Ahead of Apple's WWDC, BrightEdge Data Reveals Mobile AI Web Search Remains Open Frontier
Despite overall mobile usage, desktop leads in AI search referrals to brands, but a single change in Apple’s default search engine could trigger a major shift
SAN MATEO, Calif., June 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BrightEdge, the global leader in AI-driven organic search, content, and digital marketing automation, today announced new findings revealing a significant disparity in how users engage with AI-powered search engines across mobile and desktop devices: over 90% of referral traffic from AI search engines comes from users on desktop. With untapped potential in mobile web search and over half of Google’s mobile traffic stemming from Apple phones, any AI-powered moves from Apple on default browser could ignite a seismic shift.
The Desktop vs. Mobile Web Divide in AI Search
BrightEdge’s April 2025 search referral traffic data revealed a significant skew towards desktop for AI-specific search. In addition to small percentages coming from devices such as tablets, leading AI and traditional search engines showed the following splits:
- Google: 44% desktop vs. 53% mobile
- Bing: 95% desktop vs. 4% mobile
- Chatgpt.com: 94% desktop vs. 6% mobile
- Perplexity.ai: 96% desktop vs. 3% mobile
- Google Gemini: 94% desktop vs. 5% mobile
"We are seeing a clear trend: desktop is currently the primary arena for AI web search disruption," said Jim Yu, Founder and CEO of BrightEdge. "While AI tools like ChatGPT are seeing massive adoption via mobile apps, the mobile web search landscape is surprisingly untouched by the AI moment—Google still dominates the chessboard. But Apple controls a pivotal piece. A single move, one change to Safari's default search engine, could reshape everything and we’re only at the start of the game."
Apple’s Control of Mobile Web Search
While Google maintains an overwhelming market share in overall search (89%), and an even stronger position on mobile (93%), the latter dominance is crucially in mobile web search. BrightEdge data indicates that Apple phones alone account for 58% of Google’s mobile traffic to US and European brand websites. But with Safari being the default for around a billion users, any change to that default could reallocate countless search queries overnight.
Apple’s vendor-agnostic Apple Intelligence also suggests opportunities for seismic shifts in web search. While generative AI tools have surged in popularity through apps on IOS, mobile web search—where the majority of search still occurs—remains largely controlled by Google, via Safari defaults. This makes Apple's control of Safari the most valuable real estate in the mobile search landscape.
For further analysis on the desktop and mobile AI dynamics, BrightEdge’s full report is available here.
For continued and comprehensive awareness of how your brand shows up across traditional and AI search, explore BrightEdge’s AI Catalyst at: https://www.brightedge.com/ai-catalyst.
About BrightEdge
BrightEdge, the global leader in Enterprise SEO and content performance, empowers digital marketers to transform online opportunities into tangible business results. Its all-in-one platform provides organizations with crucial market insights and intelligent AI-driven solutions. The BrightEdge platform contains the industry's most unique and extensive data set that connects key search, social, content, and digital media data points. Its deep-learning engine, DataMind, has been powering SEO AI-driven solutions since 2015, allowing marketers to benefit from high-fidelity data-led insights and automated action. Over 57% of Fortune 100 companies and nine of the top ten international agencies trust BrightEdge to help them provide the best performance by becoming an integral part of the digital experience.
Contact: press@brightedge.com
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