ChatGPT Rules Personal Use, Claude Leads in Business, New Studies Reveal the Battle

Understanding User Behavior Across AI Platforms

Artificial intelligence (AI) companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have recently published contrasting studies that offer insights into how users interact with their flagship products, ChatGPT and Claude. These analyses provide a deeper understanding of user behavior, revealing distinct patterns in how individuals and businesses utilize these tools for both personal and professional purposes.

The studies examined extensive datasets of user conversations, focusing on both work-related and non-work-related interactions. While the methodologies and data sources varied between the two companies, their findings highlight a clear divergence in usage trends.

ChatGPT: A Tool for Personal and Exploratory Use

According to OpenAI’s research, the consumer versions of ChatGPT are predominantly used for personal and exploratory tasks. The study found that over 70% of all messages sent through ChatGPT were non-work-related, marking an increase from 53% in June 2024. In contrast, work-related queries accounted for just 27% of total messages, down from 47% a year earlier.

This shift indicates that ChatGPT is evolving into a more general consumer product rather than an enterprise-focused tool. The top three categories of conversation topics identified by researchers include practical guidance, writing, and seeking information—collectively making up nearly 78% of all messages.

It is important to note that OpenAI’s dataset focused on consumer plans such as Free, Plus, and Pro, excluding non-consumer options like Teams, Enterprise, or Education. This limitation may affect the overall representation of ChatGPT’s usage across different user segments.

When used for work, ChatGPT appears to be most valuable as an advisor or research assistant rather than a direct task performer. The study suggests that the AI enhances worker productivity through decision support. Users in high-paying professional and technical roles are more likely to leverage ChatGPT for work-related tasks.

Writing tasks, including editing and drafting, were the most common work use, accounting for 42% of work-related messages. Notably, two-thirds of these requests involved modifying existing text rather than creating new content. Coding tasks, however, represented a smaller portion of usage, with only 4.2% of messages related to computer programming—far below the 36% seen in Claude’s usage.

Technical Help, which includes computer programming, was the category with the lowest user satisfaction among seven evaluated areas.

Claude: A Work-Focused Productivity Tool

In contrast, Anthropic’s research highlights that Claude is heavily utilized for work-related productivity, particularly in coding, education, and research. Mathematical tasks and coding were the dominant activities globally for Claude.ai. Among other domains, education has experienced significant growth, increasing by roughly 35% since December 2024 and now accounting for just under 13% of all use. Scientific research also represents around 7% of usage.

Traditional office and business tasks have seen a decline. Management-related tasks have dropped from 5% to 3%, while business and financial operations have decreased from 6% to 3%.

Businesses using Claude via the API primarily engage in automation-heavy tasks, often delegating full tasks to the AI. Approximately 77% of API tasks are automated, compared to about 50% on Claude.ai. These business-focused interactions are concentrated in coding, which makes up 44% of API use, as well as administrative support. Another 5% of API usage is dedicated to developing or evaluating AI systems.

Diverging Niches in the AI Market

The contrasting findings from these studies suggest that users are favoring specific models or products based on the type of tasks they need to accomplish. ChatGPT is increasingly being used as a personal or exploratory tool for writing, information-seeking, general advice, and casual interaction. Meanwhile, Claude is positioned as a more work-focused productivity tool, especially for coding, research, and business automation.

For instance, Claude has gained popularity among software engineers, indicating its strength in technical domains. This market split implies that different AI companies may be carving out complementary niches rather than directly competing across all fronts. As the AI landscape continues to evolve, these distinctions could shape future developments and user preferences.