More U.S. consumers in an Adobe Express survey said they’ve used TikTok for search than in the company’s 2024 survey. But the platform’s position as a Google challenger may be weaker than the headline numbers suggest.
An updated report from Adobe Express, published February 17, surveyed 807 consumers and 200 small business owners in the US about their search habits across platforms. Adobe says the data was collected in January 2026, and that the SurveyMonkey survey was conducted in February 2026.
Forty-nine percent of consumers surveyed said they have used TikTok as a search engine, up 8 percentage points from 41% in Adobe’s 2024 report.
Gen Z Is Pulling Back
Among Gen Z respondents, the share who said they are more likely to rely on TikTok than Google fell from 8% in 2024 to 4% in 2026.
Sixty-five percent of Gen Z still said they’ve used TikTok as a search engine, and 25% found it effective for finding information. But that usage isn’t translating into preference over Google the way it did two years ago.
That tracks with separate reporting from Axios in 2024. The Axios data showed Google still held the top spot as Gen Z’s preferred search starting point, with 46% of users aged 18-24 beginning their queries there.
ChatGPT Pulls Ahead As A Google Alternative
14% of consumers said they are more likely to rely on ChatGPT than on Google as a search engine. That’s double the 7% who said the same about TikTok.
The ChatGPT figure was consistent across age groups, with 12% of Gen Z, 15% of millennials, 15% of Gen X, and 14% of baby boomers. TikTok-over-Google numbers were low across every group and lowest among baby boomers (2%), with millennials (8%) actually higher than Gen Z (4%).
When asked which platforms they found most helpful for search, consumers ranked Google first at 85%, followed by Reddit (29%), ChatGPT (26%), YouTube (24%), and TikTok (16%).
Business Investment Is Cooling
Among the 200 business owners surveyed, 58% had used TikTok for promotions. They allocated an average of 16% of their marketing budget to TikTok content creation and 15% of their SEO budget to TikTok search optimization.
Only 38% said they plan to increase investment in TikTok affiliate marketing, down from 53% who said the same in 2024.
The top challenge business owners reported was converting TikTok engagement into sales (38%), followed by growing follower counts and engagement rates (36%).
Influencer marketing use grew, with 38% of small business owners using TikTok influencers for product sales or promotions, up from 25% in 2024.
Why This Matters
The “TikTok is replacing Google” narrative has been a recurring theme since at least 2022. This data complicates that story. Optimizing for TikTok search still makes sense if your audience skews younger, but the data suggests Gen Z may be settling into a multi-platform pattern rather than abandoning Google.
The ChatGPT numbers are worth watching more closely. If 14% of consumers across all age groups say they’re more likely to rely on ChatGPT than Google, that’s a broader competitive signal than TikTok’s Gen Z niche.
Looking Ahead
Adobe’s report is vendor-funded and conducted via SurveyMonkey with 1,007 respondents (807 consumers and 200 business owners). Adobe says data was collected in January 2026. The sample skews millennial-heavy (53%), with Gen Z making up only 15% of consumers surveyed. No margin of error was disclosed.
The year-over-year comparisons are based on Adobe’s own prior data, not an independently replicated sample. The generational trends are directional rather than definitive.
Still, the direction in the data aligns with broader industry observations. Consumers are using more platforms for search-like behavior, but Google remains dominant. The real competition for Google’s search role, based on this survey at least, may be coming from AI chatbots rather than social video.
Featured Image: Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock
