Search Engine Statistics 2026
This page collects figures on search engines for 2025 and 2026: market share by region and device, query volumes and search revenue reported in Alphabet and Microsoft filings, zero-click rates, the effect of Google's AI Overviews on clicks, adoption of AI chatbots for finding information, referral traffic from AI tools, and how people search for local businesses. Market share and most behavior figures are worldwide or US; EU, UK and China figures are labeled. A 2024 forecast from Gartner and 2024 zero-click data from SparkToro are included as reference points and marked with their year.
By the KeenVerdict research desk · Updated November 6, 2026 · 54 figures from 30 sources
The short answer
Google handled 91.05% of worldwide search engine traffic in October 2026 and Bing 4.8% (StatCounter), and Google says it sees more than 5 trillion searches a year. Clicks are thinning: SparkToro found 68.01% of US Google searches ended without a click in early 2026, and Pew measured an 8% click rate on result links when an AI summary appeared versus 15% without one. AI chatbots are growing alongside search rather than replacing it: 44% of US adults use ChatGPT (Pew), yet Alphabet reported its fastest Search query growth in five years.
Key figures
- 91.05%Google accounted for 91.05% of worldwide search engine market share in October 2026, measured by search referrals to websites.StatCounter
- $6.8 billionGoogle Search and other revenues rose by $6.8 billion in the third quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier, which Alphabet attributed partly to more search queries.Alphabet
- 68.01%68.01% of US Google searches ended without a click in January to April 2026, according to SparkToro's analysis of Similarweb panel data.SparkToro
- 8%US Google users clicked a traditional result link in 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, compared with 15% of visits without one, in Pew's March 2025 browsing data.Pew Research Center
- 58%Ahrefs estimates that an AI Overview lowers the click-through rate of the top-ranking page by 58%, based on December 2025 data for 300,000 keywords.Ahrefs
- 44%44% of US adults said in February 2026 that they use ChatGPT, up from 34% a year earlier.Pew Research Center
- 0.17%On average, 0.17% of a website's visitors came from AI chatbots in Ahrefs' study of 3,000 sites published in 2025.Ahrefs
- 45%45% of US consumers in BrightLocal's 2025 survey said Google is their default platform for local business searches.BrightLocal
Our reading of the data
Google's lead in search is as large as ever on the numbers StatCounter publishes. It held 91.05% of worldwide search engine page views in October 2026, 96.35% on mobile and 77.93% on desktop, where Bing reaches 15.03%. The US is the most competitive large market, with Bing at 9.78%, while China is the clearest exception, led by Baidu at 49%. Alphabet's filings point the same way: Google Search and other revenues grew 12% in the third quarter of 2026, and the company said query growth was the highest in five years. Gartner's 2024 forecast that traditional search volume would fall 25% by 2026 has not shown up in Google's reported figures.
What has changed is how many searches send anyone to a website. SparkToro, using Similarweb's US clickstream panel, found 68.01% of Google searches ended without a click in the first four months of 2026, up from 60.45% in 2024. AI Overviews are a large part of the explanation. Ahrefs estimates they cut the click-through rate of the top-ranked page by 58%, Pew observed users clicking a result link in 8% of visits with an AI summary against 15% without, and Seer Interactive saw organic click-through on uncited brands fall 67% over 2025. Seer also recorded a partial rebound in early 2026, so the size of the effect is still moving.
AI chatbots are now a mainstream way to look things up, but they add to search more than they replace it. Pew found 44% of US adults use ChatGPT and about four in ten use chatbots to search for information, OpenAI reports more than 900 million weekly ChatGPT users, and the OpenAI and NBER study found Seeking Information grew to 24% of ChatGPT use. StatCounter's AI chatbot share data shows ChatGPT at 51.58%, with Google Gemini at 28.86%, close to Similarweb's estimate of about 53% for ChatGPT's share of generative AI web visits.
