AI Search Statistics (2026): 18 data points local businesses can’t ignore
Hundreds of millions of buyers now ask an AI assistant before they ever open Google. AI answers reach billions of people a month. Below are 18 real, sourced numbers on where AI search actually stands, each one linked to where it came from, so you can see what changes when your next customer is one AI answer away from hiring a competitor instead of you.
Last updated: September 2026 · 18 data points · every figure links to its source
How big AI search already is
Average monthly visits across generative-AI platforms worldwide, up 70% year over year (mid-2026)
Source: SimilarwebShare of US desktop queries that trigger a Google AI Overview (Nov 2025, up from 6.5% in Jan 2025)
Source: SemrushGoogle visits ending in a click when an AI summary is shown, versus when it is not (2025)
Source: Pew Research CenterShare of AI-summary visits where the user clicked a source cited inside the summary (2025)
Source: Pew Research CenterUS Google searches that ended with no click at all (Jan to Apr 2026)
Source: SparkToro / SimilarwebGoogle impressions up, click-through rate down, one year after AI Overviews launched (May 2024 to May 2025)
Source: BrightEdgeYear-over-year growth in AI-referred traffic to US retail sites (May 2026)
Source: Adobe AnalyticsHow much better AI-referred traffic converts than non-AI traffic on retail sites (2026)
Source: Adobe AnalyticsAI users who highly trust AI local-business recommendations, rating them 4 or 5 out of 5 (2026)
Source: YextPeople who tried a new local business because an AI recommended it, in the past six months (2026)
Source: YextRise in AI Overviews appearing on commercial, buying-intent searches (Nov 2025 to Apr 2026)
Source: SemrushMarketing leaders with high GEO investment in 2025, and the share increasing spend in 2026
Source: Conductor / eMarketerAt a glance
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT weekly active users, per OpenAI (Feb 2026) | 900M | OpenAI / Search Engine Land |
| Monthly active users of Google AI Overviews, per Google I/O (May 2026) | 2.5B | |
| Monthly active users of Google AI Mode within a year of launch (May 2026) | 1B | |
| Average monthly visits across generative-AI platforms worldwide, up 70% year over year (mid-2026) | 9.5B | Similarweb |
| Share of US desktop queries that trigger a Google AI Overview (Nov 2025, up from 6.5% in Jan 2025) | 15.7% | Semrush |
| Google visits ending in a click when an AI summary is shown, versus when it is not (2025) | 8% vs 15% | Pew Research Center |
| Share of AI-summary visits where the user clicked a source cited inside the summary (2025) | 1% | Pew Research Center |
| US Google searches that ended with no click at all (Jan to Apr 2026) | 68% | SparkToro / Similarweb |
| Google AI Mode searches that end without a click, across 69M sessions (2025) | 92-94% | Semrush |
| Google impressions up, click-through rate down, one year after AI Overviews launched (May 2024 to May 2025) | +49% / -30% | BrightEdge |
| Year-over-year growth in AI-referred traffic to US retail sites (May 2026) | +138% | Adobe Analytics |
| How much better AI-referred traffic converts than non-AI traffic on retail sites (2026) | 54% | Adobe Analytics |
| US adults who used an AI tool to find a local business in the past month (2026) | 47% | Yext |
| AI users who highly trust AI local-business recommendations, rating them 4 or 5 out of 5 (2026) | 75% | Yext |
| People who tried a new local business because an AI recommended it, in the past six months (2026) | 28% | Yext |
| Rise in AI Overviews appearing on commercial, buying-intent searches (Nov 2025 to Apr 2026) | +71% | Semrush |
| Marketing leaders with high GEO investment in 2025, and the share increasing spend in 2026 | 56% / 94% | Conductor / eMarketer |
| US consumers who plan to use AI for part of their holiday shopping (2026) | 65% | Narvar |
Figures are as reported by the linked third-party sources and are attributed, not our own measurements. AI usage is moving fast, so treat these as directional and check the source for the latest.
AI search stats: why these numbers change how buyers find you
Line up the AI search stats above and you can see where this is going: buying decisions increasingly start inside an AI answer, not on a page of blue links. When a homeowner asks an assistant who to hire and it names three companies, the jobs go to those three. If you are not one of them, you never see the miss. At this scale of adoption, being absent from AI answers is not a missed opportunity later. It is lost jobs now.
What is true today, and what we will publish here
We do not publish invented client results, so here is exactly where we stand. The system we run for clients was built to operate a real, multi-million-dollar home improvement business before we offered it to anyone. We measure our own AI share of voice every month across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews.
As we onboard founding clients, real results, booked jobs from AI answers, receptionist response and show rates, land on this page with the source and the date. Every client engagement carries our guarantee: a measurable lift in AI citations within 90 days, or we keep working free until you get it.
Turn these numbers into booked jobs
If AI answers are where buyers now decide, the next step is getting named in them. See the best AI marketing agency for home services and contractors, and how done-for-you AI marketing turns these numbers into booked jobs.
Be the name AI gives.
Book a free strategy call. We will baseline how often AI names you today and show you the plan to change it.