Despite ChatGPT’s explosive growth, nearly all of its users also turn to Google, per new Similarweb data shared by SEO consultant Brodie Clark. In August:
95.3% of ChatGPT users visited Google,
14.3% of Google users visited ChatGPT.
Yes, and… International SEO expert Aleyda Solis added additional SimilarWeb data from August in an X post:
ChatGPT had 5.8 billion visits compared to Google’s 83.8 billion visits.
Why we care. ChatGPT and AI search is booming, but Google is still the default starting point for search. Traditional search engine usage is at 95%, according to data from Datos and SparkToro; and heavy AI users are still cross-checking with Google, according to a Nielsen Norman Group study.
Focus on channels that matter most. Clark referenced reports that ChatGPT referral traffic is declining and Bing is actually sending more traffic for some sites. This is one of those cases where results may vary, so check your analytics.
Search Engine Land’s ChatGPT referral traffic is most certainly not dipping. In fact, it surged 1,233.5% in August and drove more traffic than Bing.
That said, Google organic search sent 37x more referral traffic than ChatGPT to Search Engine Land.
Bottom line. AI tools are rising fast and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. But Google is still the traffic heavyweight. As Solis put it:
“LLMs are expanding and evolving (not killing) search as a discovery/marketing channel.”
And as Clark put it:
“There’s no doubt that ChatGPT is continuing to grow at a rapid rate. This overlap data shows that while the growth continues, users keep returning to Google despite ChatGPT being a Search alternative.”