AI answering service statistics, September 2026
Miles FosterOwner and tester, RankDude
Every month I measure 11 AI answering service sites with data from DataForSEO, Google Trends, Tranco and Ahrefs. They are the sites that rank on Google for "ai answering service" plus the most-visited AI answering service sites overall. In September 2026 they got about 43,888 visits from Google, 40% fewer than a year ago.
Below: one short section per statistics page, starting with whether the market is growing. The tools I test are on the AI answering services page.
Data from DataForSEO, Tranco, Chrome UX Report, Ahrefs and SerpApi · not a ranking
AI answering service statistics: the key numbers for September 2026
Four numbers for September 2026, each counted over the month. Visits mean visits from Google search to the 11 AI answering service sites I track. Tap one for the details.
- Visits from Google43.9Kvisits-40% vs a year ago
- Most visited site14.9KvisitsSmith.ai, 34% of all
- Expected in October43.9Kvisits0% vs last month
- 43,888 Google visits went to the 11 AI answering service sites RankDude tracks in September 2026, 40% fewer than a year earlier.
- Shrinking: the AI answering service market is shrinking.
- 34% of all visits go to Smith.ai, the most-visited AI answering service; the five most-visited take 84.6%.
- 47.6% of visits come from the United States, followed by India, the United Kingdom and Canada.
- 43,888 visits expected in October 2026, likely between 17.9K and 69.9K.
Source: DataForSEO, Google Ads and Google Trends, September 2026, compiled by RankDude.
Market demand
1Is the AI answering service market growing in 2026?
Shrinking.
Over two years, visits went from 223K in October 2024 to a high of 223K in October 2024, and stand at 43.9K in September 2026. Five sites take 84.6% of visits, so one ranking change at the top moves the whole line.
- Visits, year on year
- -40%
- Visits, last six months
- -62%
- Name searches, US
- -26%
- Busiest month (2 years)
- October 2024, 223K visits
| Quarter | Visits from Google | Vs the quarter before |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 263,486 | -6% |
| Q2 2026 | 279,612 | -26% |
| Q1 2026 | 379,509 | +37% |
| Q4 2025 | 277,825 | +35% |
| Q3 2025 | 205,609 | +0.4% |
| Q2 2025 | 204,731 | -31% |
Quarter
- Q3 2026
- Visits from Google
- 263,486
- Vs the quarter before
- -6%
- Q2 2026
- Visits from Google
- 279,612
- Vs the quarter before
- -26%
- Q1 2026
- Visits from Google
- 379,509
- Vs the quarter before
- +37%
- Q4 2025
- Visits from Google
- 277,825
- Vs the quarter before
- +35%
- Q3 2025
- Visits from Google
- 205,609
- Vs the quarter before
- +0.4%
- Q2 2025
- Visits from Google
- 204,731
- Vs the quarter before
- -31%
WorldVisits a month to AI answering service sites, worldwide
Miles explains
I only call a market growing when visits and name searches agree. Here visits are down and name searches are down, so they agree.
Search trends
2How many people search for AI answering services in 2026?
Google Trends barely registered “ai answering service” until September 2025; interest then climbed to its peak in September 2026.
- Google Trends now
- 52/100 +420%
- Five-year peak
- 52/100 in September 2026
WorldGoogle Trends interest in "ai answering service", worldwide (0–100)
Miles explains
Google Trends shows direction, not volume. Interest is higher than a year ago, and I only trust that when the visits move the same way.
Monthly analysis
3What changed in the AI answering service market in September 2026?
Fewer visits than a year ago, fewer people searching by name, and the next six months look flat.
The losers, led by Newo, lost most of their search visits (-92%).
- Visits vs August 2026
- -59%
- Biggest gain this month
- Smith.ai +20%
- Biggest loss this month
- Newo -98%
Growing fastest, year on year
Moneypenny+16%
Falling fastest, year on year
Newo-92%
Smith.ai-58%
Miles explains
Huge percentages like Moneypenny’s +16% usually mean one site won a big Google ranking from a small start. I watch whether it holds the next month.
Monthly forecast
4What happens next for AI answering services?
I expect October 2026 to be about the same as September 2026, and the next six months to look flat.
The forecast carries the level of recent months forward, not the trend line, because that version missed least when tested on past months.
- Expected in October 2026
- 43,888 visits
- Likely range
- 17.9K to 69.9K
- Expected in April 2027
- 43.9K 0%
- Past forecasts in range
- 3 of 6 months
Visits from Google search to the tracked sites, a month. Hover or tap the chart for each month.
Miles explains
Read the range, not the single number: tested on the last 6 months, my method landed inside its range 3 times.
Industry report
5The most-visited AI answering service sites in 2026
The most visited is Smith.ai, with 14,923 visits a month, 34% of all visits.
Smith.ai and Moneypenny together hold 53% of all visits. Below the top five the market is long and thin: the other 6 sites share 15.4%.
- Top five sites
- 84.6% of all visits
- Visits from the US
- 47.6%
- Largest markets outside the US
- India, United Kingdom and Canada
- Sites tracked
- 11
Most-visited AI answering service sites, September 2026
- Smith.ai34.0%
- Moneypenny19.3%
Posh19.2%
Upfirst6.9%
Abby Connect5.3%
Share of all visits from Google. Traffic, not quality. 32 more listed tools are not measured here: 18 are measured in the category of their main product, 13 sit on shared domains whose traffic is not their own and 1 lives on a domain whose traffic is mostly another product.
Miles explains
Smith.ai alone has 34% of all visits. That’s a big lead, but one Google update can close it fast.
Download the data
6Can I download the AI answering service data?
Yes. Every number on these pages comes from two CSV files, free to download.
Cite as: Miles Foster, “AI Answering Service Statistics, September 2026”, RankDude, https://rankdude.ai/ai-answering-service/statistics
7AI answering service statistics: questions people ask
How many people use AI answering services?
The 11 AI answering service sites RankDude measures got about 43,888 visits from Google in September 2026. That counts visits from Google search only, not every visit, so the real total is higher.
Is the AI answering service market growing?
No. Visits are down 40% on a year ago. They have fallen 69% since January 2026. Searches for the sites by name are 26% lower than in October 2025. The forecast for October 2026 is about 43,888 visits.
Which AI answering service is the most popular?
By visits from Google, Smith.ai is the most visited, with about 14,923 in September 2026, followed by Moneypenny and Posh. This measures traffic, not quality.
Where do AI answering service users come from?
47.6% of visits come from the United States. Outside the US the largest markets are India, United Kingdom and Canada.
Where do these AI answering service statistics come from?
Traffic, rankings and search volume come from DataForSEO, popularity from Tranco and the Chrome UX Report, link strength from Ahrefs and search interest from Google Trends via SerpApi. The figures are pulled once a month, after the month has closed, and each edition is kept as published, apart from any correction, which is dated on the page.