Alex Dudov
⬤ Grok's officially passed DeepSeek in worldwide website traffic, shaking up the competitive landscape for AI platforms. Similarweb's Global AI Tracker shows Grok moving into the lead as of mid-January 2026, with the platform now pulling 3.5% of global generative AI web traffic compared to DeepSeek's 3.3%. The data reveals a clear crossover after months of the two platforms running neck and neck.
⬤ Here's what happened: DeepSeek saw a massive spike in early 2025, hitting over 40 million daily visits before things cooled off. Throughout 2025, traffic steadily dropped and leveled out at lower numbers. Meanwhile, Grok started the year with relatively quiet traffic but kept climbing consistently. By early 2026, those steady gains paid off—Grok caught up and then overtook DeepSeek.
⬤ The bigger picture? ChatGPT's still the heavyweight champion with 64.6% of global AI traffic, and Gemini holds about 22%. That means Grok and DeepSeek are fighting for single-digit market share, but the reversal shows how quickly momentum can shift when users start gravitating toward a different platform. Website traffic's become the go-to metric for measuring engagement in the AI sector, and Grok's one-year climb from underdog to DeepSeek competitor proves competitive positions can flip faster than most people expect.
Alex Dudov