For website owners, AI referrals are still small next to search. Ahrefs found the average site gets 0.17% of its visitors from AI chatbots, although Adobe reports AI visitors to US retail sites converted 90% better than other traffic in September 2026. Local search still starts with Google for most people: in BrightLocal's 2025 survey, 45% default to Google for local searches and 20% go straight to a maps app, while Seer found AI Overviews on 76.9% of informational "near me" queries it tracked.
Search engine market share by region and device
- 1.
Google accounted for 91.05% of worldwide search engine market share in October 2026, measured by search referrals to websites.
StatCounter, Search Engine Market Share Worldwide (Nov 2026)
Source quote
Search Engine Market Share Worldwide - October 2026 Google 91.05 % bing 4.8 % Yahoo! 1.18 % YANDEX 1.14 % DuckDuckGo 0.64 % Baidu 0.42 %
- 2.
In the United States, Google held 85.45% of search engine share in October 2026, lower than its worldwide figure.
StatCounter, Search Engine Market Share United States Of America (Nov 2026)
Source quote
Search Engine Market Share in United States Of America - October 2026 Google 85.45 % bing 9.78 %
- 3.
On mobile devices worldwide, Google's search engine share was 96.35% in October 2026.
StatCounter, Mobile Search Engine Market Share Worldwide (Nov 2026)
Source quote
Mobile Search Engine Market Share Worldwide - October 2026 Google 96.35 %
- 4.
On desktop worldwide, Google's share was 77.93% in October 2026 and Bing's was 15.03%.
StatCounter, Desktop Search Engine Market Share Worldwide (Nov 2026)
Source quote
Desktop Search Engine Market Share Worldwide - October 2026 Google 77.93 % bing 15.03 %
- 5.
Google held 88.77% of search engine share across Europe in October 2026, with Bing at 5.58% and Yandex at 2.5%.
StatCounter, Search Engine Market Share Europe (Nov 2026)
Source quote
Search Engine Market Share in Europe - October 2026 Google 88.77 % bing 5.58 % YANDEX 2.5 %
- 6.
In China, Baidu led with 49% of search engine share in October 2026, and Google had 6.83%.
StatCounter, Search Engine Market Share China (Nov 2026)
Source quote
Search Engine Market Share in China - October 2026 Baidu 49 % bing 21.69 % YANDEX 11.77 % Haosou 8.67 % Google 6.83 %
- 7.
61% of US consumers surveyed by BrightLocal in 2025 said Google is their default for general search queries.
BrightLocal, Consumer Search Behavior (Apr 2025)
Source quote
61% of consumers said they default to Google for general search queries.
- 8.
5% of consumers in BrightLocal's 2025 survey named ChatGPT as their default for general searches.
BrightLocal, Consumer Search Behavior (Apr 2025)
Source quote
Meanwhile, 5% said they default to ChatGPT for general searches.
Chart
Search engine market share worldwide, October 2026
Share of search engine referrals to websites tracked by StatCounter, all devices, worldwide, October 2026.
- Google91%
- Bing4.8%
- Yahoo1.18%
- Yandex1.14%
- DuckDuckGo0.64%
- Baidu0.42%
Source: StatCounter, Search Engine Market Share Worldwide
Query volumes and search revenue
- 9.
Google said in 2025 that it sees more than 5 trillion searches a year.
Google, AI, personalization and the future of shopping (Mar 2025)
Source quote
We already see more than 5 trillion searches on Google annually,
- 10.
Alphabet's Google Search and other revenues grew 12% year over year in the third quarter of 2026, and the company said Search query growth was the highest in five years.
Alphabet, Alphabet Announces Third Quarter 2026 Results (Exhibit 99.1) (Oct 2026)
Source quote
Google Services revenues increased 11% to $96.3 billion, led by 12% growth in Google Search & other with the year-over-year Search query growth rate the highest it has been in the last five years.
- 11.
Google Search and other revenues rose by $6.8 billion in the third quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier, which Alphabet attributed partly to more search queries.
Alphabet, Alphabet Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Oct 2026)
Source quote
Google Search & other revenues increased $6.8 billion and $25.6 billion from the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026. The overall growth was driven by interrelated factors including increases in search queries resulting from growth in user adoption and usage on mobile devices; growth in advertiser spending; and improvements we have made in ad formats and delivery.
