Google Gemini continues its ascent as it looks to catch up to ChatGPT in the AI race.
New data from SimilarWeb reveals that Google’s AI chatbot was the fastest-growing generative AI platform in January 2026, posting a 19.21% month-over-month increase in total visits. The surge pushed Gemini past a significant milestone, surpassing 2 billion visits for the first time with 2.068 billion total visits for the month.
The growth represents a dramatic acceleration for Google’s AI offering, which recorded a staggering 672.26% year-over-year increase compared to January 2025. This expansion significantly outpaced all major competitors in the generative AI space, including market leader ChatGPT, which grew 3.73% month-over-month during the same period.
ChatGPT maintained its dominant position with 5.723 billion visits in January, marking its fourth-highest month on record and a rebound after two consecutive months of decline. The OpenAI platform posted 48.67% year-over-year growth, the highest among the world’s top ten websites, demonstrating the continued mainstream adoption of AI tools.
The competitive landscape among AI platforms showed stark contrasts in January’s performance. While Gemini and ChatGPT posted strong gains, other major players struggled. Grok.com recorded 15.81% growth, and Claude.ai saw a 17.51% increase. However, Perplexity.ai and DeepSeek.com both experienced declines, falling 5.31% and 9.29% respectively.
Google’s aggressive integration of Gemini across its product ecosystem appears to be paying dividends. The company has embedded its AI capabilities into search, workspace applications, and Android devices, providing multiple touchpoints for users to engage with the technology. This multi-platform strategy contrasts with standalone AI chatbots and may explain Gemini’s accelerated growth trajectory. Also, Gemini has stood out from the competition with its image making capabilities, which have won it lots of casual users.
The January data suggests the AI platform market is entering a consolidation phase, with the largest players capturing an increasing share of user attention. ChatGPT’s 5.7 billion visits and Gemini’s 2 billion visits dwarf the competition, creating a potential two-horse race at the top of the market. The data underscores how quickly the generative AI landscape continues to evolve, with user preferences and platform capabilities shifting on a monthly basis. As these tools become increasingly embedded in daily workflows, the competition for users’ attention and loyalty intensifies among tech giants racing to define the future of AI interaction.