AI tool adoption jumps to 38%, but 95% still rely on search engines
More than 1 in 5 Americans now use AI tools heavily – but traditional search engines remain dominant, with usage holding steady at 95%, according to new clickstream data from Datos and SparkToro.
By the numbers:
- AI tools: 21% of U.S. users access AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, and Deepseek 10+ times per month. Overall adoption has jumped from 8% in 2023 to 38% in 2025.
- Search engines: 95% of Americans still use Google, Bing, Yahoo, or DuckDuckGo monthly, with 87% considered heavy Google users – up from 84% in 2023.
- Growth trends: AI adoption is slowing. Since September 2024, no month has shown more than 1.1x growth. By contrast, search volume per user has slightly increased year-over-year.
The big picture: Despite the hype around AI replacing Google, the data seems to show the opposite. When people adopt AI tools, their Google searches also rise, SparkToro found.
- This echoes a Semrush study that found ChatGPT users search more, not less.
Yes, but. Are there any truly “traditional search engines” left? Things get a bit messy when talking about “traditional search engines” versus the “AI tools” examined here, because all search engines now have AI baked in:
- Google is a traditional search engine (or, perhaps more accurately, an AI search engine with a legacy search experience that’s clearly moving in the direction of AI Overviews and AI Mode), and Gemini is Google’s AI tool. Plus, Google’s traditional search data is being used by ChatGPT.
- Traditional search engine Bing has its own AI tool, Copilot, and is OpenAI’s partner for ChatGPT Search, and feeds DuckDuckGo’s results.
Why we care. This data once again indicates that it isn’t AI vs. search; it’s AI plus search. Heavy AI users are also heavy searchers, meaning Google traffic declines are more about zero-click answers than AI cannibalization.
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