New findings have revealed the UK cities where people use AI chatbots the most.
The study by the AI SEO experts Passion Digital analysed Google Keyword Planner search data, revealing each UK city’s combined search volume for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini AI, and Grok over 12 months. The search volumes were then scaled per 100,000 city population, revealing the average monthly search volume in each city per 100,000 residents. This ranked the cities searching for AI chatbots the most.
Cambridge ranks in the top spot as the UK city with the most interest in using AI chatbots. The findings revealed that the city experiences an average of just over 100,000 searches per month for chatbots per 100,000 population.
Nottingham ranks second, with 92,406 average monthly searches per 100,000 population for AI chatbots in the city.
Third is Oxford, with 91,642 searches per 100,000 population every month on average, while Manchester follows in fourth and Leicester ranks fifth, with average search volumes of 87,312 and 72,934 monthly searches per 100,000 residents, respectively.
Birmingham places sixth (66,614 average monthly searches per 100,000 population), Norwich ranks seventh (66,489 searches per 100,000 population), and Lincoln ranks eighth (63,415 searches per 100,000 population).
Rounding out the top ten cities using AI chatbots the most are London in ninth (61,670 searches per 100,000 population), and Coventry in tenth (59,401 searches per 100,000 population).
Table: Top 20 UK cities searching for AI chatbots the most
| Rank | City | AI chatbot average monthly search volume per 100,000 population | Average monthly volume (total) |
| 1 | Cambridge | 100,732 | 153,858 |
| 2 | Nottingham | 92,406 | 277,025 |
| 3 | Oxford | 91,642 | 106,487 |
| 4 | Manchester | 87,312 | 631,950 |
| 5 | Leicester | 72,934 | 272,333 |
| 6 | Birmingham | 66,614 | 746,992 |
| 7 | Norwich | 66,489 | 158,978 |
| 8 | Lincoln | 63,415 | 64,932 |
| 9 | London | 61,670 | 5,467,750 |
| 10 | Coventry | 59,401 | 204,508 |
| 11 | Southampton | 58,728 | 146,597 |
| 12 | Leeds | 56,258 | 301,700 |
| 13 | Glasgow | 51,117 | 318,367 |
| 14 | Salford | 48,624 | 92,469 |
| 15 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 47,696 | 171,075 |
| 16 | Plymouth | 47,473 | 126,733 |
| 17 | Bristol | 45,960 | 269,092 |
| 18 | Liverpool | 43,295 | 219,317 |
| 19 | Edinburgh | 42,897 | 220,917 |
| 20 | St. Albans | 41,486 | 65,154 |
Chily de la Viesca, MD of Passion Digital, commented: “Our findings found that Brits made over 300 million searches for the four AI chatbots analysed in just one year. This rapid proliferation is staggering and spotlights how quickly AI has integrated into everyday use, with this national search volume averaging almost 900,000 daily searches.
“London ranking only 9th despite being the UK’s tech hub is surprising, but the dominance of university cities in this ranking suggests AI literacy is being driven by younger, digitally native populations. As these graduates enter the workforce, businesses that are not already integrating AI tools risk being left behind.”
