Updated 11/02/2026 · next update 12/01/2026

AI research assistant market, October 2026

Miles FosterOwner and tester, RankDude

The market▼ Shrinkingbut name searches are up 20% since October 2025

Visits, year on year, without Screener: -37%
Visits vs September 2026: +1.6%
Name searches vs October 2025: +20%

Every month I measure Google visits to the 124 AI research assistant sites I track, and how often people search for them by name. In October 2026 they got about 104 million visits, 21% more than a year ago and 2% more than in September 2026.

Below: who grew fastest (one site is up 1200% in a year), where the visitors live and what comes next.

Data from DataForSEO, Tranco, Chrome UX Report and Ahrefs · not a ranking

AI research assistant market: the key numbers for October 2026

Four numbers for October 2026. Visits mean visits from Google search to the tracked sites. Tap one for the detail below.

Visits from Google104Mvisits+21% vs a year ago
Name searches, US1.8Msearches+20% vs October 2025
Top five sites94.3%of visitsScreener is the most visited
Expected in November104Mvisitslikely 96M to 112M

The tracked sites got 104,088,164 visits from Google in October 2026, 21% more than a year ago and 2% more than in September 2026. Screener, which takes 86.4% of all the visits, gained more visits on its own than the whole market gained in a year. Without it, visits would be down 37.4% on a year ago instead of up 21.4%.
“ai research assistant” gets about 1,900 US searches a month. People searched the site names 1,752,750 times in the US in September 2026, 20% more often than in October 2025.
No tracked site ranks on Google for “ai research assistant”. Screener is the most-visited site.
3% of visits came from the US (4.4% a year ago), then India, Canada and United Kingdom. The five most-visited sites took 94.3% of all visits.

1How many visits

In plain words: These sites got more visits from Google than a year ago (+21%), and October 2026 was about the same as September 2026 (+2%). Screener, which takes 86.4% of all the visits, gained more visits on its own than the whole market gained in a year. Without it, visits would be down 37.4% on a year ago instead of up 21.4%.

Visits, October 2026: 104,088,164 (+21.4% on a year ago, +1.6% on September 2026)
US visits: 3,088,409 (-18.4% on a year ago)
24-month peak: 127,748,304 in April 2026

WorldVisits a month to AI research assistant sites, worldwide

Low 59MHigh 128MAverage 94M

Hover, tap, or use the arrow keys to inspect a month

Source: DataForSEO, Google search visits, all tracked sites.

Miles explains

Judge this line on the year, not the last dot: visits are 21% above a year ago, and 19% below the April 2026 high. One site winning or losing a ranking can swing a single month a lot.

2How many people went looking

People typed a site’s name into Google 20% more often than in October 2025 (+20%). That is the loyalty number, because nobody types a name by accident.

Searches for "ai research assistant": 1,900 a month in the US, 6,600 worldwide (12-month average)
Name searches, September 2026: 1,752,750 in the US (+20.0% since October 2025), 9,216,210 worldwide

USSearches a month for "ai research assistant", United States

Low 480High 5.4KAverage 1.7K

Hover, tap, or use the arrow keys to inspect a month

Source: Google Ads via DataForSEO.

USSearches a month for the site names, United States

Low 1.2MHigh 1.8MAverage 1.4M

Hover, tap, or use the arrow keys to inspect a month

Source: Google Ads via DataForSEO, to September 2026.

Most searched brand names, US, ordered by searches a month
Most searched by name, US	Searches a month
Dimensions	368,000
UpToDate	368,000
AnswerThis	165,000
Quartr	165,000
Recall	165,000
Zotero	165,000
AlphaSense	40,500
NoteGPT	33,100

Most searched by name, US

Dimensions
Searches a month
368,000
UpToDate
Searches a month
368,000
AnswerThis
Searches a month
165,000
Quartr
Searches a month
165,000
Recall
Searches a month
165,000
Zotero
Searches a month
165,000
AlphaSense
Searches a month
40,500
NoteGPT
Searches a month
33,100

Ordered by US searches for the brand name in September 2026. A measured order, not a ranking.

Miles explains

Name searches are the number I trust most. They are up 20%, and nobody types a site’s name by accident, so this shows more people coming back on purpose.

3Who is on Google's first page

No tracked site is on Google’s first page for “ai research assistant”. Being on that page is the biggest single thing that decides how many visits a site gets.

Ordered by US Google position for “ai research assistant”, then Tranco rank. A measured order, not a ranking.

