Brandwave

How popular isNotebookLM?

In September 2026, people searched for NotebookLM by name about 24.5 million times worldwide, a 106.1% increase from the previous year. These searches made up 60.8% of all global AI research assistant searches, placing NotebookLM first out of six assistants. When we asked both ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews about AI research assistants, NotebookLM appeared in four of the five answers and was the third most recommended of the six.

Search and AI answers in September 2026

NotebookLM is the most searched of 6 competitors and the third most recommended in AI answers.

  1. NotebookLMShare of searches 60.8%Mentioned in 4 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 3rd
  2. PerplexityShare of searches 33.4%Mentioned in 3 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 2nd
  3. ConsensusShare of searches 3.8%Mentioned in 4 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 4th
  4. ElicitShare of searches 1.1%Mentioned in 5 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 1st
  5. Semantic ScholarShare of searches 0.75%Mentioned in 1 of 5 AI answersPlace in AI recommendations 6th

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Top AI research assistants in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews

In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, NotebookLM was mentioned in four out of five: in all three ChatGPT answers and in one of the two Google AI Overviews. NotebookLM is the third most recommended of the six.

Most recommended by AI

Brands get a higher ranking if they are mentioned earlier in the answers.

  1. Elicit1st
  2. Perplexity2nd
  3. NotebookLM3rd
  4. Consensus4th
  5. Scite5th
  6. Semantic Scholar6th

Mentioned by AI

Each dot is one answer, filled in when that answer mentions the brand.

  • Elicit5 of 5Named in 3 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 2 of 2 Google answers
  • NotebookLM4 of 5Named in 3 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • Consensus4 of 5Named in 3 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers
  • Perplexity3 of 5Named in 3 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 0 of 2 Google answers
  • Scite3 of 5Named in 1 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 2 of 2 Google answers
  • Semantic Scholar1 of 5Named in 0 of 3 ChatGPT answersNamed in 1 of 2 Google answers

See every answer about AI research assistants

5 answers

Brands are shown in the order each answer named them. The survey took place in the United States on October 19, 2026.

Which AI research assistants compete with NotebookLM?

NotebookLM against AI research assistants worldwide, by month

Share of searches by month for NotebookLM, Perplexity, Consensus. The figures are in the table below the chart.

View monthly share of searches table
MonthNotebookLMPerplexityConsensusElicitSemantic ScholarScite
Oct 202523%73%2.2%1.1%0.58%0.12%
Nov 202530.6%65.1%2.6%0.99%0.54%0.13%
Dec 202542.1%53.8%2.5%0.95%0.52%0.13%
Jan 202649.7%45.8%2.8%1.1%0.5%0.12%
Feb 202649.9%45.6%2.6%1.1%0.62%0.12%
Mar 202653.3%41.8%2.8%1.2%0.8%0.11%
Apr 202658.3%37.1%2.8%1.1%0.59%0.1%
May 202662.7%32.7%3%0.94%0.52%0.08%
Jun 202662.6%32.7%3.3%0.94%0.42%0.08%
Jul 202660.3%34.6%3.2%1.1%0.63%0.08%
Aug 202660.8%33.7%3.6%1.1%0.61%0.1%
Sep 202660.8%33.4%3.8%1.1%0.75%0.12%

  1. 1.NotebookLM

    60.8%

    Held 1st. 24.5M estimated branded searches, +22.8% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

  2. 2.Perplexity

    33.4%

    Held 2nd. 13.4M estimated branded searches, +21.3% vs prior month. Share -0.4 points.

  3. 3.Consensus

    3.8%

    Held 3rd. 1.6M estimated branded searches, +30.1% vs prior month. Share +0.2 points.

  4. 4.Elicit

    1.1%

    Held 4th. 450K estimated branded searches, +22.3% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

  5. 5.Semantic Scholar

    0.75%

    Held 5th. 301K estimated branded searches, +49.8% vs prior month. Share +0.1 points.

  6. 6.Scite

    0.12%

    Held 6th. 49.5K estimated branded searches, +49.5% vs prior month. Share 0 points.

Compare popularity between NotebookLM and its closest rivals

Every comparison with NotebookLM

16 comparisons

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

4 findings
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, estimated monthly branded searches for NotebookLM worldwide rose from 11.9M to 24.5M.
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, NotebookLM’s share of searches among AI research assistants worldwide increased from 23% to 60.8%.
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, NotebookLM’s share of searches among AI research assistants worldwide peaked at 62.7% in May 2026 and was lowest at 23% in October 2025.
  • Across the 12 months ending September 2026, NotebookLM rose from 2nd to 1st among AI research assistants worldwide.

How did search popularity change for AI research assistants worldwide in September 2026?

5 changes

  1. Estimated monthly branded searches for NotebookLM worldwide rose 106.1% over 12 measured months, from 11.9M to 24.5M in September 2026.

  2. Estimated monthly branded searches for Consensus worldwide rose 37.9% over 12 measured months, from 1.1M to 1.6M in September 2026.

  3. Estimated monthly branded searches for Perplexity worldwide fell 64.4% over 12 measured months, from 37.7M to 13.4M in September 2026.

  4. Estimated monthly branded searches for Elicit worldwide fell 18.2% over 12 measured months, from 550K to 450K in September 2026.

  5. Estimated monthly branded searches for Scite worldwide fell 18.2% over 12 measured months, from 60.5K to 49.5K in September 2026.

How are NotebookLM’s branded searches counted?

2 search terms

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

  • notebook lm
  • notebooklm

How the Brand Demand Index is measured

Who owns NotebookLM?

NotebookLM is owned by Google. Brandwave also tracks AppSheet, Chrome Remote Desktop, Display & Video 360, Firebase, Fitbit, Gemini, Gmail, Google, Google Ads, Google Alerts, Google Analytics, Google Artifact Registry, Google Authenticator, Google Chat, Google Chrome, Google Chromecast, Google Classroom, Google Cloud, Google Cloud Dataflow, Google Cloud Identity, Google Cloud Pub/Sub, Google Cloud Run, Google Cloud Secret Manager, Google Cloud Speech-to-Text, Google Cloud Storage, Google Cloud Vertex AI, Google Colab, Google DeepMind, Google Display & Video 360, Google Document AI, Google Drive, Google Earth Engine, Google Family Link, Google Forms, Google Keep, Google Keyword Planner, Google Maps, Google Maps Platform, Google Meet, Google Meridian, Google Nest, Google Nest Wifi, Google Project Management Certificate, Google Rich Results Test, Google Security Operations, Google Slides, Google Tasks, Google Threat Intelligence, Google Translate, Google Vault, Google Veo, Google Workspace, Looker, Looker Studio, Material Symbols, Snapseed, TensorFlow Serving, YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube Studio and YouTube TV, owned by the same company, worldwide.

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Where does NotebookLM compete?

NotebookLM is ranked in four competitor sets. Each share is worked out among that set's brands, so it differs from set to set.
Competitor setRankShare of searchesRanking
AI research assistants1st of 660.8%Shown above
AI research tools1st of 661.2%Show ranking
AI summarisation tools1st of 581.9%Show ranking
AI PDF tools1st of 786.2%Show ranking
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