Generative AI is no longer behaving like a side experiment on the web. According to a recent Similarweb analysis, AI services are becoming an "Internet backbone," with traffic patterns that now put chatbots in the same conversation as major social networks.
The numbers point to a fast shift in how people use the internet. In September 2025 alone, AI services drew roughly seven billion monthly web visits, a 76 percent increase from the previous year. Mobile use is growing even faster, with Gen AI app sessions rising fivefold and app downloads up 778 percent.
Chatbots move into the internet mainstream
The clearest signal is scale. AI tools are no longer just destinations for early adopters testing a new interface. Similarweb’s data shows that generative AI has become a recurring layer of online activity, large enough to rival traffic from major social networks.
That matters because chatbots are used differently from many traditional websites. A user may open a chatbot to draft, summarize, explain, compare, brainstorm, or ask follow-up questions. The source data does not say that these tools have replaced older internet habits, but it does show that they now sit beside them at significant volume.
The mobile figures sharpen the picture. A fivefold rise in Gen AI app sessions suggests that use is spreading beyond desktop browsing. The 778 percent increase in app downloads points to more people putting these tools directly on their phones, where daily internet behavior often becomes habitual.
ChatGPT remains the center of gravity
ChatGPT is the main engine behind this expansion. OpenAI’s platform grew from about 19 million monthly visits in 2022 to roughly 5.9 billion by September 2025. That level of traffic places it among the world’s five most visited websites.
The comparison with Instagram shows how far the category has moved. Instagram recorded 6.5 billion visits in September 2025, putting ChatGPT close to one of the internet’s largest social platforms by visits.
Competition is growing, but the market remains heavily concentrated. Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity are part of the rising field, yet ChatGPT still accounts for nearly 80 percent of global Gen AI visits. For now, the category’s growth is strongly tied to one dominant service.
That dominance also shows up in engagement. In the U.S., 41.3 million people use the ChatGPT mobile app, and 33 percent open it daily. Perplexity has 3.4 million MAU, while Microsoft Copilot has 3.1 million MAU. Their daily usage ranges from 5 to 17 percent, which points to a less regular pattern of use.
Search and AI are being used together
The Similarweb data does not support a simple story in which chatbots have pushed search aside. Instead, it shows overlap. Of the 462 million people who visited ChatGPT, 95 percent also used Google.
That means 441 million users appeared in both audiences. The practical takeaway is that people are switching between tools. For some tasks, they still use a search engine. For others, they turn to conversational AI.
This side-by-side behavior is important because it suggests that users are not treating chatbots as a full replacement for the open web. They are adding a new interface to their existing habits. A chatbot can respond conversationally, while search can still serve as a path into web pages, sources, and broader discovery.
The source data does not define exactly which tasks belong to each tool. But the overlap itself is meaningful. It shows that the growth of AI chatbots can happen without users leaving Google behind.
Older users are joining faster
The user base is also broadening. People aged 18 to 34 remain the largest group, with 1.9 billion users, or 53 percent. But the fastest adoption is coming from older groups.
Users aged 45 and over now represent nearly 30 percent of all visitors. That shift matters because it suggests generative AI is moving beyond a younger, tech-forward audience. The tools are reaching people across a wider age range.
For an internet platform, that kind of demographic spread is a key sign of normalization. A product can grow quickly among younger users and still remain a niche habit. When older groups begin adopting it at speed, the service starts to look less like a trend and more like part of everyday digital infrastructure.
Built-in AI features are still taking shape
AI is also spreading through existing ecosystems. Google’s "AI Mode" was the fastest Gen AI feature to reach 100 million visits in the U.S., helped by the company’s large reach.
But early reach does not automatically mean stable behavior. More than half of users interacted with the feature on just a single day over a two-month period. That suggests many people are still trying built-in AI features without necessarily making them part of a routine.
Taken together, the data shows a category in two stages at once. Dedicated chatbot platforms, especially ChatGPT, are already seeing massive and repeated use. Integrated AI features are spreading quickly too, but some of that use still appears experimental.
The larger picture is clear: AI chatbots have become a major layer of internet activity. They are not simply replacing search, and they are not only serving younger users. They are becoming one of the places people go to get things done online.