Google is losing employees to rival artificial-intelligence labs and may be falling behind in the race to build advanced AI models. One place it definitely isn't falling behind: Search traffic.
Alphabet's Google remains the undisputed leader in search, with global web and mobile traffic climbing in June, according to data compiled Monday by BofA Securities. The numbers suggest last year's fears of AI tools decimating Google search were overblown -- at least for now.
Global web visits to Google rose 4% year over year in June to 2.8 billion, per Similarweb. The strong results came despite a 736% jump in traffic to Anthropic's Claude chatbot and a 98% rise for Meta AI. Visits to OpenAI's ChatGPT were flat.
It was a similar story in mobile usage, according to data from Sensor Tower. Google's global daily average users on mobile increased 12% year over year even as ChatGPT and Claude saw a 51% and a 1,206% surge in users, respectively.
Just as importantly, Google's search and Gemini AI products didn't cannibalize each other. Gemini's web traffic has more than quadrupled over the last year, while daily users on mobile have climbed 295% -- both gaining share from ChatGPT. Google has built Gemini into its AI Overview feature on search.
The data bode well for Alphabet's second-quarter earnings report, which is slated for July 22. The search business continues to account for the majority of the company's total revenue.
"Google's recent comments on expansionary moment for Search could suggest potential for continued strength in 2026," wrote BofA analyst Justin Post. "Given stable traffic and strong eCommerce volumes in 2Q, we see potential for upside to Street search estimates."
Alphabet could use an earnings surprise. The stock is up 14% in 2026 to $355.67, outpacing the S&P 500, but it has tumbled 6.5% since the end of May.
An exodus of top researchers from DeepMind, the company's in-house AI lab, spooked investors last month. Some analysts took the departures as a sign Google was lagging OpenAI and Anthropic in developing frontier AI models.
If that is the case, Google may well lose out on enterprises looking for best-in-class AI tools. But day-to-day personal tasks rarely require the most advanced models, and consumers clearly aren't turning away from Gemini or old-fashioned Google searches.
BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating and a $430 price target on Alphabet shares in its research note Monday. Of the 70 analysts tracked by FactSet, 86% rate the stock a Buy.
Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 13, 2026 13:14 ET (17:14 GMT)
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