OpenAI's ChatGPT Faces Stiffening Competition
OpenAI's flagship generative AI product, ChatGPT, is exhibiting signs of slowing momentum. Average daily visits have fallen sharply over the past six weeks, indicating a potential shift in user engagement and market leadership.
AI Market Share Shifts
Similarweb traffic data indicates a substantial change in the generative AI market. ChatGPT's global market share dipped to approximately 64.5% as of January 2, 2026. This is a notable decrease from 68% in December 2025 and a sharp decline from its 86% share in January 2025. Google's Gemini has capitalized on this shift, expanding its footprint from 5.7% a year prior to about 21.5% in early January 2026.
Engagement Metrics Diverge
While ChatGPT continues to lead in overall traffic, user behavior suggests a competitive advantage for Gemini. The average session duration on Gemini stands at 7 minutes and 20 seconds, surpassing ChatGPT's 6 minutes and 32 seconds. Gemini also sees higher page views per visit, averaging 4.3 pages compared to ChatGPT's 3.8. These engagement figures suggest Gemini may be capturing more committed users.
Competitive Landscape Evolves
Other AI platforms are also carving out niches. Grok has surpassed 3% market share, approaching DeepSeek's 3.7%. Perplexity and Claude remain stable around 2%, while Microsoft's Copilot holds a smaller share at approximately 1.1%, showing minimal change over the past year. The data indicates Gemini is emerging as a significant challenger to ChatGPT's earlier dominance.