AI tool adoption skyrocketed 50.43% in a year, with ChatGPT leading and DeepSeek growing 2026%. Explore the latest AI market trends from aitools.xyz.
A new study reveals an unprecedented surge in AI tool usage over the past year, reshaping industries and user behavior worldwide. The analysis was conducted by the AI tools directory aitools.xyz, examined 10,500 AI tools across 171 categories, providing deep insights into market trends, tool performance, and user engagement.
The study shows a remarkable increase in web traffic from 7.0 billion visits in February 2024 to 10.53 billion in January 2025, marking a 50.43% growth in just one year.
With AI tools reaching 10.53 billion monthly visits, this data highlights where user engagement is concentrated and which tools are driving AI adoption across industries. Chatbots dominate the market, led by ChatGPT with 4.7 billion visits, accounting for 44.63% of total AI tool traffic. Meanwhile, DeepSeek has experienced a staggering 2026.19% growth, emerging as one of the fastest-growing AI tools.
Additionally, the study shows that AI adoption is higher among male users, who account for 58.35% of total traffic, compared to 41.65% of female users. This suggests that men are currently leading AI tool engagement, reflecting a strong preference for AI-powered solutions in work and personal use.
Short Methodology: aitools.xyz tracks 10,500+ AI tools across 171 categories, using SEMrush and Ahrefs to analyze traffic trends. It collects monthly data on visits, sources, devices, and engagement to assess industry size and tool popularity. Unique visits are counted monthly, with recurring users contributing to annual totals, potentially slightly overestimating distinct users.
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Key Findings:
- Total web traffic: AI tools collectively garnered 10.53 billion visits in January 2025, representing a 50.43% increase over the past 12 months.
- Market Leaders: ChatGPT (44.63%), Canva (8.42%), and Google Translate (5.65%) lead the AI tool market.
- Trending AI tools in January 2025: DeepSeek saw a 255.30M increase in web traffic (+2026.19%), JanitorAI gained 38.70M visits (+23.96%), and DeepL Translate grew by 7.90M visits (+9.59%), showcasing the most rapid adoption.
- AI Adoption by Gender: 58.35% Male, 41.65% Female, indicating a higher tendency for AI tool engagement among male users.
- DeepSeek recorded 267.9 million web visits, reflecting a growth of 255.3 million visits in one month an increase of 2,026.19%.
Global AI Tools Web Traffic Trend from (Feb 2024 – Feb 2025)
| Date | Monthly Web Visits | MoM Change | MoM Change (%) |
| Jan 2025 | 10.53B | 5.2M | 0.05% |
| Dec 2024 | 10.53B | -17.2M | -0.16% |
| Nov 2024 | 10.54B | 267.6M | 2.60% |
| Oct 2024 | 10.27B | 1293.7M | 14.40% |
| September 2024 | 8.98B | 907.2M | 11.24% |
| Aug 2024 | 8.07B | 152.9M | 1.93% |
| Jul 2024 | 7.92B | -6.9M | -0.09% |
| Jun 2024 | 7.93B | 147.9M | 1.90% |
| May 2024 | 7.78B | 39.2M | 0.51% |
| Apr 2024 | 7.74B | 533.8M | 7.41% |
| Mar 2024 | 7.21B | 205.3M | 2.93% |
| Feb 2024 | 7.00B | -138.1M | -1.93% |
The AI tools market has experienced dynamic shifts in web traffic trends, growing from 7.00 billion web visits in February 2024 to 10.53 billion in January 2025 a 50.43% increase in just one year. The most dramatic surge occurred between September and October 2024, when traffic jumped from 8.98 billion to 10.27 billion (+14.40%), marking a pivotal wave of AI adoption in Q4 2024. This rapid expansion was likely driven by heightened enterprise adoption, the launch of new AI-driven solutions, and increased consumer engagement.
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However, fluctuations in traffic in later months indicate a market recalibration, with November and December 2024 seeing slight declines, followed by a stabilization at 10.53 billion visits in January 2025. These shifts suggest that AI adoption remains strong but is transitioning from early explosive growth to a more sustained, strategic expansion. Moving forward, competition, user retention, and tool differentiation will define the next phase of AI’s integration into digital workflows, as businesses and consumers refine their AI adoption strategies.
