According to the latest data from Similarweb, ChatGPT reached a record-breaking 390.5 million visits in February 2025, a slight 1.44% increase from January. While the month-over-month growth slowed, the year-over-year growth compared to February 2024 remained strong at a remarkable 137%.
This continued growth propelled ChatGPT further up the global website rankings. It currently ranks fifth among global desktop websites and seventh when combining desktop and mobile traffic. Data shows ChatGPT accounts for 1.86% of global web traffic, boasting 4 billion monthly visits, firmly establishing it among the top ten websites globally, although still lagging behind tech giants like Google.
ChatGPT.com traffic showed strong growth during the summer and autumn of 2024 before leveling off. The shift from the orange line to the blue line indicates the transition to the new chatgpt.com domain. | Image: Similarweb
ChatGPT's user base is also expanding rapidly. By 2024, it had reached 15.5 million paying users, a significant increase from 5.8 million at the beginning of the year. In contrast, while the Chinese competitor Deepseek showed strong growth, its daily website visits in January reached 6.2 million, far below ChatGPT's 117.5 million during the same period.
However, Similarweb's data reveals a concerning issue: despite ChatGPT's massive user base, it generates surprisingly little outbound traffic. In the US, over the past six months, Reuters received only 50,900 referrals from ChatGPT, ranking highest among all news providers, followed by the New York Post (42,800) and the New York Times (31,600). Even the top 10 news websites combined received less than 300,000 referrals in six months.
ChatGPT accounts for 1.86% of global web traffic, with 4 billion monthly visits, placing it among the top ten websites globally, but still significantly behind Google and other tech giants. | Image: Similarweb
A recent study further revealed that 96% of AI answer engine users never click on source links. This leads to two serious problems: users cannot verify potentially inaccurate information, and services like ChatGPT search and Google's new AI search could disrupt the traditional web ecosystem.
Although OpenAI has partnered with several media outlets to improve its content sourcing, user clicks on original content remain rare. This minimal traffic sharing is raising industry concerns.
