Google Gemini gained more users in Q1 2026 than Perplexity, Claude, Meta AI, DeepSeek, and Grok combined, according to new data from BrightEdge tracking AI referral traffic to websites and publishers (separate from Google Search and AI Overviews). ChatGPT contracted for the first time in Q1, dropping from 89.2% to 81.4% of AI referral share to websites, while Gemini nearly tripled from 4.3% to 11.6% and then climbed to 13.2% in April, and Claude more than doubled from 1.1% to 2.3% before reaching 3.6% in April, with Perplexity the only major AI engine actively losing share. BrightEdge CEO Jim Yu said “LLM loyalty is weak, and model quality moves behavior,” noting that users are not locked into one LLM and will shift quickly when a model improves or another feels more useful.
