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AI Search Adoption Statistics

How people adopt AI chatbots and how traditional search click behavior is changing. Numbers come from Pew Research Center surveys, SparkToro/Datos-style zero-click research as published by SparkToro, and Ahrefs studies of AI Overviews—each with a link to the original write-up.

Last updated: · 9 sourced statistics

Sourced statistics

34%

34% of U.S. adults say they have ever used ChatGPT, roughly double the 2023 share, according to Pew Research Center (June 25, 2025).

Source: Pew Research Center

Data as of:

23%

23% of U.S. adults said they had ever used ChatGPT as of February 2024, according to Pew Research Center (March 26, 2024).

Source: Pew Research Center

Data as of:

Note: As of February 2024 wave; superseded as a “current” figure by later Pew releases.

<1/3

Less than one third (<1/3) of Google searches in the U.S. still send a click to the open web as of SparkToro’s June 2026 analysis “In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click.”

Source: SparkToro

Data as of:

Note: U.S. Google search click behavior; see SparkToro for methodology partners and definitions.

60.45%

In 2024, U.S. zero-click searches on Google stood at 60.45%, according to SparkToro’s June 2026 recap comparing prior years’ zero-click rates.

Source: SparkToro

Data as of:

Note: Historical 2024 rate as cited in SparkToro’s 2026 article.

58%

The presence of a Google AI Overview correlates with about a 58% lower average clickthrough rate for the top-ranking page as of December 2025 data, according to Ahrefs’ February 4, 2026 update study.

Source: Ahrefs

Data as of:

Note: 300,000 keywords; GSC-aggregated desktop CTR comparison (Dec 2023 vs Dec 2025).

34.5%

An earlier Ahrefs study found AI Overviews reduced clicks to top-ranking content by 34.5% (April 2025 analysis), as referenced in Ahrefs’ February 2026 update.

Source: Ahrefs

Data as of:

Note: Prior estimate; the Dec 2025 re-run published in 2026 finds a larger ~58% impact.

−50.8%

For position-2 organic results, Ahrefs estimated a 50.8% CTR impact when AI Overviews are present (December 2025 data), according to the same February 2026 Ahrefs update.

Source: Ahrefs

Data as of:

63%

63% of websites in Ahrefs’ sample of about 3,000 sites received some AI chatbot referral traffic, according to Ahrefs’ February 6, 2025 study.

Source: Ahrefs

Data as of:

Note: Share of sites receiving any AI traffic in the sample, not share of sessions.

0.28%

All AI chatbots combined sent about 0.28% of total web traffic across 74,752 tracked websites in March 2026, while Google sent a 28.12% share, according to Ahrefs’ May 15, 2026 AI chatbot traffic article citing chatgpt-vs-google.com.

Source: Ahrefs

Data as of:

Note: Panel of tracked domains; not a census of the entire web.

Full source list

Deduplicated publishers used on this page, alphabetized.

Changelog: Updated 2026-07-18: initial publication of 9 sourced AI search adoption and zero-click statistics.

Related statistics

← All AI search statistics · Related terms: AI Search, Zero-Click Search

AI Search Adoption FAQ

  • Pew Research Center reported that 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT as of its mid-2025 short read (about double 2023). Earlier Pew waves reported lower ever-use shares—compare dates carefully.