Google said AI Overviews exceeded 2.5 billion monthly Search users in June, a scale that highlights the difficulty of comparing AI audiences and publishers' questions about search traffic.
AI Mode, another feature within Google Search, had more than 1 billion monthly users in June, the company said. Google did not disclose how much the two audiences overlap. Neither count measures use of a standalone chatbot app.
For publishers, the reach of AI summaries raises a separate issue: whether readers still follow search links. Pew Research Center examined 68,879 Google searches made in March 2025 and recreated their results pages in April to identify AI summaries. Conventional results drew clicks on 8% of sampled visits associated with a summary, compared with 15% of visits without one.
The comparison does not establish that summaries caused the difference in click rates. Google says it has added links to its AI Search features. It also said a Search Console option available worldwide by Aug. 31 lets website owners opt out of having their sites appear in or provide source material for generative AI Search features. Google said sites that opt out receive no traffic or impressions from those features.
Google separately said its Gemini app surpassed 1 billion monthly users on Aug. 11, up from the 950 million it reported for July. OpenAI said ChatGPT had 1.2 billion weekly users in September. A weekly count and a monthly count cover different periods, while Google's Search figures include features inside a broader product.
A Pew survey of 5,119 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 17-23, 2026, found that 49% had used an AI chatbot and 24% used one daily. Some 44% reported using ChatGPT, 24% Gemini and 6% Claude. Pew asked everyone about ChatGPT but put the Gemini and Claude questions to separate half-samples of 2,564 and 2,555 respondents, respectively. People could report using more than one service, and the survey does not measure worldwide audiences.
Similarweb ranked ChatGPT first, Gemini second and Claude third among AI chatbot and tools websites worldwide in September. The ranking covers websites; use through apps or AI features within other products falls outside its scope.
