ChatGPT is the most searched AI tool by far, but number two is surprising

Just last month, a study showed that — no surprise — ChatGPT is the most popular AI tool, at least in terms of app downloads. What was surprising about that research was that some other giant names in the AI business were absent, including Google’s Gemini.

Now, a new study from creative subscription service Superside has also dived into this topic. However, instead of focusing on app downloads, the study considers the number of searches people make for a particular AI. This research provides a strong sense of the AIs people might be interested in, but are not necessarily using. 

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Even with this second study’s different measurement metrics, OpenAI’s ChatGPT is still the most popular AI by far — it receives nearly 25 million searches from US citizens each month. 

The runner-up is Google’s Gemini, with 1.5 million searches per month. That result means a huge gap of 23.5 million searches between ChatGPT and Gemini.

However, the large number of search results for Gemini might indicate its profile is increasing despite its struggles earlier this year, such as its image generator being shut down less than a month after launch because of how the model rendered people’s race and how it failed simple coding tasks. 

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One conclusion might be that the interest in Gemini is related to its inclusion in the highly touted, AI-centered Google Pixel 9 phone lineup. Yet the data for the study is current as of Aug. 8, about a month before those phones debuted. 

The interest in Gemini also preceded its rollout to all Android devices. Had this study been conducted a month or two later, Gemini would have almost certainly seen a higher number of searches.

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While people are starting to trust AI tools and incorporate them into their lives, the research suggests people have preferred models. Familiar names, such as Character.ai, Claude, and Suno, didn’t even make the top 15 of most-searched-for AIs.

The dropoff in total searches continued down Superside’s list, with third-place Microsoft’s Copilot seeing 368,000 searches per month. Perplexity and Brave Search finished out the top five. The other brands in the top 10 were Phind, Algolia, You, YouChat, and KOMO.