ChatGPT is still the AI market leader but this new tool is snipping at its heels

The rapid growth of generative AI tools continues to reshape the technology landscape, with ChatGPT leading the charge while other platforms gain significant momentum.

Record-breaking growth: ChatGPT’s website traffic has more than doubled in 2024 compared to the previous year, reaching unprecedented levels of user engagement.

• Monthly visits to ChatGPT reached 3.7 billion in October 2024, representing a 17.2% increase from September and a 116% jump from October 2023
• The platform surpassed Google Chrome‘s user base in just two years, a milestone that took Chrome nearly 16 years to achieve
• After a brief plateau in mid-2023, ChatGPT has consistently broken records, with monthly visits growing from 2.2 billion in May to 3.7 billion in October 2024

Platform evolution: OpenAI has implemented several strategic improvements to maintain ChatGPT’s competitive edge.

• Recent upgrades include enhanced core algorithms and expanded functionality in the main service
• The integration of a search engine within the ChatGPT interface has broadened its utility
• A transition to a dedicated domain (chatgpt.com) from its previous subdomain structure has streamlined user access

Emerging competitors: Google’s NotebookLM has emerged as a notable player in the AI space, showing remarkable growth trajectory.

• The AI-powered note-taking service experienced a 300% increase in monthly users during September, followed by a 201% surge in October
• NotebookLM’s ability to create podcast-style AI summaries of various data types has contributed to its growing popularity
• The platform serves as a comprehensive research tool, enabling users to collect, analyze, and summarize multiple sources of information

Market landscape: Other AI platforms have maintained steady growth, albeit at a slower pace than the market leaders.

• Microsoft Copilot’s traffic grew by 87.6% in October, reaching 64.9 million visits
• Perplexity achieved 90.8 million visits, marking a 25.5% monthly increase and a 199.2% year-over-year growth
• Claude AI recorded 84.1 million visits, showing a 25.5% monthly increase and a 395% year-over-year growth
• Google’s Gemini site attracted 291.6 million visits, with more modest growth rates of 6.2% monthly and 19% annually

Looking ahead: While ChatGPT maintains its dominant position, the rapid rise of specialized tools like NotebookLM suggests a growing market segmentation where different AI platforms cater to specific use cases and user needs, potentially leading to a more diverse and specialized AI tools ecosystem.