Gemini 3 vs ChatGPT: Can Google's Latest AI Really Close the Gap?

The Playing Field Isn’t Level Yet

When it comes to pure user numbers, ChatGPT still dominates with 700 million weekly active users. In contrast, Alphabet’s Gemini only boasts 650 million monthly active users—a significant gap that suggests Gemini has substantial ground to cover before it can overtake its competitor. However, this doesn’t tell the complete story about where Alphabet stands in the AI landscape.

Google’s broader AI footprint extends far beyond its dedicated chatbot. The company’s AI Overview feature, integrated directly into Google Search, reaches over 2 billion monthly users. Additionally, 70% of Google Cloud customers are already leveraging Alphabet’s AI capabilities, signaling strong enterprise adoption that ChatGPT hasn’t achieved at the same scale.

What Makes Gemini 3 Different?

Alphabet just rolled out Gemini 3 this month, positioning it as a substantial upgrade with what the company describes as “PhD-level reasoning” capabilities. The standout feature is a new “Deep Think” mode designed to tackle complex, multi-layered problems with genuine intellectual depth.

Beyond raw reasoning power, Gemini 3 takes a philosophical different approach to interaction. Rather than the flowery, validation-focused tone associated with ChatGPT, Gemini 3 prioritizes directness and clarity. As CEO Sundar Pichai put it, the model offers “state-of-the-art reasoning, built to grasp depth and nuance”—whether decoding subtle creative elements or unpacking intricate challenges. The company explicitly states that Gemini 3 is “smart, concise and direct, trading cliché and flattery for genuine insight.”

Practically speaking, Gemini 3 functions more like an intelligent agent. It can handle multi-step operations such as scheduling services, organizing emails, or even analyzing a video of your pickleball game to provide targeted training improvements. For developers, it’s a powerhouse for code generation with improved visualization and interactivity.

The Business Case for Gemini 3

Whether Gemini 3 can overtake ChatGPT in market share may ultimately be beside the point. What matters more is whether Alphabet’s AI strategy is working—and the numbers suggest it is.

Google Cloud’s performance tells the story: the segment grew 34% year-over-year in Q3 to reach $15.1 billion, beating analyst expectations of $14.7 billion. Alphabet’s advertising revenue simultaneously jumped 12.6% to $74.1 billion, demonstrating that the company hasn’t sacrificed its core business to chase AI innovation.

Valuation-wise, Alphabet trades at a P/E ratio of 28, below the S&P 500 average of 31—making it one of the few profitable, cutting-edge AI companies trading at a relative discount. This efficiency hasn’t gone unnoticed: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway recently deployed $4 billion into the company.

The Real Win for Alphabet

Whether or not Gemini 3 eventually overtakes ChatGPT in user metrics, Alphabet has already secured a different kind of victory. By embedding Gemini 3 across Google Search, its cloud platform, and developer tools, the company has woven AI deeper into its ecosystem. This integrated approach makes it harder for users to leave and creates multiple revenue streams—from enterprise cloud services to advertising.

For Alphabet, dominance in AI wasn’t ever about owning a single chatbot. It was about ensuring that AI becomes indispensable to how billions of people search, create, and build online.