How popular isGoogle in search?

In August 2026, there were an estimated 414M branded searches for Google worldwide which held steady over the last 11 months. Google holds 98% estimated Share of Search among generative AI platforms worldwide and is ranked 1st of 5 competitors for search popularity. These are worldwide searches for English-language branded terms.

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Which generative AI platforms compete with Google?

Google against generative AI platforms worldwide, by month

Month	Google	OpenAI	Anthropic	Mistral AI	Cohere
Oct 2025	97.4%	2.2%	0.19%	0.19%	0.03%
Nov 2025	97.4%	2.2%	0.24%	0.19%	0.02%
Dec 2025	97%	2.6%	0.19%	0.19%	0.02%
Jan 2026	98%	1.4%	0.29%	0.19%	0.02%
Feb 2026	96.3%	1.7%	1.7%	0.23%	0.03%
Mar 2026	95.5%	3.1%	1.2%	0.23%	0.03%
Apr 2026	97.1%	1.8%	0.96%	0.19%	0.03%
May 2026	97.2%	1.8%	0.79%	0.19%	0.03%
Jun 2026	97.4%	1.2%	1.2%	0.19%	0.03%
Jul 2026	98%	1.2%	0.65%	0.16%	0.03%
Aug 2026	98%	1.2%	0.65%	0.16%	0.03%
Sep 2026	—	—	—	—	—

Rank	Brand	Share of Search	Estimated monthly branded searches	vs prior month
1, held 1st	Google	98%	414M	0%
2, held 2nd	OpenAI	1.2%	5M	0%
3, held 3rd	Anthropic	0.65%	2.7M	0%
4, held 4th	Mistral AI	0.16%	673K	0%
5, held 5th	Cohere	0.03%	110K	0%

1.Google
98%
Held 1st. 414M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.
2.OpenAI
1.2%
Held 2nd. 5M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.
3.Anthropic
0.65%
Held 3rd. 2.7M estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.
4.Mistral AI
0.16%
Held 4th. 673K estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.
5.Cohere
0.03%
Held 5th. 110K estimated branded searches, 0% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

Compare search popularity between Google and its closest rivals

How has branded search demand for Google changed worldwide over the last 12 months?

3 findings

Across the 11 months ending August 2026, estimated monthly branded searches for Google worldwide held steady at 414M.
Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Google’s estimated Share of Search among generative AI platforms worldwide increased from 97.4% to 98%.
Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Google’s estimated Share of Search among generative AI platforms worldwide peaked at 98% in January 2026 and was lowest at 95.5% in March 2026.

How did search popularity change for generative AI platforms worldwide in August 2026?

3 changes

Estimated monthly branded searches for Anthropic worldwide rose 232.9% over 11 measured months, from 823K to 2.7M in August 2026.
Estimated monthly branded searches for OpenAI worldwide fell 45.3% over 11 measured months, from 9.1M to 5M in August 2026.
Estimated monthly branded searches for Mistral AI worldwide fell 18.2% over 11 measured months, from 823K to 673K in August 2026.

Where does Google compete?

Google is ranked in five competitor sets. Each share is worked out among that set's brands, so it differs from set to set.

Competitor set	Rank	Share of Search	Ranking
Streaming device brands	2nd of 5	49.5%	Show ranking
Smart speaker brands	2nd of 5	49.9%	Show ranking
Smartphone brands	1st of 5	93.7%	Show ranking
Generative AI platforms	1st of 5	98%	Shown above
Range extender brands	1st of 6	99.3%	Show ranking

How is Google measured?

Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Google’s name. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for this branded term can be used to understand whether interest in the brand is growing, holding steady, or fading.

1 branded search term