ChatGPT remains the most popular chatbot globally but Gemini is catching up fast

OpenAI's ChatGPT has long enjoyed its status as the leading chatbot in the AI market, but a surge of competition is emerging. Rivals from both the United States, like Google’s Gemini and xAI's Grok, and China, including Qwen and DeepSeek, are starting to close the gap. Recent data from SimilarWeb reveals that ChatGPT remains the most widely used chatbot, despite a notable decline in its market share over the past year. Specifically, it has experienced a decrease of 13 percentage points, indicating that competitors are increasingly eroding OpenAI's once-commanding lead. In the latest rankings, Google’s Gemini has seized the second position, buoyed by its recent viral success with the Nano Banana model. This rise has allowed Gemini to capture a significant portion of the market in recent months. Additionally, Perplexity AI, led by Aravind Srinivas, has made impressive strides, increasing its market share from 1.7% last year to 2.4% this year. Conversely, DeepSeek, which once held a peak market share of 6.8% about six months ago, has faced a downturn and currently sits at 3.7%. Despite starting the year strong, DeepSeek has struggled to maintain its momentum amid fierce competition and has not launched any major models since its early successes. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s Grok AI has also witnessed a decline. After peaking at 3.1% six months ago, its market share has slipped to 2.0%, falling behind Perplexity in the rankings. In contrast, Microsoft’s Copilot has remained stable with a slight increase from 1.1% to 1.2%, while Anthropic's Claude has seen a small rise from 1.7% to 2.0%. As of October 19th, ChatGPT holds a commanding 74.1% of the market, followed by Gemini at 12.9%, DeepSeek at 3.7%, Perplexity at 2.4%, Claude at 2.0%, and Copilot at 1.2%. The competitive landscape in the AI chatbot sector continues to evolve, reflecting a dynamic shift in user preferences and technological advancements.