Google US positions for ai research assistant, the first 15 of 124 tracked sites
Site	Google US	Tranco	Move in 41 days	Search visits
Screener	–	1,591	▼ 3	89,967,726
Semantic Scholar	–	2,211	▼ 67	1,992,928
Feedly	–	3,626	▼ 114	84,469
Zotero	–	5,132	▲ 75	308,603
Mendeley	–	6,730	▲ 523	584,716
UpToDate	–	10,512	▼ 268	2,382,212
Dimensions	–	11,578	▲ 3,086	56,731
Ainvest	–	22,446	▲ 5,537	42,605
R Discovery	–	31,534	▼ 819	259,131
Anara	–	37,310	▲ 23,706	115,682
Bloomberg Tax	–	37,371	▲ 1,739	73,042
Liner	–	38,955	▲ 2,529	40,710
SciSpace	–	43,087	▼ 22,636	2,700
Paperpal	–	45,674	▲ 6,449	733,563
Connected Papers	–	49,520	▼ 1,361	65,335

Site

Screener
Google US
–
Tranco
1,591
Move in 41 days
▼ 3
Search visits
89,967,726
Semantic Scholar
Google US
–
Tranco
2,211
Move in 41 days
▼ 67
Search visits
1,992,928
Feedly
Google US
–
Tranco
3,626
Move in 41 days
▼ 114
Search visits
84,469
Zotero
Google US
–
Tranco
5,132
Move in 41 days
▲ 75
Search visits
308,603
Mendeley
Google US
–
Tranco
6,730
Move in 41 days
▲ 523
Search visits
584,716
UpToDate
Google US
–
Tranco
10,512
Move in 41 days
▼ 268
Search visits
2,382,212
Dimensions
Google US
–
Tranco
11,578
Move in 41 days
▲ 3,086
Search visits
56,731
Ainvest
Google US
–
Tranco
22,446
Move in 41 days
▲ 5,537
Search visits
42,605
R Discovery
Google US
–
Tranco
31,534
Move in 41 days
▼ 819
Search visits
259,131
Anara
Google US
–
Tranco
37,310
Move in 41 days
▲ 23,706
Search visits
115,682
Bloomberg Tax
Google US
–
Tranco
37,371
Move in 41 days
▲ 1,739
Search visits
73,042
Liner
Google US
–
Tranco
38,955
Move in 41 days
▲ 2,529
Search visits
40,710
SciSpace
Google US
–
Tranco
43,087
Move in 41 days
▼ 22,636
Search visits
2,700
Paperpal
Google US
–
Tranco
45,674
Move in 41 days
▲ 6,449
Search visits
733,563
Connected Papers
Google US
–
Tranco
49,520
Move in 41 days
▼ 1,361
Search visits
65,335

Source: DataForSEO (US Google positions) and Tranco, October 2026. First 15 of 124 sites shown.

Miles explains

No tracked site sits high on Google for “ai research assistant”, so most visits here come from people who already know the names.

4Who grew, who faded

Biggest gain in October 2026: Noiz (+135%); biggest loss: Dr.Oracle (-42%). Year-on-year growers are on the demand page.

Biggest moves in October 2026

Biggest monthly gains
Up this month	Sep 26	Oct 26	Change
Noiz	89,305	210,015	+135.2%
Paperguide	120,029	204,959	+70.8%
Video Highlight	95,773	147,283	+53.8%
TubeOnAI	7,192	10,492	+45.9%
RecCloud	114,920	166,953	+45.3%
IdeaProof	7,677	10,953	+42.7%

Up this month

Noiz
Sep 26
89,305
Oct 26
210,015
Change
+135.2%
Paperguide
Sep 26
120,029
Oct 26
204,959
Change
+70.8%
Video Highlight
Sep 26
95,773
Oct 26
147,283
Change
+53.8%
TubeOnAI
Sep 26
7,192
Oct 26
10,492
Change
+45.9%
RecCloud
Sep 26
114,920
Oct 26
166,953
Change
+45.3%
IdeaProof
Sep 26
7,677
Oct 26
10,953
Change
+42.7%

Biggest monthly losses
Down this month	Sep 26	Oct 26	Change
Dr.Oracle	528,382	306,773	-41.9%
Humata	39,963	24,164	-39.5%
R Discovery	396,910	259,131	-34.7%
Jenni	492,758	329,567	-33.1%
Ithy	29,628	20,788	-29.8%
Easemate	2,232,947	1,595,558	-28.5%

Down this month

Dr.Oracle
Sep 26
528,382
Oct 26
306,773
Change
-41.9%
Humata
Sep 26
39,963
Oct 26
24,164
Change
-39.5%
R Discovery
Sep 26
396,910
Oct 26
259,131
Change
-34.7%
Jenni
Sep 26
492,758
Oct 26
329,567
Change
-33.1%
Ithy
Sep 26
29,628
Oct 26
20,788
Change
-29.8%
Easemate
Sep 26
2,232,947
Oct 26
1,595,558
Change
-28.5%

