ChatGPT most-used AI platform to find info in India; 31% willing to switch to DeepSeek: Survey

About half the number of Indian internet users surveyed are already using AI platforms, with OpenAI's ChatGPT leading the segment, an online survey said on Tuesday.

For 40% of respondents, Google and other search engines are the preferred mode for information, over AI platforms, the online survey firm LocalCircles said.

The survey conducted between August 11, 2024, and February 1, 2025, claims to have received over 92,000 responses from citizens located in 309 districts of India, while the number of responses for each question varied.

In response to a question on which AI platform they mostly used for information, 28% of the 15,377 respondents said they use ChatGPT, 9% Perplexity, 6% Co-Pilot directly or via Bing, 3% each uses "Gemini via Google" and Llama, while 6% indicated "an AI platform not listed in the survey".

"To sum up, 1 in 2 Indian internet users are already using AI platforms, with ChatGPT being most widely used among those surveyed," LocalCircles said.

The survey found that 90% AI users use these platforms primarily in text mode while 10% use them in voice mode.

When asked about the new platform DeepSeek developed in China, which provides advanced AI features free to consumers, 8% of 15,753 AI platform users stated that they have already switched to it, 15% stated that they "will switch unless other platforms also offer advanced features free", 8% stated they will switch regardless, and 38% expressed an unwillingness to switch.

"3 in 10 Indian users of AI platforms have switched to DeepSeek or will soon," the survey said. It also found that 3 in 10 Indian users of AI platforms surveyed, have a paid or premium subscription.