According to a study by SEO firm OneLittleWeb, AI chatbots have seen massive traffic growth from April 2023 to March 2025. Chatbot sites accounted for just 2.96% of search engine visits, despite an 80.92% year-over-year spike. In contrast, search engine traffic fell by only 0.51%, maintaining a staggering 1.86 trillion visits in the most recent year. Even ChatGPT, the market leader, receives 26 times fewer daily visits than Google.
This highlights a key insight: while AI chatbots are becoming more popular, they haven’t significantly altered how most people search for information. Long-standing user habits and trust, combined with search engines’ speed, comprehensive indexing, and deep integration into browsers and mobile devices, keep traditional search firmly in place.
Evolving Tools, Evolving Intent
Experts argue that the two-year timeframe may underrepresent chatbots’ potential. Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group noted that many users are still learning how to properly interact with AI tools. Mark N. Vena of SmartTech Research added that the key difference lies in user intent: search engines excel at broad exploration, while chatbots thrive in personalized, task-based conversations.
While search engines adapt by integrating AI features—like Google’s Search Generative Experience—chatbots are expanding beyond utility to offer companionship and emotional support. This marks a shift in how AI is used: not just for answers, but for experiences.
A Converging Future
The study identified DeepSeek and Grok as the fastest-growing chatbots, with traffic increases over 100,000% and 350,000% respectively. Experts agree that the future will involve hybrid experiences—blending search and AI to meet evolving user needs. As Greg Sterling of Near Media put it, “The old search experience is fading. What’s coming next is far more dynamic.”
