What the 39 percent figure measures
eMarketer forecasts that US generative AI users will grow 9.8 percent in 2026 to 133.0 million people, or about 39.2 percent of the US population. That is up from an estimated 121.1 million people, roughly 35.8 percent, in 2025. This metric counts people who enter a prompt into a generative AI tool such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Microsoft Copilot at least once a month. It is a measure of general generative AI adoption across many uses, not a measure of how many people use AI for search.
General generative AI use is not the same as AI search
eMarketer draws a clear line between general generative AI use and AI search. Its standalone generative AI user count excludes generative AI that is embedded inside traditional search engines, such as Google's AI Overviews. So the 39 percent figure should not be read as the share of people using AI to search. The two behaviors overlap, but they are measured separately, and conflating them overstates how much AI search adoption the 133 million number represents.
Why the distinction matters for GEO
Generative engine optimization, or GEO, is about making your business findable and accurately represented when people get answers from generative AI systems. The broad adoption of generative AI tools shows the audience for AI-mediated answers is large and growing. But because general use and AI search are distinct, businesses should set expectations based on how their own customers actually use these tools rather than assuming the full 39 percent are searching for products and services through AI.
A practical read for businesses
The takeaway is not a single headline percentage. It is that generative AI is now a mainstream channel worth understanding, and that the data rewards precision. Treat the 39 percent as evidence of general adoption, track AI search separately as your own analytics allow, and invest in clear, accurate, well-structured content that generative systems can cite correctly. That groundwork supports both the general tools and the search experiences that increasingly draw on them.
Key takeaways
- eMarketer projects about 133 million US generative AI users in 2026, roughly 39.2 percent of the population, up from 35.8 percent in 2025.
- That figure measures general generative AI adoption across tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot, not AI search usage specifically.
- eMarketer separates standalone generative AI use from AI embedded in search engines, so the two should not be equated.
- For GEO planning, treat broad generative AI adoption as context, track AI search separately, and prioritize accurate, well-structured content.