74% of surveyed people Use AI Search Weekly

ByShane Tran Updated on

Around 3 in 4 respondents say they search with AI weekly. Their top use cases include quick facts, shopping research and health information.

AI search is becoming part of daily life

Every morning, people wake up, pick up their phones, and ask questions. But more and more, they are using AI instead of the familiar Google search bar.

We asked 1007 Americans the question: In the past 30 days, how often did you use AI-powered search?

Here are the numbers:

More than a third, 36.15%, now use AI search every day, just like they scroll social media or check email as a routine. Another 30.29% use it several times each week, and 7.45% at least once a week.

Add it all up, 73.89% are using AI search every week.

Takeaway:

With 73.89% using AI search at least weekly, this finding suggests AI Search Optimization may be worth prioritizing as a core marketing strategy.

Quick facts, shopping, and health are the topics people search with AI the most

Nearly 69% use AI for quick facts, which makes sense, since this is what AI does best.

Shopping and product research came second at 51.31%. This is a good signal for e-commerce sites: more than half of AI search users are researching products with AI.

Health and medical information ranked third at 41.60%. People are asking AI about symptoms, medications, and conditions.

Here is a complete breakdown:

Sidenote:

  • Question: For which topics would you rely on AI search as your main source? (Select all that apply)
  • Base: AI search users (n=875).
  • Choice: Multiple responses allowed; percentages may total more than 100%. ‘None’ was treated as an exclusive option.

Takeaway:

  • If your site covers health topics, prioritize expert review, citations, and clear disclaimers so AI can reference your content responsibly.
  • Put less focus on generic, Wikipedia-style pages and more on content that AI can’t easily compete with (original data, first-hand insight, and unique expertise).
  • Now is a good time to start optimizing your product pages for AI search. Structured data, clear specs, and comparison-friendly content will help your products surface in AI-generated shopping recommendations.

AI Search hasn’t replaced Google; 40% of users trust both equally

How much do AI search users trust AI search compared to traditional search engines like Google and Bing?

The results suggest coexistence, not replacement, as you can see in the chart below:

40% think they are equal, 25% lean toward AI, and another 25% still prefer traditional search. Meaning? Both channels matter.

Takeaway:

Don’t choose one over the other. AI search builds awareness and surfaces your brand in conversational answers. Traditional search drives click-throughs and conversions. The winning strategy optimizes for both.

Methodology

“AI-powered search” in this survey means using AI assistants or AI-enhanced search experiences to find answers, such as getting answers in the form of chatbots or AI-generated summaries.

We conducted a SurveyMonkey survey of 1,007 people in the United States on January 29 and 30, 2026 (US Eastern Time). People who said they didn’t use AI-powered search were not asked about their usage behavior, therefore the base for those questions was n=875 AI-search users. There were no demographic quotas or weighting used; the results should be seen as directional rather than representative of the broader population.