BofA Survey: Who's Winning the AI Race

The launch of ChatGPT six months ago sparked an AI chatbot race among OpenAI, Microsoft and Google. Who’s winning thus far? Not Google. However, interest in ChatGPT is leveling off.

According to a survey from BofA Global Research, 59% of heavy internet users use ChatGPT, followed by 51% for AI-powered Bing and 34% for Google’s Bard.

When asked to pick just one AI large language model (LLM) to use, 49% chose ChatGPT vs. 26% for Bing and 21% for Bard. Moreover, 67% have or plan to download the ChatGPT app on their mobile phone - and exactly half would pay for ChatGPT premium, compared with 43% for Bard and 36% for Bing.

Troubling for Google is that 60% are using ChatGPT for search. However, all is not lost: 45% said they will use Google Search more with the integration of conversational AI tools – only 19% say they plan to use it less because of ChatGPT and Bing.

Moreover, even if Google Search had ads while ChatGPT does not, 80% of users say it will not affect which of the three they use.

But Google should not rest easy: 24% said they plan to use Bing “significantly more” with ChatGPT integration.

Google Search impact

Google Search’s market share has held steady at 93% based on Similar Web data, according to BofA analysts Justin Post and Joanna Zhao in a research note to analyze survey results.

“ChatGPT is clearly drawing interest and activity on the web. Despite this interest, we note that ChatGPT web traffic (as measured by DAUs or daily active users) appears to be leveling off at a fraction of Google's daily traffic,” they wrote.

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“For mobile, Bing and ChatGPT are very likely to draw some interest (more than Bard) and app downloads ahead of Google LLM integration into mobile search. Longer-term, Google has natural advantages for mobile including data and distribution, and we expect Google to maintain its share of commercial queries,” the analysts wrote.

BofA surveyed 1,165 U.S. internet users aged 18 to 55 in June 2023. The biggest cohort are those aged 21 to 39, comprising 59% of the survey pool.

Use cases ranked

According to the survey, top uses for ChatGPT, Bing and Bard are generating ideas and searching for information.

Broken down by LLM, ChatGPT users use it to generate ideas (73%), search for information (60%) and create content (51%). For Bing, 65% use it for search, 58% to generate ideas and 44% to respond to an email. For Bard, 56% of users use it for search, 53% to generate ideas and 50% to respond to an email.

Top features favored by ChatGPT and Bard users are speed and fluid conversations. For Bing, it is speed and image generation. Features ranked lowest are crediting sources and image generation for ChatGPT, coding capability and accuracy for Bing and crediting sources and coding capabilities for Bard.