ChatGPT statistics (2026)

This page collects 102 ChatGPT statistics, each linked to the OpenAI announcement, survey, study or company dataset it comes from. It opens with Rank.ai's own data on how ChatGPT answers buyer questions, then covers users, messages, revenue, ads, demographics, use cases, search and shopping, business adoption and traffic. For the other assistants, see Claude statistics, Gemini statistics and Perplexity statistics, and for the wider picture, AI search statistics. To act on these numbers, read our guide to how to rank in ChatGPT.

Rank.ai data: how ChatGPT answers buyer questions

We collected 11,726 fresh answers from ChatGPT (openai/gpt-4o-mini), Claude (anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5) and Gemini (google/gemini-2.5-flash) with web search on, between May 7 and October 16, 2026. They answer 102 buyer questions tracked by 15 Rank.ai customer accounts, mostly in B2B software, fintech, SEO and marketing services, and local services. Each engine was queried through its API with Rank.ai's own web search tool, so these are the models behind the apps, and cached repeat answers are excluded. ChatGPT gave 3,930 of the answers.

• 39.0%of ChatGPT answers name at least one business, against 38.1% for Gemini and 36.6% for Claude.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers, May to October 20262026
• 61.0%of ChatGPT answers name no business at all. The median is zero: answers either name none or name a list.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers, May to October 20262026
• 21.7%of ChatGPT answers name five or more businesses.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers, May to October 20262026
• 2.03businesses named per ChatGPT answer on average, the fewest of the three engines (Gemini 2.53, Claude 2.47).Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers, May to October 20262026
• 6.4%of ChatGPT answers name the brand that tracks the question, against 11.0% for Gemini and 8.1% for Claude.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers, May to October 20262026
• 3.7%of ChatGPT answers cite that brand's own site, the lowest of the three (Gemini 7.5%, Claude 4.5%).Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers, May to October 20262026
• 96.3%of ChatGPT answers include at least one citation, the highest of the three, with 6.34 citations per answer on average.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers, May to October 20262026
• 2,448distinct domains cited by ChatGPT across 24,905 citations, against 2,577 for Claude and 1,230 for Gemini.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers, May to October 20262026
• 3.74%of ChatGPT's citations go to Reddit, its most-cited site. YouTube gets 2.05% and Wikipedia 0.27%.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers, May to October 20262026
• 100%of ChatGPT answers ran a web search, 8,711 searches in total. Its search queries average 6.5 words, from questions averaging 11.7 words.Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers, May to October 20262026
• 2,139characters is the average ChatGPT answer, the longest of the three (Claude 1,706, Gemini 1,666).Rank.ai analysis of 11,726 AI answers, May to October 20262026
• 7.7%of ChatGPT's local plumber picks had no matching Google Maps listing, the highest of four engines, and its picks had a median of 713 Google reviews. Sample: 60 answers with 460 picks across 4 engines and 5 cities.loc.ai local AI index, October 20262026

Weekly and monthly users

OpenAI reports weekly active users. Monthly figures come from Sensor Tower's app estimates. The newest figure is 1.2 billion weekly users.

• 1.2 billionpeople use ChatGPT each week, according to OpenAI's GPT-6 launch post.OpenAI, GPT-6 for everyone2026
• 1 billion+weekly active users across OpenAI's products, which also serve 2.5 million businesses.OpenAI, The work now within reach2026
• 1 billionmonthly active users on the ChatGPT app in May 2026, the fastest app to get there, about three years after launch (Sensor Tower estimate).Sensor Tower, State of AI 20262026
• 900 million+weekly active users in February 2026.OpenAI, Scaling AI for everyone2026
• 800 millionweekly active users at OpenAI DevDay in October 2025.TechCrunch2025
• 700 millionweekly active users in August 2025, up from 500 million in March 2025.CNBC2025
• 10%of the world's adult population used ChatGPT weekly by July 2025.OpenAI and NBER, How people use ChatGPT2025
• 400 millionweekly active users in February 2025, up 33% from 300 million in December 2024.CNBC2025
• 250 million+weekly users in October 2024.OpenAI, New funding to scale the benefits of AI2024
• 200 million+weekly active users in August 2024.Axios2024
• 100 millionweekly active users in November 2023, a year after launch.TechCrunch2023
• 5 daysto reach 1 million users, and 2 months to reach 100 million.OpenAI, New economic analysis2025

Messages and queries

OpenAI's own usage research counts messages sent on consumer plans.

