The AI world is shifting, according to the data published by Similarweb, a well-known company that tracks and analyzes digital traffic across the internet. The data shows that the web traffic in OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been declining in recent months, while Google’s Gemini has continued to gain momentum.
According to Similarweb data, ChatGPT’s web traffic declined by 9.9% between October 2025 and January 2026. A sharper drop was observed between December 2025 and early January 2026, when average daily visits fell from nearly 200 million to around 158 million.
In contrast, Google Gemini has shown steady growth. During the same period, Gemini recorded around 55–60 million daily visits, with its share of global web traffic increasing by 3.3 percent month-over-month in December. While Gemini’s total traffic remains lower than ChatGPT’s, the growth indicates rising user interest.
One major reason behind this shift is that the latest Gemini 3 model upgrade came in November 2025, which gained positive feedback from several users. The upgrade attracted attention across the tech industry, with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff publicly stating that he had switched from ChatGPT to Gemini 3. In a post on X, he described the new model as sharper and faster. The decline in ChatGPT usage was also more noticeable during the holiday season and winter break, times when people generally use AI tools less for work, studies, and professional tasks. Analysts say this seasonal slowdown likely contributed to the temporary dip in traffic.
Interestingly, the data also shows that Gemini users tend to spend more time on the platform, even though the chatbot has fewer total users than ChatGPT. This suggests higher engagement levels among Gemini’s user bases.
Despite the recent drop, ChatGPT continues to dominate the AI chatbot space in terms of overall reach and popularity. Industry experts note that the traffic shift does not necessarily mean users are abandoning ChatGPT, but rather that they are experimenting with multiple AI tools as competition in the sector increases.
The data highlights a broader trend in the AI industry: users are becoming more selective and are comparing AI platforms based on performance, speed, and usability. With frequent upgrades from major tech companies, the battle for AI users is expected to intensify in the coming months.
