The generative AI boom continues to gain momentum, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT leading the charge. According to new data from Similarweb, traffic to the popular AI tool has surged, reaching a staggering 3.7 billion visits in October, marking a 116% increase compared to the same month in 2023. ChatGPT’s growth this year has been explosive, with its global monthly traffic more than doubling compared to 2023, including a remarkable 17.2% increase from September to October.
Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT has steadily ascended the ranks to become one of the world’s most visited websites. By early 2023, it was already among the top global platforms, and despite a brief slowdown mid-year, it has been breaking records ever since. The site garnered 2.2 billion visits in May 2024, followed by a 3.7 billion visit peak last month.
To put this growth into perspective, ChatGPT now boasts more users than Google Chrome. While Chrome took nearly 16 years to reach 3.45 billion users, ChatGPT achieved a similar milestone in just two years.
This explosive growth is not just due to ChatGPT’s widespread adoption. OpenAI has continuously refined its product with upgrades to its core algorithm, added more functionality to its main service, and integrated a search engine directly into the ChatGPT interface. The tool is also now accessible via its own dedicated website, ChatGPT.com, instead of as a subdomain of OpenAI.
But ChatGPT isn’t the only AI service riding the wave of popularity. Google’s NotebookLM, a note-taking platform powered by AI, has seen its own meteoric rise. Launched in July 2023, the service saw user growth of 300% in September and 201% in October. Aimed at students and researchers, NotebookLM helps users organize and analyze notes, documents, and web content. Its ability to generate podcast-style summaries from research data has made it a standout tool for those seeking to streamline their academic and professional workflows.