• 50%more messages a day are sent by users six months after signing up, and they have tried twice as many kinds of task.OpenAI, How ChatGPT adoption has expanded2026
• 3 billion+messages a day in August 2025.CNBC2025
• 18 billionmessages a week were sent by 700 million users as of July 2025.OpenAI and NBER, How people use ChatGPT2025
• 2.5 billion+messages a day in July 2025, including more than 330 million a day from the US.OpenAI, New economic analysis2025
• 2.6 billionconsumer messages a day in June 2025, up from 451 million in June 2024.OpenAI and NBER, How people use ChatGPT2025
• 1 billion+messages a day in December 2024, when ChatGPT passed 300 million weekly users.The Verge2024

Revenue and funding

OpenAI is private, so revenue comes from its own posts and from reporting that quotes the company. Run rates annualize the latest month.

• $2 billionin revenue per month at OpenAI in March 2026, with enterprise more than 40% of revenue.OpenAI, Accelerating the next phase of AI2026
• $852 billionpost-money valuation after a $122 billion round in March 2026.OpenAI, Accelerating the next phase of AI2026
• $110 billionin new investment in February 2026 at a $730 billion pre-money valuation: $50 billion from Amazon and $30 billion each from NVIDIA and SoftBank.OpenAI, Scaling AI for everyone2026
• $13.1 billionin revenue in 2025, and OpenAI was still unprofitable.CNBC2026
• $20 billion+annualized revenue at the end of 2025, up from $6 billion in 2024 and $2 billion in 2023.OpenAI, A business that scales with the value of intelligence2026
• June 8, 2026: OpenAI confidentially submitted a draft S-1 to the SEC, with IPO timing undecided.OpenAI2026
• $500 billionvaluation in a $6.6 billion employee share sale in October 2025.CNBC2025
• $10 billionannualized revenue in June 2025, up from about $5.5 billion in 2024.CNBC2025
• $40 billionraised at a $300 billion post-money valuation in March 2025.OpenAI, March funding updates2025
• $6.6 billionraised at a $157 billion valuation in October 2024.OpenAI, New funding to scale the benefits of AI2024
• $773 millionin worldwide ChatGPT in-app revenue in Q2 2025, up 731% year over year (Sensor Tower).TechCrunch2025
• 40%of global generative AI app in-app revenue went to ChatGPT in 2024, along with 23% of downloads.Sensor Tower, State of Mobile 20252025

Subscriptions, prices and ads

ChatGPT is free to use, with paid tiers and, since February 2026, ads on the Free and Go tiers.

• $1 billionannualized revenue run rate for ChatGPT ads, reached in under 200 days with tens of thousands of advertisers.OpenAI, Expanding access to AI with ChatGPT ads2026
• 60+countries have ChatGPT ads, after expansion to Southeast Asia and Taiwan in September 2026.OpenAI2026
• 26%of ChatGPT responses on US desktop contained an ad in June 2026, up from 14% in May.Similarweb, Is AI replacing search?2026
• 15.3%lower cost per acquisition on ChatGPT ads than its paid search benchmark, in a WeightWatchers case published by OpenAI.OpenAI, New ChatGPT ads format and measurement2026
• 50 million+consumer subscribers across ChatGPT's paid plans in February 2026.OpenAI, Scaling AI for everyone2026
• $8a month for ChatGPT Go in the US, after the plan reached 171 countries. Plus is $20.OpenAI, Introducing ChatGPT Go2026
• $0, $8, $20 and $100a month for the Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans on ChatGPT's pricing page, checked October 16, 2026.OpenAI, ChatGPT pricing2026
• February 9, 2026: the ChatGPT ads test began in the US on the Free and Go tiers.OpenAI, Testing ads in ChatGPT2026
• $20a month was the launch price of ChatGPT Plus in February 2023.OpenAI, Introducing ChatGPT Plus2023

Who uses ChatGPT: age, gender and country

Pew's US survey of 5,119 adults (February 2026) measures who has used ChatGPT. OpenAI's own data covers gender, age and countries. Similarweb shows where web visits come from.