- 12.
Google reported in May 2026 that AI Mode in Search had passed one billion monthly users a year after launch, with queries more than doubling every quarter.
Google, Search at I/O 2026 (May 2026)
Source quote
Just one year after its debut, AI Mode has surpassed one billion monthly users, with queries more than doubling every quarter since launch.
- 13.
Queries in Google's AI Mode were on average three times longer than traditional searches in the third quarter of 2026, and one in five used voice, images or documents.
Alphabet, Q3 2026 earnings call: Remarks from our CEO (Oct 2026)
Source quote
Queries in AI Mode are on average three times longer than traditional searches, and one in five AI Mode searches globally use voice, images, or documents.
- 14.
Google handled more than 50 billion visual searches a month as of the third quarter of 2026.
Alphabet, Q3 2026 earnings call: Remarks from our CEO (Oct 2026)
Source quote
We've now crossed over 50 billion visual searches per month.
- 15.
Microsoft's search and advertising revenue rose $612 million, or 10%, in the quarter to September 2026.
Microsoft, Microsoft Corporation Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Oct 2026)
Source quote
Search and advertising revenue increased $612 million or 10%.
- 16.
Excluding traffic acquisition costs, Microsoft's search and advertising revenue grew 12% in the quarter to September 2026, driven by LinkedIn, Edge and Bing.
Microsoft, Microsoft Corporation Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Oct 2026)
Source quote
Search and advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 12% driven by higher rate and volume across LinkedIn, Edge, and Bing.
- 17.
In 2024, Gartner predicted that traditional search engine volume would drop 25% by 2026 as people moved to AI chatbots and virtual agents.
Gartner, Gartner Predicts Search Engine Volume Will Drop 25% by 2026, Due to AI Chatbots and Other Virtual Agents (Feb 2024)
Source quote
By 2026, traditional search engine volume will drop 25%, with search marketing losing market share to AI chatbots and other virtual agents, according to Gartner, Inc.
Zero-click searches
- 18.
68.01% of US Google searches ended without a click in January to April 2026, according to SparkToro's analysis of Similarweb panel data.
SparkToro, In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click (Jun 2026)
Source quote
In the first four months of 2026, a whopping 68.01% of Google searches ended without a click .
- 19.
The US zero-click rate on Google was 60.45% in 2024 on SparkToro's comparable measure, so the rate rose about 7.5 points in two years.
SparkToro, In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click (Jun 2026)
Source quote
In 2024, US zero click searches on Google stood at 60.45%.
- 20.
Only 0.34% of US Google searches led to AI Mode between January and April 2026.
SparkToro, In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click (Jun 2026)
Source quote
Only 0.34% of searches made their way to AI Mode from January–April 2026.
- 21.
In 2024, 59.7% of Google searches in the EU and 58.5% in the US ended with zero clicks.
SparkToro, 2024 Zero-Click Search Study: For every 1,000 EU Google Searches, only 374 clicks go to the Open Web (Jul 2024)
Source quote
In 2024, 59.7% of European Union Google searches and 58.5% of American Google searches resulted in zero clicks.
- 22.
About 80% of US consumers in Bain's December 2024 survey relied on zero-click results in at least 40% of their searches, which Bain estimates cuts organic web traffic by 15% to 25%.
Bain & Company, Goodbye Clicks, Hello AI: Zero-Click Search Redefines Marketing (Feb 2025)
Source quote
Bain's recent survey finds that about 80% of consumers now rely on "zero-click" results in at least 40% of their searches, reducing organic web traffic by an estimated 15% to 25% (see Figure 1).
- 23.
Bain's research found about 60% of searches on traditional search engines end without the user going on to another website.
Bain & Company, Goodbye Clicks, Hello AI: Zero-Click Search Redefines Marketing (Feb 2025)
Source quote
On traditional search engines, the zero-click trend is accelerating across demographics, with our research showing that about 60% of searches now end without the user progressing to another destination site.
