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New industry insights show ChatGPT maintaining leadership while alternative AI platforms gain momentum among consumers
Comscore has released its inaugural AI Intelligence Report for 2026, providing new insights into how consumers are adopting artificial intelligence tools and how competition within the AI assistant market continues to evolve.
According to the report, Anthropic’s Claude experienced remarkable growth over the past several months, emerging as one of the fastest-growing AI platforms in the market. While ChatGPT remains the dominant AI assistant in terms of overall usage and engagement, the data indicates that consumers are increasingly exploring multiple AI solutions for different needs and use cases.
The study, based on Comscore’s consumer panel data, highlights significant expansion across the broader AI ecosystem as generative AI tools become more integrated into everyday digital behavior. Researchers found that AI assistants are reaching a growing share of both desktop and mobile users, reflecting the technology’s transition from early adoption to mainstream usage.
Despite increased competition, ChatGPT continues to hold the leading position within the AI assistant category. The platform recorded substantial year-over-year growth in user engagement and maintained a sizeable lead in both desktop and mobile audiences compared with competing services such as Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini.
One of the report’s most notable findings was the rapid rise of Claude. The platform demonstrated exceptional growth in desktop conversations during the reporting period, signaling increasing consumer interest in alternative AI experiences and expanding competition among leading AI providers.
The research also suggests that artificial intelligence is becoming a meaningful influence on how consumers discover information and make decisions online. AI-powered search experiences are increasingly being incorporated into traditional search journeys, creating new pathways for content discovery, product research, and purchase consideration.
Another key trend identified in the report involves AI’s growing role in high-consideration purchasing decisions. Consumers researching financial products, including credit cards, are increasingly encountering AI-generated information alongside traditional search results, demonstrating the technology’s expanding impact on commercial decision-making.
The study further revealed differences in user behavior across major AI platforms. Consumers typically engage in multiple prompt exchanges during a single session, indicating that AI interactions are evolving into ongoing conversations rather than simple one-time queries. This pattern highlights the growing sophistication of how users interact with generative AI tools.
Mobile adoption trends also revealed an interesting demographic shift. Women were found to be particularly active users of mobile AI assistants across several leading platforms, suggesting that mobile-based AI engagement is becoming increasingly important in everyday digital experiences.
Industry analysts believe these trends underscore the growing importance of understanding AI-driven consumer behavior as artificial intelligence becomes a primary gateway for information discovery, content consumption, and purchasing decisions.
As AI adoption accelerates across industries, the report suggests that businesses, marketers, and publishers will need to pay closer attention to how consumers interact with AI-generated experiences and how those interactions influence awareness, engagement, and conversion outcomes.
The findings reflect a rapidly evolving AI landscape where established leaders continue to grow, emerging challengers gain traction, and consumer behavior increasingly shifts toward AI-assisted discovery and decision-making.