• 44%of US adults say they use ChatGPT, up from 34% in 2025, 23% in 2024 and 18% in 2023. Pew changed the question wording in 2026.Pew Research Center, Americans and AI 20262026
• 61%of US adults aged 18 to 29 use ChatGPT, against 55% of those 30 to 49, 37% of those 50 to 64 and 19% of those 65 and older.Pew Research Center, appendix tables2026
• 24%of US adults use Gemini, the second most-used chatbot after ChatGPT (44%). Copilot is at 17% and Claude at 6%.Pew Research Center, Americans and AI 20262026
• 50%+of ChatGPT users with an inferable gender had typically feminine names in Q1 2026.OpenAI Signals, Q1 2026 update2026
• 5%higher share of messages came from users over 35 in Q2 2026 than a year earlier. In France and Czechia it rose by more than 10 points.OpenAI, How the world is putting ChatGPT to work2026
• 46%of messages from users who report their age come from people aged 18 to 25 (2025).OpenAI and NBER, How people use ChatGPT2025
• 80%of early weekly users had typically masculine first names, falling to 48% by June 2025.OpenAI and NBER, How people use ChatGPT2025
• 100 million+people in India use ChatGPT each week.OpenAI, OpenAI for India2026
• 180 millionmonthly active ChatGPT app users in India in January 2026 (Sensor Tower).TechCrunch2026
• 21.07%of chatgpt.com visits come from the US, followed by India (9.69%), Brazil (5.19%), Japan (4.92%) and South Korea (3.25%), in Similarweb's September 2026 estimate.Similarweb, chatgpt.com2026
• 54.06%of chatgpt.com visitors are male and 45.94% female, and 25 to 34 year olds are the largest age group (Similarweb, September 2026).Similarweb, chatgpt.com2026
• 144countries are ranked by ChatGPT messages per capita. Peru, Uruguay and Costa Rica rose the most in Q2 2026, as Latin America, Oceania and Africa caught up.OpenAI, How the world is putting ChatGPT to work2026

What people use ChatGPT for

OpenAI's economists classified about 1.1 million sampled conversations from May 2024 to June 2025, and published country data in 2026. Pew asks US adults what they use chatbots for.

• 42%of US adults use AI chatbots to search for information, 25% for fun and 13% for news. 38% of employed adults use them for tasks at work.Pew Research Center, Americans and AI 20262026
• 7.8%of ChatGPT messages were about images and other media in Q2 2026, the fastest-growing use case, and more than one in ten in Brazil and Colombia.OpenAI, How the world is putting ChatGPT to work2026
• 2x: people are more than twice as likely to use ChatGPT to complete a task or create something at work as outside work.OpenAI, How the world is putting ChatGPT to work2026
• 73%of consumer messages were unrelated to work in June 2025, up from 53% in June 2024.OpenAI and NBER, How people use ChatGPT2025
• 29%of conversations are practical guidance, 24% seeking information and 24% writing. Together the three cover nearly 80% of use.OpenAI and NBER, How people use ChatGPT2025
• 24%of conversations were seeking information in July 2025, up from 14% a year earlier, while writing fell from 36% to 24%.OpenAI and NBER, How people use ChatGPT2025
• 49%of messages are asking for information or advice, 40% are doing a task and 11% are expressing.OpenAI and NBER, How people use ChatGPT2025
• 40%of work messages are about writing, by far the top work use.OpenAI and NBER, How people use ChatGPT2025
• 4.2%of messages are about computer programming, and 1.9% about relationships and personal reflection.OpenAI and NBER, How people use ChatGPT2025

Search, citations and shopping

ChatGPT search launched in October 2024 and opened to everyone, with no signup, in February 2025. Shopping followed. These figures show how often ChatGPT cites and sends people to websites.

• 6.8%of US ChatGPT prompts carried a citation in May 2026, up from 1.6% in June 2025 (Similarweb).Similarweb, AI search stats 20262026
• About 60%of ChatGPT referrals landed on a homepage by late May 2026, up from 26% to 29% before a link change.Similarweb, AI search stats 20262026
• 95%of ChatGPT users also use Google, the same share in September 2025 and May 2026 (Similarweb).Similarweb, Is AI replacing search?2026
• 393%year-over-year rise in AI traffic to US retail sites in Q1 2026, and AI visitors converted 42% better than other visitors in March 2026 (Adobe).TechCrunch2026
• 693.4%rise in traffic from generative AI tools to US retail sites over the 2025 holiday season, and 670% on Cyber Monday.Adobe, 2025 holiday shopping season2026
• Hundreds of millionsof people use ChatGPT to find, understand and compare products, OpenAI said when it launched shopping research.OpenAI, Introducing shopping research2025
• 1 million+Shopify merchants were announced for Instant Checkout in September 2025, starting with US Etsy sellers.OpenAI, Buy it in ChatGPT2025
• 80%+of AI referrals to the top 1,000 websites came from ChatGPT in June 2025, when AI platforms sent 1.13 billion visits, up 357% in a year.Similarweb, AI referral traffic winners2025
• 10.42links per ChatGPT answer on average across 2,000 how-to keywords, against 5.01 for Perplexity and 9.26 for Google AI Overviews.SE Ranking2025
• 47.9%of ChatGPT's top-10 cited sources were Wikipedia in Profound's study of 680 million citations from August 2024 to June 2025.Profound2025
• 67%of ChatGPT search answers misidentified the news article they were asked about (134 of 200) in a Tow Center test.Columbia Journalism Review, Tow Center2025
• 1,091pages crawled by OpenAI for every visit it referred in July 2025, according to Cloudflare Radar.Cloudflare2025

