Vertical AI agent statistics, September 2026
Miles FosterOwner and tester, RankDude
Every month I measure 46 vertical AI agent sites with data from DataForSEO, Google Trends, Tranco and Ahrefs. They are the sites that rank on Google for "vertical ai agents" plus the most-visited vertical AI agent sites overall. In September 2026 they got about 2.9 million visits from Google, 56% 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 Vertical AI agents page.
Data from DataForSEO, Tranco, Chrome UX Report, Ahrefs and SerpApi · not a ranking
Vertical AI agent 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 46 vertical AI agent sites I track. Tap one for the details.
- Visits from Google2.9Mvisits-56% vs a year ago
- Google searches720searchesfor "vertical ai agents"
- Most visited site976KvisitsSciSpace, 33% of all
- Expected in October2.9Mvisits-2% vs last month
- 2,928,029 Google visits went to the 46 vertical AI agent sites RankDude tracks in September 2026, 56% fewer than a year earlier.
- Shrinking: the vertical AI agent market is shrinking.
- 720 searches a month for “vertical ai agents” worldwide, 24% of them in the US (Google Ads, 12-month average).
- 33% of all visits go to SciSpace, the most-visited vertical AI agent; the five most-visited take 75.5%.
- 18% of visits come from the United States, followed by India, Canada and the United Kingdom.
- 2,863,742 visits expected in October 2026, likely between 2.6M and 3.1M.
Source: DataForSEO, Google Ads and Google Trends, September 2026, compiled by RankDude.
Market demand
1Is the vertical AI agent market growing in 2026?
Shrinking.
Over two years, visits went from 3.5M in October 2024 to a high of 6.8M in May 2025, and stand at 2.9M in September 2026. Five sites take 75.5% of visits, so one ranking change at the top moves the whole line.
- Visits, year on year
- -56%
- Visits, last six months
- -33%
- Name searches, US
- -23%
- Busiest month (2 years)
- May 2025, 6.8M visits
| Quarter | Visits from Google | Vs the quarter before |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 9,115,868 | -17% |
| Q2 2026 | 11,044,678 | -22% |
| Q1 2026 | 14,087,925 | -23% |
| Q4 2025 | 18,308,579 | -1% |
| Q3 2025 | 18,450,004 | -5% |
| Q2 2025 | 19,512,640 | +45% |
Quarter
- Q3 2026
- Visits from Google
- 9,115,868
- Vs the quarter before
- -17%
- Q2 2026
- Visits from Google
- 11,044,678
- Vs the quarter before
- -22%
- Q1 2026
- Visits from Google
- 14,087,925
- Vs the quarter before
- -23%
- Q4 2025
- Visits from Google
- 18,308,579
- Vs the quarter before
- -1%
- Q3 2025
- Visits from Google
- 18,450,004
- Vs the quarter before
- -5%
- Q2 2025
- Visits from Google
- 19,512,640
- Vs the quarter before
- +45%
WorldVisits a month to vertical AI agent 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 Vertical AI agents in 2026?
“vertical ai agents” is searched about 720 times a month worldwide, 24% of it in the US.
Google Trends barely registered “vertical ai agents” until August 2025; interest then climbed to its peak in May 2026. Americans make 24% of the searches but only 18% of the visits, because the big sites also draw heavily from India, Canada and United Kingdom.
- Searches a month, US
- 170
- Google Trends now
- 26/100 +117%
- Five-year peak
- 95/100 in May 2026
WorldGoogle Trends interest in "vertical ai agents", 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 vertical AI agent market in September 2026?
Fewer visits than a year ago, fewer people searching by name, and the next six months look like a slide.
The fastest growers over the year, Hippocratic AI, Billtrust and Hebbia, grew fastest, mostly from a smaller base. The losers, led by GPT for Work, lost most of their search visits (-93%).
- Visits vs August 2026
- -2%
- Biggest gain this month
- Hippocratic AI +66%
- Biggest loss this month
- VIKTOR -62%
Growing fastest, year on year
Hippocratic AI+115%
Billtrust+111%
Hebbia+65%
Falling fastest, year on year
GPT for Work-93%
Julius AI-91%
BlackLine-79%
Miles explains
Huge percentages like Hippocratic AI’s +115% 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 Vertical AI agents?
I expect October 2026 to be about the same as September 2026, and the next six months to look down.
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
- 2,863,742 visits
- Likely range
- 2.6M to 3.1M
- Expected in April 2027
- 2.7M -7%
- Past forecasts in range
- 6 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 6 times.
Industry report
5The most-visited vertical AI agent sites in 2026
The most visited is SciSpace, with 975,874 visits a month, 33% of all visits.
SciSpace and Consensus together hold 52% of all visits. Below the top five the market is long and thin: the other 41 sites share 24.5%.
- Top five sites
- 75.5% of all visits
- Visits from the US
- 18%
- Largest markets outside the US
- India, Canada and United Kingdom
- Sites tracked
- 46
Most-visited vertical AI agent sites, September 2026
SciSpace33.3%
Consensus18.4%
Elicit11.2%- Julius AI6.6%
HighRadius6.1%
Share of all visits from Google. Traffic, not quality. 14 more listed tools are not measured here: 4 sit on shared domains whose traffic is not their own, 9 live on domains whose traffic is mostly another product and 1 falls outside this category's definition.
Miles explains
SciSpace alone has 33% of all visits. That’s a big lead, but one Google update can close it fast.
Download the data
6Can I download the vertical AI agent data?
Yes. Every number on these pages comes from two CSV files, free to download.
Cite as: Miles Foster, “Vertical AI Agents Statistics, September 2026”, RankDude, https://rankdude.ai/vertical-ai-agents/statistics
7Vertical AI agent statistics: questions people ask
How many people use Vertical AI agents?
The 46 vertical AI agent sites RankDude measures got about 2.9 million visits from Google in September 2026. That counts visits from Google search only, not every visit, so the real total is higher.
Is the vertical AI agent market growing?
No. Visits are down 56% on a year ago. They have fallen 56% since October 2025. Searches for the sites by name are 23% lower than in October 2025. The forecast for October 2026 is about 2.9 million visits.
Which vertical AI agent is the most popular?
By visits from Google, SciSpace is the most visited, with about 975,874 in September 2026, followed by Consensus and Elicit. This measures traffic, not quality.
How many people search for "vertical ai agents"?
About 720 searches a month worldwide, about 170 of them in the US, on a 12-month average from Google Ads data.
Where do vertical AI agent users come from?
18% of visits come from the United States. Outside the US the largest markets are India, Canada and United Kingdom.
Where do these vertical AI agent 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.