The short answer
In 2026, AI search is large and growing but classic Google still dominates. OpenAI has reported ChatGPT usage on the order of 800 million weekly users, AI Overviews appeared on roughly 16 to 25 percent of tracked keywords during the second half of 2025, and just under 60 percent of US Google searches end without a click. Yet Google still handles over 5 trillion searches a year, many multiples of AI assistant volume.
The Headline Numbers
Figures below reflect 2024 and 2025 published data, the most recent full-year figures available.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in October 2025 that ChatGPT had reached 800 million weekly active users. Google said it handled more than 5 trillion searches in 2024, which works out to roughly 14 billion per day. SparkToro and Datos estimated in March 2025 that Google received about 373 times more searches than ChatGPT.
The correct read is not replacement. It is layering: users are adding AI answers on top of classic search, and both channels now shape what people buy.
AI Overviews Changed Google Itself
The larger disruption in 2025 and 2026 happened inside Google. AI Overviews, launched broadly in 2024, appeared on 6.5 percent of the keywords Semrush tracked in January 2025, rose to nearly 25 percent in July, and sat near 16 percent in November 2025. Where an Overview appears, Ahrefs found the top ranking page's click through rate falls by about a third.
Combined with maps, snippets, and knowledge panels, SparkToro's 2024 clickstream study found just under 60 percent of US Google searches end without any click. The zero click majority is the defining statistic of modern search.
Who Uses AI Search and How
A Pew Research Center survey published in June 2025 found 34 percent of US adults had used ChatGPT, including 58 percent of adults under 30. Usage skews toward research, comparison, and how to queries, exactly the questions that begin buying decisions. In our experience, visitors arriving from AI assistants often convert better than average search visitors, consistent with users arriving after the assistant has already narrowed their choice.
For businesses, the practical statistic is simpler: a growing share of customers now hear a recommendation before they ever see a results page.
What the Numbers Instruct
The definition worth keeping: AI search is the retrieval of answers through systems that generate a synthesized response from many sources, rather than returning a ranked list of links. Winning it requires content that answers questions directly, structured data that machines can verify, and consistent business facts across the web, because engines cite what they can parse and trust.
Classic SEO is not dead; it is the substrate AI engines read. Batch Marketing runs SEO, AEO, and GEO as one program on that basis, optimizing for the ranked list and the synthesized answer at the same time.
Commonly Asked Questions
Is AI search replacing Google?
Not by volume. Google handled more than 5 trillion searches in 2024, and SparkToro estimated that is roughly 373 times ChatGPT's search volume. AI is changing search behavior faster than it is replacing the engine.
How many people use ChatGPT in 2026?
OpenAI reported about 800 million weekly users in October 2025, while Pew found 34 percent of US adults had used it as of mid 2025.
Do AI Overviews reduce website traffic?
Yes. Ahrefs found that when an AI Overview appears, the top ranking page's click through rate falls by about a third, which is why visibility inside answers now matters alongside rankings.
Sources
- Pew Research Center: 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT, about double the share in 2023 (2025)
- TechCrunch: Sam Altman says ChatGPT has hit 800M weekly active users (2025)
- SparkToro: Google Search Grew 20%+ in 2024; receives ~373X more searches than ChatGPT (2025)
- Semrush: AI Overviews' Impact on Search in 2025 (2025)
- Ahrefs: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5% (2025)
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