Business adoption

OpenAI sells ChatGPT Business, Enterprise and Edu seats. Pew measures how many US workers use ChatGPT on the job.

• About 4 millionemployees at firms with under 500 people used OpenAI tools in one week of September 2026.OpenAI, Helping small businesses put AI to work2026
• 9 million+paying business users in February 2026.OpenAI, Scaling AI for everyone2026
• 3 millionweekly Codex users, and the API processed over 15 billion tokens a minute, in April 2026.OpenAI, The next phase of enterprise AI2026
• 1 million+business customers and 7 million+ ChatGPT for Work seats in November 2025. Enterprise seats grew 9x in a year.OpenAI, 1 million businesses2025
• 8xgrowth in ChatGPT Enterprise weekly messages in a year, and workers report saving 40 to 60 minutes a day.OpenAI, The state of enterprise AI2025
• 75%of enterprise workers say AI improved the speed or quality of their work.OpenAI, The state of enterprise AI2025
• 28%of employed US adults use ChatGPT for work, up 20 points in two years.Pew Research Center2025
• 26%of US teens have used ChatGPT for schoolwork, double the 13% in 2023.Pew Research Center2025
• 92%of Fortune 500 companies use OpenAI products (August 2024).Axios2024

Traffic and apps

Similarweb measures website visits and StatCounter measures referral clicks from chatbots, so their shares differ. Sensor Tower estimates app use.

• 80.48%of worldwide AI chatbot referral traffic came from ChatGPT in September 2026, against 10.91% for Gemini and 5.85% for Perplexity (StatCounter).StatCounter, AI chatbot market share2026
• #6most-visited website in the world was chatgpt.com as of September 2026, with about 5.9 billion visits in Similarweb's latest reporting window (Similarweb estimate).Similarweb, chatgpt.com2026
• 6 minutes 43 secondsaverage visit on chatgpt.com, with 4.75 pages per visit and 73.53% of desktop visits arriving direct (Similarweb, September 2026).Similarweb, chatgpt.com2026
• About 53%of worldwide generative AI web traffic went to ChatGPT in May 2026, down from about 76% in June 2025, while its visit count stayed roughly flat.Similarweb, AI search stats 20262026
• 9.5 billionmonthly visits to generative AI sites on average from June 2025 to May 2026, up 70% year over year.Similarweb, AI search stats 20262026
• Under 50%: ChatGPT's share of unique AI assistant users across apps and web fell under half for the first time in March 2026 (Sensor Tower).Sensor Tower, State of AI 20262026
• 215 minutesa month is the average time a ChatGPT app user spends in the app (Sensor Tower).Sensor Tower, State of AI 20262026
• 90 millionChatGPT app downloads in Q3 2024, up more than 100% year over year.Sensor Tower2024
• 5 monthsfor the ChatGPT app to reach 50 million monthly users.Sensor Tower2024

What this means for businesses

• ChatGPT searches the web for almost every buyer question, so your site and the pages that mention you need to be easy to find and quote. The AI SEO tools guide covers how to track this.
• Most answers name nobody. When ChatGPT does name businesses, it names a short list, so being on the pages it cites matters. See GEO and AEO statistics for what moves citations.
• Reddit and YouTube show up among the most-cited sites, so discussion and video about your category feed the answers.
• AI local picks lean to well-reviewed businesses: ChatGPT's plumber picks had a median of 713 Google reviews. Our Google reviews guide and online review statistics explain why.
• See whether ChatGPT names your business today with the free AI grade.

Sources and method

We used OpenAI's own announcements, research and pricing pages first, then reporting that quotes the company (CNBC, TechCrunch, Axios, The Verge), Pew Research Center surveys of US adults, and datasets from Similarweb, Sensor Tower, StatCounter, Adobe and Cloudflare. Third-party estimates are labelled with their source. Rank.ai's figures come from 11,726 answers collected through each model's API with web search on (May 7 to October 16, 2026) and from the loc.ai local AI index (October 2026). Every figure and link was checked on 2026-10-16.