AI Market Share Distribution as of February 2025
| Rank | Tool Name | Category | Monthly Web Visits | Change (Millions) | Previous Month Web Visits | MoM Change (%) | Market Share (%) |
| 1 | ChatGPT | Chatbots | 4.7B | -100 | 4.8B | -2.08% | 44.63% |
| 2 | Canva | Design Generators | 886.9M | -91.99 | 978.89M | -9.40% | 8.42% |
| 3 | Google Translate | Translators | 594.8M | -49.9 | 644.7M | -7.74% | 5.65% |
| 4 | DeepSeek | Chatbots | 267.9M | 255.3 | 12.6M | 20.2619 | 2.54% |
| 5 | Character AI | Character Chat Tools | 226.3M | 4.1 | 222.2M | 0.0185 | 2.15% |
| 6 | JanitorAI | Character Chat Tools | 200.2M | 38.7 | 161.5M | 0.2396 | 1.90% |
| 7 | Perplexity | Search Engines | 132.6M | -4.9 | 137.5M | -3.56% | 1.26% |
| 8 | Gemini | Chatbots | 118.1M | -12 | 130.1M | -9.22% | 1.12% |
| 9 | Remove.bg | Background Removers | 111.7M | -3.8 | 115.5M | -3.29% | 1.06% |
| 10 | Claude | Chatbots | 105M | -1.2 | 106.2M | -1.13% | 1% |
ChatGPT led with 4.7B web visits, maintaining 44.63% of the market, despite a slight dip. Canva followed with 886.9M web visits , signaling shifting trends in AI design tools. Google Translate saw 594.8M web visits, indicating a possible move toward specialized translation AI.
DeepSeek surged to 267.9M visits (+2026.19% growth in the last month), making it the fastest-growing AI tool. JanitorAI rose to 200.2M visits (+23.96%), reflecting increasing demand for AI-driven character chats. Character AI reached 226.3M visits (+1.85%), sustaining steady growth in interactive AI tools.
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Perplexity AI declined to 132.6M visits (-3.56%), suggesting fluctuating interest in AI search engines. Gemini saw 118.1M visits (-9.22%), while Claude dropped slightly to 105M visits (-1.13%), both facing stiff chatbot competition. Remove.bg recorded 111.7M visits (-3.29%), likely impacted by expanded AI editing features in other design tools.
Top 10 Trending AI Tools (February 2025)
| Rank | Tool | Category | Monthly Visits | Last month visit | Visit increased | Growth | Market Share |
| 1 | DeepSeek | Chatbots | 267.90M | 12.60M | 255.30M | 2026.19% | 2.55% |
| 2 | JanitorAI | Character Chat Tools | 200.20M | 161.50M | 38.70M | 23.96% | 1.90% |
| 3 | DeepL Translate | Translators | 90.30M | 82.40M | 7.90M | 9.59% | 0.86% |
| 4 | Zeemo AI | Social Media Management Tools | 14.90M | 7.10M | 7.80M | 109.86% | 0.14% |
| 5 | Ahrefs | SEO Tools | 41.70M | 34.50M | 7.20M | 20.87% | 0.40% |
| 6 | Joyland | Character Chat Tools | 10.60M | 4.50M | 6.10M | 135.56% | 0.10% |
| 7 | Talkie AI | Character Chat Tools | 11.30M | 5.40M | 5.90M | 109.26% | 0.11% |
| 8 | TurboScribe | Transcription Tools | 15.80M | 10.50M | 5.30M | 50.48% | 0.15% |
| 9 | PixVerse AI | Text To Video Tools | 16.50M | 11.40M | 5.10M | 44.74% | 0.16% |
| 10 | DeepAI | Chatbots | 38.70M | 33.80M | 4.90M | 14.50% | 0% |
Sujan Sarkar, co-founder of aitools.xyz, has commented on the findings, “DeepSeek’s explosive 2026.19% growth marks a significant shift in the AI landscape, signaling rising demand for alternative, specialized AI models and challenging ChatGPT’s dominance. The 50.43% surge in AI tool adoption highlights AI’s deepening integration across industries, fueling competition and innovation. As AI evolves, user preferences will drive a more diverse ecosystem, where adaptability and specialization reshape market leadership. At this pace, AI tools could realistically surpass 12-13 billion monthly visits by early 2026, reinforcing AI’s role as an essential part of digital workflows.”
