As rivals rise, is ChatGPT losing its edge?

With new features and growing user bases, AI chatbots like Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, and Perplexity are gaining momentum in 2025—challenging ChatGPT’s dominance. While ChatGPT still leads with over 122 million daily users and strong enterprise adoption, the gap is narrowing. From coding and research to writing and translation, professionals are exploring alternatives that offer niche advantages and evolving capabilities.

As AI chatbots become increasingly essential in professional workflows, the competition among leading platforms is heating up. While OpenAI’s ChatGPT remains the most widely adopted, tools like Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Anthropic Claude, and Perplexity are catching up fast with continuous improvements. This raises a key question: Is ChatGPT still the clear leader, or are others beginning to edge closer?

In terms of reach and scale, ChatGPT maintains a dominant position. As of May 2025, it registered 122.6 million daily users and nearly 800 million weekly users—a sharp rise from around 100 million in late 2023 to 400 million in early 2025, before doubling again following recent updates, according to OpenAI’s CEO at TED 2025. It now ranks among the top five most visited websites globally, having attracted 4.5 billion visits in March, up from 3.9 billion in February. With over 1 billion queries processed each day, ChatGPT is firmly embedded in the daily habits of users. It also holds the record for being the fastest app ever to reach 100 million users, doing so within two months of launch. By early 2025, it is in use across 92% of Fortune 100 companies and by nearly one in four American adults, indicating widespread adoption across both business and consumer segments.

Google Gemini, formerly Bard, has been steadily growing. In January 2025, it saw 267.6 million visits, increasing to 284 million the following month, suggesting a strong user base in the tens of millions. By late 2024, Gemini commanded 13–14% of the AI chatbot market and was available in over 230 countries and more than 40 languages. Google expects its user base to eventually cross the one billion mark, but for now, it continues to trail ChatGPT in scale.

Microsoft Copilot, embedded within Bing, Windows, and the Microsoft Office suite, is leveraging its ecosystem to build a substantial user base. Following the launch of AI chat in Bing, the platform hit 100 million daily active users by March 2023, rising to 140 million by April 2024. Bing now sees around 500 million monthly visitors, and Copilot accounts for roughly 14% of market usage. Its close integration with productivity tools makes it especially valuable for enterprise users.

Meanwhile, Anthropic’s Claude has carved out a smaller but technically respected presence. Known for its ability to handle up to 100,000 tokens of context, Claude is primarily accessed through APIs and platforms like AWS Bedrock and Slack’s AI assistant. With 2–3% of the market, a few million active users, and 16% growth in late 2024, it’s gaining popularity, particularly among developers and enterprises looking for high-context AI solutions.

Choosing the right tool depends on the user’s professional needs. If they are aiming to use an AI assistant for development work, it’s wise to consider a paid version for better performance. Many developers choose ChatGPT Pro for its reliability, though even the free GPT-4o model offers solid support. Perplexity, which gives access to multiple models, allows for comparing responses and performs even better in its Pro version. Gemini 2.5 has seen major upgrades but offers limited features in its free plan. Both Copilot and Claude also deliver helpful code snippets in specific situations, though none of these AI tools can yet fully replace developers for complex or large-scale projects.

These chatbots also prove invaluable in learning and training contexts. They help junior team members quickly get up to speed on new AI tools or frameworks, reducing the need for constant mentoring. Unlike code generation, their use as learning aids or research assistants plays to their strengths, allowing users to explore general concepts, best practices, and documentation faster. Even the free versions are effective in this role, provided users verify responses when accuracy matters.

For in-depth research and strategy work, Perplexity has become a preferred option due to its academic search tools and model-switching ability—making it particularly useful for time-sensitive topics. ChatGPT, which launched a deep research capability in early 2025, excels at tackling structured and in-depth queries. However, free access is unavailable, and even Plus subscribers are limited to 30 detailed searches per month. Gemini, powered by Google’s search legacy, also performs well, especially since its latest update.

Professionals are increasingly using AI chatbots for writing and content generation as well. From drafting emails and creating training materials to developing outlines and scripts, these AI tools boost productivity. For high-quality writing, Claude Pro is a strong contender, often producing responses that sound more natural and human-like. That said, just as engineers don’t ship unreviewed AI-generated code, marketers should also avoid using AI-generated content as-is for external communications. These AI tools are best used for brainstorming and internal drafts, not final campaigns.

ChatGPT, in particular, has improved in generating visual content, thanks to enhanced image creation features—making it a helpful tool for initial marketing concepts or presentation assets. Still, like text, these visuals should be reviewed before external use.

In translation tasks, AI tools have proven to be quite effective—especially for brief messages or team communication across languages. Uploading documents directly often enhances results. ChatGPT’s newer models perform well here, but for lengthier or formal materials, it’s better to rely on dedicated translation tools like DeepL or Google Translate. And when translating for public or professional use, it’s always wise to have a human expert review the content.

In conclusion, ChatGPT continues to lead in terms of scale, versatility, and usage, but competition is intensifying. Each platform—Gemini, Copilot, Claude, and Perplexity—is carving out specific niches. While free versions cover many everyday needs, professionals looking for accuracy, depth, and reliability may benefit from investing in paid plans tailored to their tasks.