- 24.
Across sites in Ahrefs' 2025 study, average search traffic fell about 21% over a year while AI traffic grew roughly tenfold.
Ahrefs, AI Traffic Has Increased 9.7x in the Past Year (Jun 2025)
Source quote
Over the past year, the average site's search traffic has dropped by about 21%, while its AI traffic has grown roughly 10 times.
AI Overviews and click-through rates
- 25.
US Google users clicked a traditional result link in 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, compared with 15% of visits without one, in Pew's March 2025 browsing data.
Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results (Jul 2025)
Source quote
Users who encountered an AI summary clicked on a traditional search result link in 8% of all visits. Those who did not encounter an AI summary clicked on a search result nearly twice as often (15% of visits).
- 26.
Users clicked a link inside Google's AI summary in just 1% of visits to results pages that showed one.
Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results (Jul 2025)
Source quote
Google users who encountered an AI summary also rarely clicked on a link in the summary itself. This occurred in just 1% of all visits to pages with such a summary.
- 27.
Users ended their browsing session after 26% of Google results pages with an AI summary, compared with 16% of pages with only traditional results.
Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results (Jul 2025)
Source quote
Google users are more likely to end their browsing session entirely after visiting a search page with an AI summary than on pages without a summary. This happened on 26% of pages with an AI summary, compared with 16% of pages with only traditional search results.
- 28.
18% of the Google searches in Pew's March 2025 US panel produced an AI summary.
Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results (Jul 2025)
Source quote
Some 18% of all the Google searches in our study generated an AI summary as part of the search results.
- 29.
Ahrefs estimates that an AI Overview lowers the click-through rate of the top-ranking page by 58%, based on December 2025 data for 300,000 keywords.
Ahrefs, Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58% (Feb 2026)
Source quote
We found that the presence of an AI Overview now correlates with a 58% lower average clickthrough rate for the top-ranking page.
- 30.
Organic click-through on queries showing an AI Overview climbed from 1.3% in December 2025 to 2.4% in February 2026 across 53 brands tracked by Seer Interactive.
Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update (Mar 2026)
Source quote
Organic CTR on AIO-present queries climbed from a floor of 1.3% in December 2025 to 2.4% in February 2026.
- 31.
When an AI Overview appeared and the brand was not cited, organic click-through fell 67% over 2025 in Seer Interactive's data.
Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update (Mar 2026)
Source quote
Organic searches that surfaced an AIO and the brand was not cited, CTRs declined by 67% over 2025 across 311M organic impressions.
- 32.
Brands cited inside an AI Overview earned 120% more organic clicks per impression than when they were not cited.
Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update (Mar 2026)
Source quote
Being cited in the AIO delivers +120% more organic clicks per impression versus when you are not cited.
- 33.
Six in ten US adults said in February 2026 that they read the AI summaries at the top of search engine results.
Pew Research Center, Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact (Jun 2026)
Source quote
Our survey shows that six-in-ten U.S. adults say they read AI search engine summaries.
Chart
Change in click-through rate when an AI Overview appears, by ranking position
Estimated click-through impact by organic position, 300,000 keywords, December 2025 versus December 2023.
- 1-58%
- 2-50.8%
- 3-46.4%
- 4-38.8%
- 5-32.6%
- 6-30.5%
- 7-29.7%
- 8-28.8%
- 9-29.7%
- 10-19.4%
Source: Ahrefs, Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58%
AI chatbots as a search tool
- 34.
44% of US adults said in February 2026 that they use ChatGPT, up from 34% a year earlier.
Pew Research Center, Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact (Jun 2026)
Source quote
A little under half of U.S. adults (44%) now report using the chatbot, up from 34% last year.
- 35.
About four in ten US adults said in 2026 that they use AI chatbots to search for information, the most common use Pew measured.
Pew Research Center, Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact (Jun 2026)
Source quote
Searching for information and work-related tasks are the most common uses: About four-in-ten U.S. adults say they use chatbots for information searching.
- 36.
ChatGPT had more than 900 million weekly active users in early 2026, according to OpenAI.
