Pew study confirms sharp rise of AI-written text on the web since ChatGPT's launch
One-third of web pages published since ChatGPT launched contain AI-written text. Commercial sites are 10x more likely than .edu or .gov to use it.
Why it matters
Quantifies the rapid penetration of AI-generated content across the web—a milestone for understanding how AI is reshaping information production, SEO strategies, and content-sourcing decisions across industries.
The key facts
7 to knowPew analyzed ~500k English-language web pages
33%+ of pages published since ChatGPT launch (Nov 2022) show signs of AI-generated text
Commercial .com sites 10x more likely to contain AI content than .edu or .gov domains
Dataset spans from ChatGPT launch to study date (Aug 2026)
Pew Research analyzed ~500k English-language web pages
.com sites 10x more likely to contain AI content than .edu or .gov domains
Study captures adoption velocity across 3.75+ years of ChatGPT availability
Go to the source
The Decoderthe-decoder.com
Publisher excerpt: The Pew Research Center analyzed nearly half a million English-language web pages for AI-generated content. More than a third of pages published since ChatGPT's launch show signs of machine-written text, and commercial .com sites are ten times more likely to contain AI content than .edu or .gov…