ChatGPT and Nano Banana Dominate the AI Landscape in 2026

For the third consecutive year, an in-depth survey on the use of AI tools by digital professionals has been conducted in collaboration with the consulting and training firm SocIAty. This study, carried out between April 24 and May 29, 2026, gathered responses from 807 participants across various sectors such as communication, marketing, development, design, and acquisition. The goal was to provide an overview of the most widely used generative AI tools in these fields.

The results show a more balanced market distribution, previously dominated by OpenAI, among several major players. The adoption of AI tools is becoming widespread, with nearly universal use of text generators, reaching 95.4% of professionals. Image generators are also widely adopted, with 70.4% of users, followed by code generation tools at 44.7%, and finally video generators, which remain in the minority with 24.2% of users.

Text Generators: ChatGPT Leads, Claude Takes Second Place

In the field of text generation, ChatGPT maintains its leading position with 64.7% of users. However, its dominance is waning, down from 82% in 2025, a drop of over 17 points. Meanwhile, Claude, the assistant developed by Anthropic, is experiencing a meteoric rise, climbing from 17% to 48.8% in just one year, thus securing the second place. Gemini follows a similar trajectory, increasing from 26% to 43.1%, and closing in on Claude.

Behind this leading trio, Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity compete for the next spots with 20.8% and 20.2% of users, respectively. NotebookLM makes a notable entry with 16.6%, followed by Vibe (formerly Le Chat) at 11.8%. Non-users of text generators are becoming rare, now representing only 4.6% of respondents, down from 14.5% the previous year.

Image Generators: Nano Banana Makes a Strong Debut

Nano Banana, an image generator developed by Google and integrated into Gemini, makes a striking entry into the market. Although it is new, it is already used by 30% of respondents, placing it directly in second position among image generators. This arrival impacts ChatGPT, which remains at the top but sees its user share drop from 51% in 2025 to 38.5%, a decrease of 13 points.

Canva, although slightly down from 28% to 25.4%, maintains its position as a popular image tool, especially among the general public, ahead of Adobe Firefly, which falls to 8.4%. The proportion of non-users of image generators remains stable at 29.6%, compared to 30% the previous year, indicating that image use is still optional and dependent on the profession.

Code Generators: Nearly One in Two Digital Professionals Affected

Code generation is extending beyond developers, with 44.7% of digital professionals using at least one tool of this type in 2026. Claude Code stands out, cited by 29.6% of respondents, nearly double that of ChatGPT's Codex, which is used by 15.2%.

Other tools such as GitHub Copilot (6.3%), Gemini Code Assist (5.9%), Lovable (5%), and Cursor (3.6%) are also mentioned. A dedicated article will explore in more detail how these tools are integrated into the daily work of developers and other professionals.

Video Generators: Veo Takes the Lead, Sora Fades Away

Video remains the least widespread use of generative AI, with 75.8% of professionals not using any such tools, although this proportion has slightly decreased from 80% in 2025. Adoption is slowly progressing, affecting just under a quarter of respondents.

The ranking of tools has been shaken up, with Veo, Google's generator, taking first place with 10.5% of users. Sora, which dominated the previous year with 11%, drops to 5.8%, partly due to OpenAI's announcement of Sora's discontinuation. Other tools include Adobe Firefly (5.3%), Kling AI (4.8%), and Runway (4.7%).

Other Uses of AI Tools

Beyond the major categories, other uses of AI tools are developing. Interface design and prototyping lead with 19.6%, closely followed by presentation generation at 15.6%.

A notable new trend is the emergence of autonomous AI agents, mentioned by 15.2% of respondents, nearly one in six. Music generation (9%) and voice generation (7.4%) remain rarer, often linked to specific needs depending on the profession.

Methodology

This survey was conducted online by BDM, between April 24 and May 29, 2026, among 807 digital professionals working in various fields such as communication, marketing, education, project management, development, general management, design, social media, writing, commerce, and SEO/SEA acquisition.