OpenAI, Scaling AI for everyone (Feb 2026)
Source quote
ChatGPT is where people start with AI, with more than 900M weekly active users, and we now have more than 50 million consumer subscribers.
- 37.
Seeking Information grew from 14% to 24% of ChatGPT conversations between July 2024 and mid-2025, in a study of message data by OpenAI and academic economists.
National Bureau of Economic Research, How People Use ChatGPT (Working Paper 34255) (Sep 2025)
Source quote
Seeking Information has grown from 14% to 24% of all usage over the same period.
- 38.
ChatGPT accounted for 51.58% of worldwide AI chatbot traffic share in October 2026, with Google Gemini at 28.86% and Perplexity at 15.04%.
StatCounter, AI Chatbot Market Share Worldwide (Nov 2026)
Source quote
AI Chatbot Market Share Worldwide - October 2026 ChatGPT 51.58 % Google Gemini 28.86 % Perplexity 15.04 %
- 39.
ChatGPT's share of worldwide generative AI website visits fell from about 76% in June 2025 to roughly 53% in May 2026, according to Similarweb.
Similarweb, AI Search Stats 2026: Market Share, Referral, and Citation Data (Jun 2026)
Source quote
According to Similarweb's worldwide traffic panel, ChatGPT's share of generative AI website visits fell from about 76% in June 2025 to roughly 53% by May 2026, a drop of more than 20 percentage points in twelve months.
- 40.
Generative AI platforms averaged 9.5 billion monthly web visits worldwide between June 2025 and May 2026, up 70% year over year.
Similarweb, AI Search Stats 2026: Market Share, Referral, and Citation Data (Jun 2026)
Source quote
Average monthly web visits across generative AI platforms worldwide grew 70% year-over-year, reaching 9.5 billion between June 2025 and May 2026, while unique visitors grew more slowly, by 57%, to 655 million, according to Similarweb data.
- 41.
The share of US ChatGPT prompts whose answers included citations rose from about 1.6% in June 2025 to roughly 6.8% in May 2026.
Similarweb, AI Search Stats 2026: Market Share, Referral, and Citation Data (Jun 2026)
Source quote
Similarweb data shows the presence of citations in US ChatGPT prompts rising from about 1.6% in June 2025 to roughly 6.8% by May 2026, more than quadrupling over 11 months.
- 42.
10% of people across 48 markets used AI chatbots for news each week in 2026, up from 7% in 2025.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Digital News Report 2026: Executive summary (Jun 2026)
Source quote
The use of AI chatbots for news is growing quickly but not as quickly as AI use for other purposes: 10% of people use AI chatbots for news, up from 7% last year.
- 43.
40% of US consumers in BrightLocal's 2025 survey said they actively use generative AI when searching online.
BrightLocal, Consumer Search Behavior (Apr 2025)
Source quote
40% of consumers said they do actively use generative AI when searching online, which tells us that they are aware of and using search features like AI Overviews, Copilot, and Meta AI.
Chart
AI chatbot market share worldwide, October 2026
Share of referral traffic from AI chatbots to websites tracked by StatCounter, worldwide, October 2026.
- ChatGPT51.6%
- Google Gemini28.9%
- Perplexity15%
- Claude2.3%
- Microsoft Copilot2.18%
Source: StatCounter, AI Chatbot Market Share Worldwide
Traffic from AI search to websites
- 44.
On average, 0.17% of a website's visitors came from AI chatbots in Ahrefs' study of 3,000 sites published in 2025.
Ahrefs, 63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000 Sites) (Feb 2025)
Source quote
As a percentage of average monthly traffic, 0.12% of a site's views, and 0.17% of its visitors come from AI.
- 45.
63% of the 3,000 websites in Ahrefs' study had at least one visitor arrive from an AI chatbot.
Ahrefs, 63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000 Sites) (Feb 2025)
Source quote
Looking at it another way, 63% of the sites in our study had at least one visitor arrive via an AI chatbot.
- 46.
Traffic from AI tools to US retail sites grew 71% year over year in September 2026, according to Adobe Analytics.
