AI chat and “answer engines” have exploded across the world and also across Asia–Pacific. Below is a concise, country-by-country view of which consumer AI search engines and chatbots are most used today- mixing global and local players – across the top 15 APAC economies by GDP (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Bangladesh).
How we ranked
- Primary: real-world usage/adoption (where available: traffic share, downloads, local buzz).
- Secondary: sustained media coverage and ecosystem integrations.
- Scope: consumer-facing tools (general chat/search assistants), not enterprise deployments.
Overview of popular AI Search Engines in APAC
Key Patterns from the Rankings
- ChatGPT is #1 in every APAC country except China, where Baidu’s Ernie Bot leads.
- Google AI Overviews consistently rank #2, reflecting their integration into Search.
- Perplexity is gaining traction in India, Japan, Korea, Singapore, but doesn’t yet crack the top 2.
- Local LLMs make the top 3 in China (Ernie, Spark, Tongyi), South Korea (Naver), Malaysia (NurAI), Indonesia (Sahabat AI), and Vietnam (FPT/Zalo).
Top 3 AI Search Engines per Country in APAC
ChatGPT is the dominant player, ranking first in every APAC market except China, where it is blocked. Adoption is particularly strong in India, South Korea, Japan, Pakistan, and Singapore, where the tool has already become part of the daily workflow for students, professionals, and freelancers. Google’s AI Overviews have also become deeply embedded in the search experience. Integrated directly into Google Search, they now represent the second most visible AI search feature across most APAC markets. While they reduce click-through traffic to external websites, they are steadily normalizing generative answers as a default part of everyday search.
Meanwhile, Perplexity is emerging as a challenger. Although still niche, it has secured the third spot in markets like India, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Australia. Its source-citation approach resonates strongly with research-heavy users, and traffic from APAC continues to grow. Alongside these global leaders, local champions are rising.
In China, Baidu’s Ernie Bot, iFlyTek Spark, and Alibaba Tongyi dominate. South Korea has Naver’s HyperCLOVA X and its consumer-facing assistant Cue:. Malaysia has NurAI, the world’s first Shariah-aligned chatbot. Indonesia is developing Sahabat AI as a Bahasa-first model, while Vietnam is advancing its own LLMs through FPT and Zalo. These homegrown platforms differentiate themselves through language mastery, cultural adaptation, and regulatory compliance, though most still trail ChatGPT and Google in reach.
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