Key takeaways<\/h2>\n\n- With 1.6 billion visits in February, ChatGPT (chat.openai.com) has yet to match the level the volume of worldwide traffic it hit in May 2023 \u2013 1.8 billion visits, according to Similarweb estimates.<\/li>\n
- However, within the US, ChatGPT hit a new high in February with 208.8 million visits. That includes 10 million visits from people accessing Custom GPTs, which are only accessible to paying customers.<\/li>\n
- As Google rebranded its chatbot from Bard to Gemini, usage hit a new high of 51.7 million unique visitors to gemini.google.com<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Challengers like Perplexity and Claude are growing but still relatively small, as measured by web traffic<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Challengers like Perplexity and Claude small by comparison<\/h2>\n
Including Microsoft Bing, which is both a search engine and an AI Chat app, the pecking order among these platforms by web traffic worldwide looks like this:<\/p>\n
![\"Chart:](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/chatgpt_challengers_1.png\")
<\/p>\n
As a search engine emphasizing AI features, Perplexity has been in the news for a new round of funding, reportedly driving its valuation to $1 billion<\/a>. However, it\u2019s still relatively low on the totem pole.<\/p>\nAfter experiencing explosive growth in early 2023, ChatGPT has seen its traffic fluctuate from month to month since the summer. In February, worldwide traffic was up 62% year-over-year (YoY) but just 1% month-over-month (MoM). At 1.6 billion visits, it hasn\u2019t quite gotten back to the peak it hit in May 2023, when it topped 1.8 billion visits.<\/p>\n
However, for traffic from within the US, ChatGPT actually hit a new peak of 208.8 million visits, up 87% YoY and 15% MoM.<\/p>\n
The role of Custom GPTs<\/h2>\n
![\"Chart:](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/chatgpt_challengers_2.png\")
<\/p>\n
OpenAI has been working to add more excitement to ChatGPT with an app store-like model of Custom GPTs. Within the US, Custom GPTs drove more than 10 million visits to the ChatGPT website. That includes GPTs for integration with OpenAI\u2019s tools like DALL-E image generation, as well as many third-party apps. Custom GPTs are only available to paid account holders, making this an important segment for OpenAI.<\/p>\n
Google\u2019s Bard becomes Gemini<\/h2>\n
Google Gemini recently took the place of Bard as Google\u2019s lead brand for AI Chat, while Google continues to experiment with surfacing more AI features in core search.<\/p>\n
The Bard-to-Gemini transition is not only a rebranding but also represents the introduction of a more sophisticated generation of AI tech. Google had to pull back an image generation feature of Gemini after it was roundly mocked for excessively \u201cwoke\u201d multicultural representations of very white moments in history, like the signing of the US Declaration of Independence. The image generator is expected to return soon, after some adjustments are made.<\/p>\n
Despite that, Gemini seems to have sparked new interest. The Gemini website attracted 51.7 million unique visitors in February, more than Bard ever received, according to Similarweb estimates.<\/p>\n
![\"Chart:](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/chatgpt_challengers_3.png\")
<\/p>\n
Daily traffic to the Gemini website peaked at about 17.5 million visits on February 22, at about the time the image generator controversy was in the news, maybe partly because of people trying the tool to see whether the criticisms were fair. As of March 3, traffic was down to 13.2 million daily visits. The remaining bard.google.com visits<\/a> represent people going to that address before being redirected.<\/p>\n![\"Chart:](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/chatgpt_challengers_4.png\")
<\/p>\n
CoPilot, Perplexity, and Claude<\/h2>\n
Meanwhile, Microsoft has been aggressively exploiting AI Chat features in Bing, while also beginning to promote copilot.microsoft.com as a distinct destination for accessing AI functionality. The CoPilot website is one piece of a much broader Microsoft strategy to incorporate CoPilot-branded AI features into Office, as well as tools for developers and designers.<\/p>\n
As a standalone website, CoPilot is just starting to show up among the challengers farther down the pecking order, like Perplexity (perplexity.ai) and Anthropic\u2019s Claude (claude.ai).<\/p>\n
![\"Perplexity](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/chatgpt_challengers_5.png\")
<\/p>\n
ChatGPT\u2019s apps grew 5% from January to February<\/h2>\n
Microsoft\u2019s AI seems to have successfully helped grow Bing’s mobile app active users<\/a>. In February, US monthly active users for iOS and Android combined were up nearly 20% YoY (although down 8.6% from the previous month) to 13 million users. OpenAI hadn\u2019t yet launched its ChatGPT app a year ago, but it reached 6.7 million users in February, a 5% increase from the previous month.<\/p>\n![\"AI](\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/chatgpt_challengers_6.png\")
<\/p>\n
