Similarweb: рынок AI-поиска вырос до 9,5 млрд посещений и перестал быть монополией ChatGPT

A year ago, AI search meant one thing — ChatGPT. Today that era is behind us: the market is simultaneously growing rapidly and fragmenting quickly. That is the conclusion reached by Similarweb analysts in their "2026 Generative AI Landscape" report, covering the period from June 2025 to May 2026. Over that year, generative AI platforms collectively attracted 9.5 billion visits per month worldwide.

How the market grew over the year

9.5 billion visits per month — a scale comparable to the world's largest traditional search engines. According to Similarweb, this is the combined traffic of all generative AI platforms for the period from June 2025 to May 2026. The figure reflects a full-scale mass transition: AI search has ceased to be a niche for tech enthusiasts and has become part of the everyday behavior of a broad audience.

The structural growth of 9.5 billion visits per month was formed over twelve consecutive months — this is sustained consumer behavior, not a one-time spike in interest in a novelty.

The Similarweb report identifies several structural shifts:

• 9.5 billion visits per month — combined traffic of generative AI platforms (June 2025 — May 2026)
• ChatGPT has ceased to be synonymous with AI search as such
• The market is simultaneously growing in volume and fragmenting among several players
• The audience is "maturing" — a shift toward broader demographic groups
• Platforms have begun monetizing traffic through advertising

"The market is growing rapidly and fracturing simultaneously" — this is precisely how

Similarweb describes the state of generative AI search in its "2026 Generative AI Landscape" report.

Why ChatGPT is no longer the only player

A year ago, AI search was "essentially one product with one name," Similarweb notes. Now users are distributed across several competing platforms — each with its own model, ecosystem, and audience. The market has followed a classic evolutionary path: from the early monopoly of a single player to a mature competitive structure with several centers of gravity.

Fragmentation creates risks and opens opportunities simultaneously. For developers and publishers who built their distribution around a single dominant channel, this is a direct signal to reconsider their strategy: betting on a single name no longer works. For advertisers, a fragmented market means more inventory and less dependence on a monopolist.

Demographic "maturation" is another sign of maturity. The early audience of young tech enthusiasts is giving way to broader age cohorts. According to Similarweb analysts, this is not a slowdown but a confirmation: the product has moved out of the technology niche into mainstream everyday use.

Advertising comes to AI search

Platforms have begun monetizing multi-billion-dollar traffic through advertising — a natural step for a market of this scale, the Similarweb report notes. The trajectory mirrors the history of traditional web search: first a clean and convenient user experience, then the gradual embedding of commercial formats.

The key question is how aggressive the monetization will turn out to be. Until now, AI search has won over the classic variety precisely because of the absence of advertising noise around a direct answer. If platforms overdo it with formats, part of the audience may switch to a competitor that maintains the balance between monetization and answer quality.

What this means

AI search is entering a maturity phase: more players, a broader audience, and first advertising revenues. Companies working with AI channels as their sole window to their target audience should diversify their presence — the market structure no longer supports a bet on a single name.