Brand demand, since October 2025

Brand names searched more
Searched more	Oct 25	Sep 26	Change
AnswerThis	5,400	165,000	+2955.6%
Rogo	8,100	22,200	+174.1%
Vera Health	2,400	5,400	+125.0%
Semantic Scholar	14,800	33,100	+123.6%
Dimensions	165,000	368,000	+123.0%
Recall	74,000	165,000	+123.0%

Searched more

AnswerThis
Oct 25
5,400
Sep 26
165,000
Change
+2955.6%
Rogo
Oct 25
8,100
Sep 26
22,200
Change
+174.1%
Vera Health
Oct 25
2,400
Sep 26
5,400
Change
+125.0%
Semantic Scholar
Oct 25
14,800
Sep 26
33,100
Change
+123.6%
Dimensions
Oct 25
165,000
Sep 26
368,000
Change
+123.0%
Recall
Oct 25
74,000
Sep 26
165,000
Change
+123.0%

Brand names searched less
Searched less	Oct 25	Sep 26	Change
Avidnote	1,600	140	-91.2%
Kavout	1,600	320	-80.0%
Summary Generator	6,600	1,900	-71.2%
AI Summarizer	40,500	12,100	-70.1%
ChatPDF	27,100	8,100	-70.1%
PDF AI	2,900	880	-69.7%

Searched less

Avidnote
Oct 25
1,600
Sep 26
140
Change
-91.2%
Kavout
Oct 25
1,600
Sep 26
320
Change
-80.0%
Summary Generator
Oct 25
6,600
Sep 26
1,900
Change
-71.2%
AI Summarizer
Oct 25
40,500
Sep 26
12,100
Change
-70.1%
ChatPDF
Oct 25
27,100
Sep 26
8,100
Change
-70.1%
PDF AI
Oct 25
2,900
Sep 26
880
Change
-69.7%

Source: Google Ads via DataForSEO.

5Where the visitors live

About 3 of every 100 visits come from the United States.

US share of visits: 3% (4.4% a year ago)
Largest outside the US: India, Canada and United Kingdom
US share of "ai research assistant" searches: 29%

USShare of visits that come from the US (%)

Low 3High 5.9Average 4

Hover, tap, or use the arrow keys to inspect a month

US share of worldwide search visits, month by month.

Visits by country, the ten largest outside the US
Country	Search visits a month	Share of the measured countries
India	64,004,451	97.5%
Canada	566,318	0.9%
United Kingdom	431,249	0.7%
Australia	239,026	0.4%
Germany	170,168	0.3%
Brazil	137,449	0.2%
France	108,494	0.2%

Country

India
Search visits a month
64,004,451
Share of the measured countries
97.5%
Canada
Search visits a month
566,318
Share of the measured countries
0.9%
United Kingdom
Search visits a month
431,249
Share of the measured countries
0.7%
Australia
Search visits a month
239,026
Share of the measured countries
0.4%
Germany
Search visits a month
170,168
Share of the measured countries
0.3%
Brazil
Search visits a month
137,449
Share of the measured countries
0.2%
France
Search visits a month
108,494
Share of the measured countries
0.2%

Source: DataForSEO, October 2026.

Miles explains

The US is the single biggest market, but only about 3 in every 100 visits. India alone is 97.5% of the countries I measure outside it.

6Links and ratings

The tracked sites had 728,363 referring domains between them in October 2026; this is the first reading, so there is no year-on-year figure yet. The average Domain Rating is 47. Feedly has the strongest link profile at DR 91.

Strongest link profiles by Domain Rating
By Domain Rating (Ahrefs)	DR
Feedly	91
Semantic Scholar	91
UpToDate	86
Mendeley	85
Zotero	85
Bloomberg Tax	80
Dimensions	79
Ainvest	78

By Domain Rating (Ahrefs)

Feedly
DR
91
Semantic Scholar
DR
91
UpToDate
DR
86
Mendeley
DR
85
Zotero
DR
85
Bloomberg Tax
DR
80
Dimensions
DR
79
Ainvest
DR
78

Most referring domains
By referring domains	Domains
Feedly	212,869
Semantic Scholar	129,509
Zotero	52,523
Mendeley	42,762
UpToDate	39,672
Ainvest	17,115
Dimensions	15,236
Bloomberg Tax	14,791

By referring domains

Feedly
Domains
212,869
Semantic Scholar
Domains
129,509
Zotero
Domains
52,523
Mendeley
Domains
42,762
UpToDate
Domains
39,672
Ainvest
Domains
17,115
Dimensions
Domains
15,236
Bloomberg Tax
Domains
14,791

Source: DataForSEO and Ahrefs, October 2026.