Google Traffic Up 3% Despite AI Rivals, BofA Says

Bank of America's data, drawn from Similarweb, offers a snapshot of how AI chatbots are faring against Google's search dominance. Despite the hype around AI, Google's core search traffic remains stable, even growing slightly. This suggests that users still rely on Google for many queries, while chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude carve out their own niches, often for tasks like generating text or answering complex questions.

The contrast is stark: while ChatGPT's web visits fell, Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude saw explosive growth in traffic, though from a much smaller base. This pattern—AI services growing rapidly but from a low starting point—indicates that AI adoption is expanding but has not yet threatened Google's scale. The numbers for mobile daily active users further underscore this, with Google far ahead at 2.3 billion users.

Looking ahead, Bank of America's focus on ChatGPT's advertising business is telling. If ChatGPT can monetize its user base effectively, it could pose a more serious challenge to Google's ad revenue. However, the current data suggests that the threat remains more potential than real, and investors may watch for signs of ad revenue growth at ChatGPT as a key indicator of future competitive dynamics.