Google remains in a powerful and dominant position in search despite the rise of AI-driven tools, according to recent research from Datos and Sonata Insights.

The report was based on an analysis of US desktop and mobile Web browsing data collected between May 2023 and May 2024. App data was not included in the analysis.

The researchers found that 99% of AI platform users continue to use traditional search engines, such as Google.

Google’s share of combined desktop and Web traffic remained essentially the same between May 2023 and May 2024, the analysis found. Google also continues to have many more monthly active search users and searches per search user than any other platform.

The researchers found that people are using Google just as frequently as in the past to conduct searches: Events/visits per month were steady between May 2023 and May 2024.

Google's average engagement rate of 163.5 events per user per month is dramatically higher than those of AI platforms, such as ChatGPT (12.2) and Perplexity (15).

The researchers found that 16.4% of US active search users were also using AI platforms in May 2024, up from 14.6% in May 2023.

About the research: The report was based on an analysis of US desktop and mobile Web browsing data collected between May 2023 and May 2024. App data was not included in the analysis.