March 12, 2026 — A March 2026 analysis by Graphite.io CEO Ethan Smith reveals that AI assistants now account for 56% of global search engine volume, generating 45 billion monthly sessions worldwide and matching more than half of traditional search traffic based on combined web and mobile data from Similarweb.
The study, titled “AI Is Much Bigger Than You Think,” compares usage across top AI tools—ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok and Claude—against major search engines like Google, Bing and others. It highlights ChatGPT’s dominance at 89% of AI sessions globally, equating to 20% of search-related traffic when adjusted for information-seeking prompts.
Key Global and US Figures
In the US, AI tools account for 5.4 billion monthly sessions, or 34% of search volume. Adjusting for search-like prompts (about 52% of AI interactions), this drops to 28% globally and 17% in the US. Total search plus AI volume has risen 26% worldwide since 2023, indicating expansion rather than replacement.
“We originally sought to evaluate our hypothesis that most claims about the usage of AI were overstated, and that usage of AI was smaller and growing more slowly. However, upon closer inspection of the data, we found that not only are the claims that AI may soon overtake search not overstated, they are understated.” — Ethan Smith, Graphite.io CEO
Methodology and Caveats
Data includes 83% mobile app usage globally (75% in US), which prior web-only reports underestimated by 4-5x. Only “asking” prompts (51.6%) are deemed search-comparable, per OpenAI research. Google’s share of search-related activity fell from 89% in 2023 to 71% globally in Q4 2025. Raw data is available in public spreadsheets.
Search Engine Land reported on March 9 that AI assistants now account for 56% of global search engine volume, emphasizing the need for both SEO and visibility in large language models (LLMs).
Marketing Implications
The ALM Corp blog notes AI assistants now account for 56% of global search engine volume drives a shift to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), with AI referrals converting 4.4x higher than organic search. Google’s traditional search share is declining, prompting dual SEO/GEO strategies.
“SEO Is Not Dead — But It Cannot Be Your Only Strategy.”
Industry Coverage and Social Buzz
AI assistants now account for 56% of global search engine volume, as covered by Performance Marketing World and others, sparking discussions in SEO circles. On X, users like @kimuyan questioned the metrics, while @Frank_Strong shared the Search Engine Land article. Marketers urged adapting content for AI discovery.
The story, breaking around March 9, underscores AI assistants now account for 56% of global search engine volume as a pivotal trend, with US AI growth at 300% year-over-year by December 2025.