Adobe, AI Traffic Drives 83% Higher Revenue Per Visit (Oct 2026)
Source quote
In September 2026, AI traffic to U.S. retail sites (measured by users clicking on a link) grew 71% year-over-year (YoY).
- 47.
Visitors arriving from AI tools converted 90% better than other traffic on US retail sites in September 2026, the highest level Adobe has recorded.
Adobe, AI Traffic Drives 83% Higher Revenue Per Visit (Oct 2026)
Source quote
In September, AI traffic converted 90% better (visits that become purchases) than non-AI traffic, the highest level Adobe has observed to date.
- 48.
AI-referred visits generated 83% more revenue per visit than other traffic on US retail sites in September 2026.
Adobe, AI Traffic Drives 83% Higher Revenue Per Visit (Oct 2026)
Source quote
In September, AI traffic generated 83% higher revenue per visit than non-AI traffic, the largest gap observed this year.
- 49.
Google was still the largest referrer of traffic to the sites in Ahrefs' mid-2025 study, sending 39.35% of all referral visits, down 1.79 points from its previous study.
Ahrefs, AI Traffic Has Increased 9.7x in the Past Year (Jun 2025)
Source quote
Google is still the top referral source for all sites in our study, accounting for 39.35% of all referral traffic–though this is down slightly from our last study (-1.79 percentage points).
- 50.
Search engine crawlers made up 40% of verified bot traffic on Cloudflare's network in 2025, twice the 20% generated by AI crawlers.
Cloudflare, Cloudflare Radar 2025 Year in Review (Dec 2025)
Source quote
Search engine crawlers were responsible for 40% of Verified Bot traffic, with AI crawlers generating half as much (20%).
Local search behavior
- 51.
45% of US consumers in BrightLocal's 2025 survey said Google is their default platform for local business searches.
BrightLocal, Consumer Search Behavior (Apr 2025)
Source quote
However, Google remains the clear frontrunner by far, with 45% of consumers saying they default to the platform for local searches.
- 52.
Google Maps, Apple Maps and Bing Maps together were the default local search platform for 20% of US consumers in 2025.
BrightLocal, Consumer Search Behavior (Apr 2025)
Source quote
Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Bing Maps combined make up 20% of default local search platforms.
- 53.
67% of US consumers said they often or always look at business reviews after a local business search in 2025.
BrightLocal, Consumer Search Behavior (Apr 2025)
Source quote
Find out how it builds trust here Next Steps and Decision-making 67% of consumers told us that they 'often' or 'always' go on to look at business reviews after conducting a local business search.
- 54.
Informational queries containing "near me" showed an AI Overview 76.9% of the time in Seer Interactive's 2025 to 2026 query set.
Seer Interactive, AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update (Mar 2026)
Source quote
The unexpected: Informational queries containing "near me" showed AIOs 76.9% of the time .
Questions readers ask
- What is Google's search engine market share in 2026?
- StatCounter puts Google at 91.05% of worldwide search engine share in October 2026, with Bing at 4.8%. Google's share is 96.35% on mobile, 77.93% on desktop and 85.45% in the US, where Bing reaches 9.78%.
- What percentage of Google searches end without a click?
- SparkToro found 68.01% of US Google searches ended without a click in January to April 2026, up from 60.45% in 2024. Bain's survey-based estimate is that about 60% of searches on traditional engines end without a visit to another site.
- How much do AI Overviews reduce clicks?
- Ahrefs estimates a 58% lower click-through rate for the top result when an AI Overview appears. Pew saw users click a result link in 8% of visits with an AI summary against 15% without one. Seer Interactive found brands cited in the overview earn 120% more clicks per impression than uncited ones.
- Are AI chatbots replacing search engines?
- Not on current figures. Alphabet said Search query growth in the third quarter of 2026 was the highest in five years, and Google Search revenue grew 12%. At the same time, 44% of US adults use ChatGPT (Pew) and OpenAI reports more than 900 million weekly users, so people are using both.
