March 14, 2026 — Worldwide A new analysis from Graphite.io reveals that AI assistants now account for 56% of global search volume, generating 45 billion monthly sessions, primarily through mobile apps.
The report, authored by Graphite.io CEO Ethan Smith and highlighted in recent coverage including Ignite Visibility’s March 7-13 roundup, shows AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, and Claude matching 56% of traditional search engine activity worldwide and 34% in the U.S. ChatGPT dominates with 89% of global AI sessions, while 83% of usage occurs in mobile apps globally (75% in the U.S.).
Key Statistics
AI assistants generate 45 billion monthly sessions worldwide and 5.4 billion in the U.S., equating to AI Assistants Dominate Global Search: New Study Reveals 56% of Worldwide Search Volume from AI Tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. Search-related “asking” prompts represent 28% of global search volume and 17% in the U.S., per the analysis covered by Search Engine Land.
“AI tools now generate 45 billion monthly sessions worldwide — about 56% of search engine volume,” Ethan Smith stated in the Graphite.io report.
Methodology
The study combines web visits and mobile app sessions for the top five LLMs and compares them to the top six search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Baidu). It adjusts for search-like prompts using OpenAI data showing about 52% are information-seeking. This approach reveals AI usage 4-5 times larger than web-only estimates, as noted in Innermedia and ALM Corp.
Global AI sessions have plateaued since July 2025, while U.S. usage grew 300% year-over-year by December 2025. Total search activity, including AI, rose 26% worldwide since 2023.
Implications for Marketing
The findings underscore that AI expands the discovery pie rather than shrinking traditional search. Google’s share of search-related activity fell from 89% in 2023 to 71% globally by Q4 2025. Marketers must optimize for both SEO and AI visibility, as emphasized in Performance Marketing World.
“We’ve been saying it for a while now, but let these numbers show: you cannot avoid AI search when planning your SEO strategy,” per Ignite Visibility.
AI Assistants Dominate Global Search: New Study Reveals 56% of Worldwide Search Volume from AI Tools like ChatGPT and Gemini across SEO and marketing outlets, with no major mainstream pickup yet. Coverage appears on niche sites like Lazysoft. For related insights, see SEO Spyglass posts.