AI image generator search trends
Miles FosterOwner and tester, RankDude
Search interest▼ Fallingand 63% below its January 2024 peak
- Google Trends, year on year
- -45%
- US searches vs October 2025
- -45%
- From the five-year peak
- -63%
This page follows one Google search, “ai image generator”, over five years. Interest is 45% lower than a year ago, 63% below its peak in January 2024.
Below: the five-year chart, searches month by month, country by country and the searches people make around it.
Google Trends via SerpApi (pulled 15 October 2026); search volume and visits via DataForSEO · not a ranking
AI image generator search trends: the key numbers for September 2026
The numbers that sum up searches for “ai image generator”. Tap one for the detail below.
Interest in “ai image generator” is down 45% on a year ago: 24 out of 100 on Google Trends in September 2026, against 44 a year earlier. The five-year peak was 64, in January 2024.
People search for it about 2,240,000 times a month worldwide, 823,000 of them in the US (37%). In September 2026, US searches were 550,000, 45% fewer than in October 2025.
12.5% of visits to the tracked AI image generator sites come from the US, down from 15.9% a year ago. India, Indonesia and the Philippines come next.
Five years of interest, worldwide and in the US
WorldGoogle Trends interest, worldwide (0–100)
Source: Google Trends, 100 = peak week.
USGoogle Trends interest, United States (0–100)
United States only, same scale.
Miles explains
Here’s how I read these two lines. They don’t show how many people search, only when interest rose and fell. Worldwide, it peaked in January 2024 and sits at 24 now, lower than a year ago. In the US it’s lower than a year ago, and the Google Ads numbers below tell the same story. When you see a sharp spike, think news story, not new customers. The baseline between the spikes is the demand I actually care about.
What the term is worth, month by month
USSearches a month for "ai image generator", United States
Source: Google Ads via DataForSEO.
WorldSearches a month for "ai image generator", worldwide
Worldwide, same source.
Miles explains
This is the number I’d plan with: September 2026 had 550,000 US searches, 45% fewer than in October 2025. Google Ads rounds these figures into steps, so a small move from one month to the next usually means nothing.
The US against 24 other countries
Searches a month for “ai image generator” in each country with a Google Ads figure, twelve-month average; countries with none are left out. The United States is 36.7% of the worldwide figure; the next 3 countries together are 28.7%.
- United States823,000
- India368,000
- United Kingdom165,000
- Philippines110,000
- Canada90,500
- Australia74,000
- Pakistan49,500
- Indonesia33,100
- South Africa27,100
- Netherlands22,200
- Germany18,100
- Italy18,100
- Poland14,800
- France12,100
- Nigeria12,100
- Brazil9,900
- Sweden9,900
- Spain8,100
- Mexico6,600
- Turkey5,400
- Japan4,400
- South Korea3,600
- Vietnam3,600
- Ukraine2,900
- Argentina2,400
Miles explains
The top five countries are United States, India, United Kingdom, Philippines and Canada. Worldwide, people search for it about 2.7 times as often as in the US alone, so roughly 63.3% of the searches happen outside the US.
The searches around the term
| Search | US / month | Worldwide / month | US share |
|---|---|---|---|
| “ai image generator” | 823,000 | 2,240,000 | 37% |
| “best ai image generator” | 33,100 | 90,500 | 37% |
| “free ai image generator” | 135,000 | 368,000 | 37% |
| “ai image generator free” | 90,500 | 301,000 | 30% |
| “ai art generator” | 49,500 | 90,500 | 55% |
| “free ai art generator” | 6,600 | 12,100 | 55% |
| “text to image ai” | 5,400 | 40,500 | 13% |
| “realistic ai image generator” | 2,400 | 8,100 | 30% |
| “ai picture generator” | 110,000 | 301,000 | 37% |
| “ai image generator no sign up” | 5,400 | 12,100 | 45% |
Search
- “ai image generator”
- US / month
- 823,000
- Worldwide / month
- 2,240,000
- US share
- 37%
- “best ai image generator”
- US / month
- 33,100
- Worldwide / month
- 90,500
- US share
- 37%
- “free ai image generator”
- US / month
- 135,000
- Worldwide / month
- 368,000
- US share
- 37%
- “ai image generator free”
- US / month
- 90,500
- Worldwide / month
- 301,000
- US share
- 30%
- “ai art generator”
- US / month
- 49,500
- Worldwide / month
- 90,500
- US share
- 55%
- “free ai art generator”
- US / month
- 6,600
- Worldwide / month
- 12,100
- US share
- 55%
- “text to image ai”
- US / month
- 5,400
- Worldwide / month
- 40,500
- US share
- 13%
- “realistic ai image generator”
- US / month
- 2,400
- Worldwide / month
- 8,100
- US share
- 30%
- “ai picture generator”
- US / month
- 110,000
- Worldwide / month
- 301,000
- US share
- 37%
- “ai image generator no sign up”
- US / month
- 5,400
- Worldwide / month
- 12,100
- US share
- 45%
Source: Google Ads, 12-month averages. A dash means no volume reported.
Miles explains
The biggest related search is “free ai image generator”, at 368,000 searches a month worldwide. Rising fastest next to it on Google Trends: “nano banana ai image generator”, “whisk ai image generator” and “unrestricted ai image generator”. A sudden riser is usually news, not lasting demand.
Where the visitors to the tracked sites come from
USShare of visits that come from the US (%)
US share of worldwide search visits to all tracked sites, month by month, DataForSEO estimates.
WorldVisits a month from outside the US
Visits from outside the US a month, all tracked sites.
- India40.1%10,603,464
- Indonesia12.1%3,208,548
- Philippines10.5%2,780,077
- Canada5.7%1,516,391
- South Korea5.2%1,371,647
- Brazil4.1%1,086,431
- United Kingdom2.9%760,262
- Mexico2.4%623,291
- Germany2.1%546,243
- Japan2%538,208
- Spain1.9%508,402
- Italy1.7%455,338
- Ukraine1.6%426,477
- South Africa1.4%374,871
- Australia1.4%368,200
- Poland1.1%296,111
- France0.9%246,428
- Argentina0.8%213,866
- Turkey0.8%204,318
- Netherlands0.7%190,376
- Sweden0.4%105,478
Source: DataForSEO, September 2026.