- How much website traffic comes from AI search?
- Still a small share. Ahrefs found AI chatbots send 0.17% of the average site's visitors, although 63% of sites get at least some. Adobe reports AI traffic to US retail sites grew 71% year over year in September 2026 and converted 90% better than other traffic.
How these figures were chosen
We chose figures from the organizations that produced the data: StatCounter's web analytics network, Alphabet and Microsoft quarterly filings filed with the SEC, Google and OpenAI product announcements, Pew Research Center surveys and browsing panels, the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report, Gartner, Bain, and published studies by SparkToro, Ahrefs, Seer Interactive, Similarweb, BrightLocal, Adobe and Cloudflare that describe their own data and method. Each figure was checked against the source page on the date shown. The sources measure different things: StatCounter counts referrals to websites rather than queries, SparkToro and Similarweb rely on clickstream panels, Ahrefs and Seer use keyword and client data, and Pew, BrightLocal and Bain use surveys. Company figures from Google, Alphabet, Microsoft and OpenAI are self-reported. StatCounter figures update monthly. We could not use Ofcom's Online Nation report because its website blocked our automated source checks. Every quote was copied from the publisher's page and re-checked by our source checker. Read the methodology.
Sources
- Adobe. AI Traffic Drives 83% Higher Revenue Per Visit (Oct 2026).
- Ahrefs. AI Traffic Has Increased 9.7x in the Past Year (Jun 2025).
- Ahrefs. Update: AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 58% (Feb 2026).
- Ahrefs. 63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000 Sites) (Feb 2025).
- Alphabet. Alphabet Announces Third Quarter 2026 Results (Exhibit 99.1) (Oct 2026).
- Alphabet. Alphabet Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Oct 2026).
- Alphabet. Q3 2026 earnings call: Remarks from our CEO (Oct 2026).
- Bain & Company. Goodbye Clicks, Hello AI: Zero-Click Search Redefines Marketing (Feb 2025).
- BrightLocal. Consumer Search Behavior (Apr 2025).
- Cloudflare. Cloudflare Radar 2025 Year in Review (Dec 2025).
- Gartner. Gartner Predicts Search Engine Volume Will Drop 25% by 2026, Due to AI Chatbots and Other Virtual Agents (Feb 2024).
- Google. AI, personalization and the future of shopping (Mar 2025).
- Google. Search at I/O 2026 (May 2026).
- Microsoft. Microsoft Corporation Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 (Oct 2026).
- National Bureau of Economic Research. How People Use ChatGPT (Working Paper 34255) (Sep 2025).
- OpenAI. Scaling AI for everyone (Feb 2026).
- Pew Research Center. Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results (Jul 2025).
- Pew Research Center. Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact (Jun 2026).
- Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Digital News Report 2026: Executive summary (Jun 2026).
- Seer Interactive. AIO Impact on Google CTR: 2026 Update (Mar 2026).
- Similarweb. AI Search Stats 2026: Market Share, Referral, and Citation Data (Jun 2026).
- SparkToro. In 2026, Less than One Third of Google Searches Still Send a Click (Jun 2026).
- SparkToro. 2024 Zero-Click Search Study: For every 1,000 EU Google Searches, only 374 clicks go to the Open Web (Jul 2024).
- StatCounter. Search Engine Market Share Worldwide (Nov 2026).
- StatCounter. Search Engine Market Share United States Of America (Nov 2026).
- StatCounter. Mobile Search Engine Market Share Worldwide (Nov 2026).
- StatCounter. Desktop Search Engine Market Share Worldwide (Nov 2026).
- StatCounter. Search Engine Market Share Europe (Nov 2026).
- StatCounter. Search Engine Market Share China (Nov 2026).
- StatCounter. AI Chatbot Market Share Worldwide (Nov 2026).
How to cite
Link to this page or to a single figure. Name the original publisher where you can.
KeenVerdict. (2026, November 6). Search Engine Statistics 2026. https://keenverdict.com/search-engine-statistics
Questions or corrections: editorial@keenverdict.com. Next scheduled review: January 5, 2027.