Similarweb study — vendor-published
Similarweb: 95% of ChatGPT users also search on Google
A new Similarweb report finds 95% of ChatGPT’s 494 million users also used Google during the same March-to-May 2026 span, per Search Engine Journal — evidence AI search is layering on top of traditional search rather than replacing it. The same analysis found ChatGPT’s U.S. ad penetration jumped from 14% in May to 26% in June, and that 58.8% of ChatGPT referral traffic lands on publisher homepages even though 65% of cited URLs point two or three folders deep.
Why it matters: The gap between where ChatGPT cites content and where its traffic actually lands means publishers tracking citation counts alone are missing where real referral value shows up.
Posted to the wire July 30, 2026.