What’s the ROI of AI Search? I get that question a lot, so I decided to share how our own business is growing month on month via AI Search.
TL;DR – Key Takeaways
Net new paying customers from Claude grew 113% MoM (June vs. July 2026) — compared to +32% from Google and +25% from ChatGPT.
All three Search Engines (Google, ChatGPT & Claude) grew in new conversions (free-trial signups)
Massively improved conversion rate: Claude’s signup-to-paid conversion rate jumped 80% MoM – signups coming from Claude converted to paid plans far more often.
Claude-influenced revenue grew from 18% to 20% of total revenue — a share gain against a base that itself grew strongly in the same month.
After we posted our June revenue results, and how much of our revenue is influenced by AI Search, ChatGPT, and Claude in particular, here’s a quick update on our July performance.
This is the third post in our series on how we measure AI search at OtterlyAI. In our first analysis, we compared self-reported attribution against last-touch attribution in Google Analytics 4, and explained why there’s a gap between the two. In our second analysis we published our June revenue results.
Net New Paid Customers – MoM Growth
The headline number is impressive: net new paying customers from Claude grew 113% MoM comparing June vs. July 2026. Google grew 32% and ChatGPT grew 25%.
In terms of net new customers overall, we had a fantastic July (the whole year is growing like crazy, to be honest, but that’s a separate story).
Let’s unpack this in a bit more detail.
New Conversions grew on all 3 AI Search Engines MoM
All three channels (Google, ChatGPT, and Claude) grew month-on-month in new conversions. A conversion, for us, is a new product signup for a free trial.
So how come Claude grew 113% in net new paid customers but only 18% in net new conversions?
The answer lies in the conversion rate. The signup-to-paid conversion rate for Claude increased 80% MoM. In other words: far more of the signups that came in via Claude went on to choose a paid plan. Google and ChatGPT conversion rates improved too (which I attribute to the ongoing improvements we make to our onboarding and product), but nowhere near as dramatically as Claude’s.
What’s the bigger business picture?
Claude didn’t just deliver massive MoM growth in new paid customers. Claude-influenced revenue also grew from 18% to 20% of total revenue. Claude is outpacing an already fast-growing base. And that’s the more meaningful read: the share gain isn’t coming from a shrinking or flat denominator. It’s genuine outperformance against a business that grew substantially in the same month.
