In recent months, OpenAI's AI chatbot ChatGPT has reached usage levels that directly compete with one of the web's giants: Google Chrome. According to data from Similarweb for October, ChatGPT recorded 3.7 billion monthly visits globally, placing it in direct competition with Chrome, which has about 3.45 billion monthly users.
This comparison between a web browser's usage and that of an AI-based chatbot highlights the significant impact of ChatGPT on the technological landscape.
ChatGPT has seen a month-over-month increase of 17.2% and an impressive year-over-year growth of 115.9%. A pivotal moment in ChatGPT's rise was its transition from a subdomain (chat.openai.com) to a main domain (chatgpt.com), solidifying its online presence and making it more accessible to casual users and those less familiar with technology.
The introduction of new features, particularly the recent ChatGPT Search, allowing users to receive real-time answers on topics like sports news and stock prices, has further fueled its expansion and growth.
The competition between ChatGPT and Chrome is not just about numbers. Both services represent two sides of the same coin: Chrome is the most widely used browser for navigating the Internet, while ChatGPT signifies a completely new paradigm for user interaction with online information.
Moreover, ChatGPT's growth is part of a broader trend, as other well-known AI services and tools like Google's Gemini, Anthropic's Claude, Perplexity, and Microsoft's Copilot are also experiencing significant growth, albeit with different absolute scales compared to OpenAI's chatbot.