head-to-head · ai tracker
two tools, one question — answered with daily search-interest data across 87 countries.
Right now the world searches for DeepSeek more: 2.1% of global AI-tool search interest this week versus 0.9% for Character.AI — a lead of 1.2pp. Country-by-country, Character.AI is the preferred pick in 10 of the 87 tracked countries and DeepSeek in 75. share of Google search interest — relative preference, not usage counts.
updated 2026-10-05 · search-share data through Oct 2, 2026 · refreshed daily
01 · the two-horse race
weekly, 2025-10-05 → 2026-09-27. share of Google search interest — relative preference, not usage counts.
02 · momentum
share moves from daily snapshots, side by side. share of Google search interest — relative preference, not usage counts — history accumulates from Jul 7, 2026.
03 · who prefers what
every country compared on its own shares; ranked by margin. share of Google search interest — relative preference, not usage counts.
| # | country | Character.AI | DeepSeek | margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇦🇷 Argentina | 2.5% | 1.6% | +0.9pp |
| 2 | 🇵🇭 Philippines | 0.8% | 0.0% | +0.8pp |
| 3 | 🇺🇸 United States | 1.5% | 0.9% | +0.6pp |
| 4 | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | 0.5% | 0.0% | +0.5pp |
| 5 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 1.3% | 0.9% | +0.4pp |
| 6 | 🇷🇴 Romania | 1.3% | 0.9% | +0.4pp |
| 7 | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | 1.3% | 0.9% | +0.4pp |
| 8 | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 1.3% | 0.9% | +0.4pp |
| # | country | DeepSeek | Character.AI | margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇷🇺 Russia | 34.7% | 2.4% | +32.3pp |
| 2 | 🇨🇳 China | 19.0% | 0.0% | +19.0pp |
| 3 | 🇮🇷 Iran | 8.9% | 0.4% | +8.5pp |
| 4 | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | 8.1% | 4.0% | +4.1pp |
| 5 | 🇺🇬 Uganda | 3.6% | 0.1% | +3.5pp |
| 6 | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | 3.6% | 0.2% | +3.4pp |
| 7 | 🇰🇪 Kenya | 3.6% | 0.2% | +3.4pp |
| 8 | 🇬🇭 Ghana | 3.4% | 0.2% | +3.2pp |
country links open that country’s full AI-preference page. updated 2026-10-05.
faq
Not globally — DeepSeek holds 2.1% of AI-tool search interest this week versus Character.AI's 0.9%, a gap of 1.2pp. Character.AI does lead DeepSeek in 10 of the 87 tracked countries, against 75 for DeepSeek. This measures share of Google search interest — relative preference, not usage counts.
DeepSeek out-searches Character.AI in 75 of the 87 tracked countries — most strongly in Russia (34.7% vs 2.4%), China (19.0% vs 0.0%), Iran (8.9% vs 0.4%). The full country split is in the tables above and refreshes daily.
Over the last 30 days Character.AI's global search share moved -0.1pp and DeepSeek's -0.7pp — so Character.AI has the better momentum right now. Day-to-day search share is noisy; read short windows as weather, not climate.
go deeper: Character.AI stats · DeepSeek stats · all 26 tools on one chart.