest more heavily in this technology sector.