Google Gemini is making gradual inroads into the generative AI market share that ChatGPT had captured since its launch in late 2022.
According to the latest traffic data from SimilarWeb, Gemini has doubled its share of generative AI traffic over the past year, climbing from 6.4% twelve months ago to 12.9% today. This represents the most significant growth trajectory among major AI platforms, even as ChatGPT continues its slow but steady decline from market dominance.
ChatGPT, which held 87.1% of generative AI traffic a year ago, has seen its share erode to 74.1% in the most recent data. While OpenAI’s flagship product remains the clear market leader, it has lost nearly 13 percentage points over the past twelve months, with the steepest declines occurring in recent months as competition intensifies.
Gemini’s momentum appears to be accelerating. The platform gained 2.1 percentage points in just the past month alone, jumping from 10.8% to 12.9%. Industry observers attribute some of this recent surge to viral product launches, including the Nano Banana image editing model, which captured widespread attention on social media and demonstrated Google’s ability to create culturally resonant AI features that drive user engagement. The launch of Nano Banana had also coincided with Gemini displacing ChatGPT as the top free app on the iOS store.
Beyond Gemini and ChatGPT, the generative AI landscape is becoming increasingly fragmented. Perplexity has crossed the 2.0% threshold for the first time, reaching 2.4% in the latest data and establishing itself as a viable alternative for AI-powered search. Claude, Anthropic’s conversational AI assistant, has also shown steady growth, moving from 1.7% a year ago to 2.0% today.
DeepSeek emerged as a notable player six months ago with a 6.8% share but has since declined to 3.7%, suggesting the competitive dynamics in the space remain volatile. Similarly, Grok peaked at 3.1% six months ago before falling to 2.0% in the most recent period.
Microsoft’s Copilot has remained relatively stagnant at around 1.2% throughout the year, raising questions about the software giant’s ability to convert its substantial investments in OpenAI technology into market share gains.
The data suggests the generative AI market is entering a new phase of maturation, where ChatGPT’s first-mover advantage is being gradually chipped away by well-resourced competitors with differentiated product strategies. Google’s integration of Gemini across its ecosystem of products, combined with attention-grabbing features like viral image editing tools, appears to be the most effective strategy for capturing share in this evolving landscape.
As the technology becomes more commoditized and user preferences diversify, the question for industry leaders is no longer whether ChatGPT can maintain its dominance, but how quickly the market will fragment among multiple strong competitors—and whether Google’s slow but steady approach will ultimately prove more sustainable than the rapid rise and fall patterns exhibited by newer entrants like DeepSeek and Grok.