500M+
ChatGPT weekly active users globally (OpenAI, 2026)
25–35%
of AI platform queries have local or commercial intent
12–25%
of UK Google searches now trigger an AI Overview
1–3
businesses typically cited per local AI query

AI tool usage in 2026

The shift from Google-first to AI-first search behaviour has accelerated significantly in 2025–2026. Key usage figures:

●
ChatGPT: 500M+ weekly active users globally as of early 2026 (OpenAI). The UK is among the top markets by per-capita usage.
●
Perplexity: 15M+ daily active queries (Perplexity AI, 2025), with strong growth in UK usage for research and product-finding queries.
●
Google AI Overviews now appear for an estimated 12–25% of UK search queries, depending on query type. Commercial and informational queries have the highest trigger rates.
●
Microsoft Copilot (integrated into Bing and Windows) processes hundreds of millions of queries per month, with a significant proportion being local and commercial.

Commercial and local search intent in AI

The important question for UK businesses is not how many people use AI tools overall — it is what proportion of AI queries have commercial intent, i.e. looking for businesses, services, or products.

What the data suggests about commercial AI queries

25–35% of AI queries

Research indicates roughly a quarter to a third of AI tool queries involve some form of commercial or local business intent — finding a service provider, comparing options, or seeking a recommendation.

Fastest growing query type

Local and business-finding queries are among the fastest-growing query types on AI platforms, as users test the tools for tasks traditionally handled by Google Maps and local search.

High intent, low options

AI answers to local business queries typically cite very few businesses — often one to three. Appearing in those results captures high-intent consideration at a point before the customer has committed to a search platform.

The citation landscape

Being cited by AI tools is different from ranking on Google. AI citation involves several factors that traditional SEO does not fully address:

1
Entity recognition — AI must be able to identify what a business is, what it does, and where it operates. Schema markup is currently the most reliable way to communicate this.
2
Directional content — AI answers specific questions. Businesses with content that directly answers the questions their customers ask are cited at a significantly higher rate than those without.
3
Trust signals — reviews, credentials, directory presence, and E-E-A-T signals all influence AI citation likelihood. The threshold differs by platform and query type.
4
Platform variation — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Copilot use different underlying data sources and citation logic. A business visible in one may not be visible in others without broader optimisation.

What this means for UK small businesses

The practical consequence of these statistics is straightforward: a growing proportion of potential customers are now researching and forming purchase intent on AI platforms before they ever arrive at a website or a Google search results page. Businesses absent from AI answers are losing that consideration opportunity — often silently, with no awareness that it is happening.

The businesses that appear are not necessarily the largest or the best — they are the ones whose online presence is structured in a way AI systems can interpret and cite with confidence.

Questions about AI search statistics

How many people use AI tools like ChatGPT to search for local businesses?
+
As of 2026, ChatGPT reports over 500 million weekly active users globally. Research suggests 25–35% of AI platform searches include local or commercial intent. The proportion is growing rapidly as AI tools become default starting points for research queries.
What percentage of Google searches now show an AI Overview?
+
Various estimates suggest 12–25% of UK queries now trigger a Google AI Overview, depending on query type. Informational and commercial queries have the highest rates. This figure is expected to grow as Google continues expanding AI Mode globally.
How do these statistics affect UK small businesses?
+
A growing share of potential customers are forming opinions about which businesses to contact before they arrive at a website. If a business is absent from AI answers, it is losing that consideration opportunity to competitors who do appear — regardless of their Google rankings.