Peter Smith
Something shifted for Claude.ai in late February. According to Similarweb traffic data, the platform's daily visits climbed steeply through the second half of the month, peaking above 13 million visits on certain days. That's a striking turnaround for a platform that opened February in the 4 to 6 million daily range. For more context on the broader growth picture, see Claude Weekly Visits Surge 122% in 6 Weeks as AI Competition Heats Up.
Grok, by comparison, held steadier ground throughout February, hovering in the 9 to 11 million daily visit range with less volatility. DeepSeek showed a different pattern entirely: periodic spikes that occasionally pushed past 12 million visits, but without the sustained late-month momentum Claude.ai demonstrated. Near the end of February, Claude.ai appeared to match or overtake DeepSeek's traffic levels entirely.
Claude Closes the Gap on Grok and DeepSeek
Grok's stability is notable in its own right. As detailed in Grok Records Just 7.9% Weekend Drop, Outperforming ChatGPT and DeepSeek in User Retention, the platform has shown an unusual ability to keep users engaged even outside typical weekday usage patterns. That kind of consistency suggests a loyal core user base.
DeepSeek, meanwhile, continues to push on the technical side. Research published in the DeepSeek DualPath Paper Reports Up to 196x Higher Online Agent Throughput highlights serious advances in agentic performance and scaling that could influence where users spend their time in the months ahead.
What the Traffic Data Really Tells Us
Raw visit numbers are an imperfect metric, but they capture something real: attention. Claude.ai's late-February acceleration suggests a growing user base, renewed interest from existing users, or both. Whether that momentum holds through March will depend on how each platform manages feature development, reliability, and the constant pressure of competition in a market that keeps expanding. The race for generative AI users is far from settled.
Peter Smith
