In the world of AI search, leaders are constantly changing, and the question of which platforms to track becomes critical for SEO specialists. Recent discussions have revolved around the Perplexity platform: should we continue monitoring it or focus exclusively on giants like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude? We will examine how changes in market share affect visibility assessment and how much money each spent ruble will bring to understand if CPM is profitable.
Is Perplexity really losing ground?
Ross Hudgens, CEO of Siege Media, claims that Perplexity’s market share is shrinking. Including it in general metrics alongside ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Google AI products can distort the real picture of visibility. Hudgens urges: “Everyone should remove Perplexity from their LLM trackers today.”
However, as experience shows, hasty conclusions can be erroneous. In March 2002, at the Search Engine Strategies conference, the reduction of tracked search engines from 15 to 5 was discussed. Google was then excluded from the list. This turned out to be a serious oversight, as Google was rapidly gaining momentum. A similar situation could repeat itself today.
Data confirms Perplexity’s decline
- According to StatCounter, in June 2026, Perplexity held 7.91% of AI chatbot referral share, almost on par with Gemini (7.94%).
- By August 2026, Perplexity’s share had fallen to 4.31%, while Gemini grew to 10.9%.
“A small market share does not always mean small strategic importance. It’s like investing in stocks: you shouldn’t always look only at current capitalization, but also at growth potential.”
The market is consolidating, but not around a single leader
The latest Similarweb data for May 2026 shows the dominance of ChatGPT (53.9% of global web visits among seven major AI assistants). Gemini accounts for 27.9%, Claude – 9.2%, DeepSeek – 4.1%, Grok – 2.4%, and Perplexity and Copilot – 1.3% each.
Significant changes occurred not in the disappearance of Perplexity, but in the emergence of a strong second player. ChatGPT’s share of AI chatbot web traffic decreased from 76.4% a year ago to 52.7% in May 2026. Gemini grew from 9% to 27.3%, and Claude – from 1.6% to 8.9%.
Key players and their advantages
- ChatGPT: over 900 million weekly active users (February), over 1 billion active users across all products (end of July). This is a huge direct consumer base.
These are not three versions of the same business, but three different distribution advantages. The market looks like an emerging oligopoly, not a “winner takes all” situation.
What SEOs Should Track
Google AI Overviews and AI Mode should not be viewed as ordinary LLMs. They are much more important. In June, Google reported that AI Overviews cover more than 2.5 billion users per month, and AI Mode exceeded 1 billion monthly users. AI Mode queries have doubled every quarter since launch.
According to Similarweb, AI Overviews appeared in 43% of Google search queries in the US by May 2026, compared to 15% a year earlier. AI Mode visits grew from 126 million in June 2025 to 279 million in May 2026.
This means that Google AI is a separate layer in the world’s dominant search ecosystem. For B2B companies, Claude is also of immense importance, despite relatively low consumer traffic. PwC, TCS, and Cognizant are actively integrating Claude into their workflows, training tens of thousands of employees. Over 1,000 business customers spend more than $1 million annually on Claude.
Three-Tier AI Visibility Measurement System
- First Tier: Platforms with scale and strategic importance. Track ChatGPT and Gemini separately. Add Claude for B2B, corporate, and professional audiences.
- Second Tier: AI search embedded in existing ecosystems. Track Google AI Overviews and AI Mode separately from ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. The goal is to measure how AI changes the search journey. Microsoft Copilot can also be included in this tier if the company has a significant presence in Microsoft 365.
- Third Tier: Emerging or specialized platforms. This includes Perplexity, Grok, DeepSeek. Do not ignore them, but do not give them equal weight. Monitor them for unusual visibility, referral traffic, citations, and growth.
Don’t Let Averages Mask Real Data
An aggregated LLM visibility metric can create a false sense of accuracy. For example, if a brand has 40% citation rate in ChatGPT, 35% in Gemini, 30% in Claude, and 90% in Perplexity, a simple average would be 48.75%. This number says little if Perplexity accounts for only a small fraction of the traffic important to the business.
Instead of asking, “What is our average LLM visibility?” you should ask, “Where do the people important to this business actually encounter our brand?”
This requires combining three data sets:
- Audience Reach: usage, visits, platform distribution.
- Visibility: mentions, citations, referring URLs, queries that generate them.
- Business Impact: linking AI referrals to engagement, leads, sales, and other conversions.
My Verdict on Perplexity
Ross Hudgens is right about the problem, but not entirely right about the solution. Don’t remove Perplexity from your LLM tracker, but reduce its weight. If Perplexity generates 1% of your AI traffic, giving it 25% or 33% weight in your visibility score is unjustified. However, if it accounts for more than 5% of referrals, as Hudgens himself suggests, the argument for it becomes stronger.
Perplexity’s trajectory is worth watching. Similarweb’s August 2026 analysis still describes Perplexity as an active player in the AI search market, noting its ad-free strategy and focus on subscriptions and enterprise deals. This shows why “small” and “insignificant” are not synonyms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What CPM should be considered profitable for AI platforms?
Profitable CPM in AI platforms depends on your target audience and ROI. If a platform generates high-quality leads or sales, even with a relatively high CPM, it can be profitable. The main thing is to consider not only the cost per impression but also the conversion rate.
Is it worth testing hypotheses cheaply on new AI platforms?
Yes, cheap hypothesis testing on new AI platforms is essential. This is how you can discover the next Google. You shouldn’t spend huge budgets on them, but monitoring and minimal testing will allow you not to miss a potential breakthrough.
What is cheaper: a banner or a blogger, when compared to AI platforms?
The question of what is cheaper, a banner or a blogger, is incorrect in the context of AI. AI platforms offer a different type of interaction. Price comparison should be done through efficiency metrics: how much does 1 million impressions via a banner cost versus the cost of generating 100 AI videos or the cost of publishing 500 videos via AI tools. Each channel has its own unit economics.
How to estimate the cost of uniqueizing one video using AI?
The cost of uniqueizing one video using AI depends on the complexity of the task and the tool used. It is important to evaluate not only direct costs but also the time that AI will save. The price per minute of AI video with an avatar also varies, but it often turns out to be more profitable than manual labor, especially for large volumes.
Conclusion
The AI search market is dynamic. Ignoring Perplexity or other niche platforms entirely means risking missing important signals. However, blindly giving them equal weight with giants distorts the picture. A mathematical approach to analysis, weighing platforms by their real business impact, and constant monitoring of new players are key to success in SEO and a profitable CPM strategy.
We count cash, not just the number of platforms in the tracker. Don’t overlook the outsiders who are gaining momentum. Perhaps among them lies the next market leader. Start analyzing your data today so you don’t miss new opportunities!