Usage of Character AI apps in the US<\/a> was essentially unchanged at 3.1 million, while the new CoPilot app is just getting started, with a little over 1 million monthly active users in the US. Perplexity app has about 266,000<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Similarweb Insights & Communications team is available to pull additional or updated data on request for the news media (journalists are invited to write to press@similarweb.com<\/a>). When citing our data, please reference Similarweb as the source and link back to the most relevant blog post or similarweb.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nContact: <\/strong>For more information, please write to press@similarweb.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Challengers like Perplexity and Claude small by comparison<\/h2>\n
Including Microsoft Bing, which is both a search engine and an AI Chat app, the pecking order among these platforms by web traffic worldwide looks like this:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As a search engine emphasizing AI features, Perplexity has been in the news for a new round of funding, reportedly driving its valuation to $1 billion<\/a>. However, it\u2019s still relatively low on the totem pole.<\/p>\n After experiencing explosive growth in early 2023, ChatGPT has seen its traffic fluctuate from month to month since the summer. In February, worldwide traffic was up 62% year-over-year (YoY) but just 1% month-over-month (MoM). At 1.6 billion visits, it hasn\u2019t quite gotten back to the peak it hit in May 2023, when it topped 1.8 billion visits.<\/p>\n However, for traffic from within the US, ChatGPT actually hit a new peak of 208.8 million visits, up 87% YoY and 15% MoM.<\/p>\n OpenAI has been working to add more excitement to ChatGPT with an app store-like model of Custom GPTs. Within the US, Custom GPTs drove more than 10 million visits to the ChatGPT website. That includes GPTs for integration with OpenAI\u2019s tools like DALL-E image generation, as well as many third-party apps. Custom GPTs are only available to paid account holders, making this an important segment for OpenAI.<\/p>\n Google Gemini recently took the place of Bard as Google\u2019s lead brand for AI Chat, while Google continues to experiment with surfacing more AI features in core search.<\/p>\n The Bard-to-Gemini transition is not only a rebranding but also represents the introduction of a more sophisticated generation of AI tech. Google had to pull back an image generation feature of Gemini after it was roundly mocked for excessively \u201cwoke\u201d multicultural representations of very white moments in history, like the signing of the US Declaration of Independence. The image generator is expected to return soon, after some adjustments are made.<\/p>\n Despite that, Gemini seems to have sparked new interest. The Gemini website attracted 51.7 million unique visitors in February, more than Bard ever received, according to Similarweb estimates.<\/p>\n Daily traffic to the Gemini website peaked at about 17.5 million visits on February 22, at about the time the image generator controversy was in the news, maybe partly because of people trying the tool to see whether the criticisms were fair. As of March 3, traffic was down to 13.2 million daily visits. The remaining bard.google.com visits<\/a> represent people going to that address before being redirected.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Microsoft has been aggressively exploiting AI Chat features in Bing, while also beginning to promote copilot.microsoft.com as a distinct destination for accessing AI functionality. The CoPilot website is one piece of a much broader Microsoft strategy to incorporate CoPilot-branded AI features into Office, as well as tools for developers and designers.<\/p>\n As a standalone website, CoPilot is just starting to show up among the challengers farther down the pecking order, like Perplexity (perplexity.ai) and Anthropic\u2019s Claude (claude.ai).<\/p>\n Microsoft\u2019s AI seems to have successfully helped grow Bing’s mobile app active users<\/a>. In February, US monthly active users for iOS and Android combined were up nearly 20% YoY (although down 8.6% from the previous month) to 13 million users. OpenAI hadn\u2019t yet launched its ChatGPT app a year ago, but it reached 6.7 million users in February, a 5% increase from the previous month.<\/p>\n Usage of Character AI apps in the US<\/a> was essentially unchanged at 3.1 million, while the new CoPilot app is just getting started, with a little over 1 million monthly active users in the US. Perplexity app has about 266,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Similarweb Insights & Communications team is available to pull additional or updated data on request for the news media (journalists are invited to write to press@similarweb.com<\/a>). When citing our data, please reference Similarweb as the source and link back to the most relevant blog post or similarweb.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Contact: <\/strong>For more information, please write to press@similarweb.com<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe role of Custom GPTs<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nGoogle\u2019s Bard becomes Gemini<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nCoPilot, Perplexity, and Claude<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nChatGPT\u2019s apps grew 5% from January to February<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n