Amid disappointing earnings, Pinterest claims it sees more searches than ChatGPT

After a special one poor performance Based on its fourth-quarter results, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready sought to compare the digital pinboard site favorably to the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT.

In an effort to highlight its potential as a unique search destination, Ready claimed that the site sees greater search volume than ChatGPT. According to third-party data, ChatGPT sees 75 billion searches per month, while Pinterest sees 80 billion searches and generates 1.7 billion monthly clicks, he said.

“That makes us one of the largest search destinations in the world. And importantly, more than half of those searches are commercial in nature, compared to, I think… about 2% [of ChatGPT searches],” added Ready.

Pinterest missed both revenue and earnings per share expectations in the fourth quarter, reporting revenue of $1.32 billion versus expected $1.33 billion, and earnings per share of 67 cents versus 69 cents expected. It also forecasts first-quarter 2026 revenue to be between $951 million and $971 million, below the expected $980 million.

The company blamed its shortfall on larger advertisers cutting spending, especially in Europe, and on a new furniture tariff introduced in October that caused problems within the home category. It said these trends could worsen in the first quarter.

Surprisingly, Pinterest lost revenue despite a user base that is growing faster than expected. The company reported that the number of monthly active users rose 12% year-over-year to 619 million, compared to Wall Street’s forecast of 613 million users.

Shares decreased 20% in trading outside office hours.

Pinterest has long struggled to translate the high usage of its platform into advertising dollars, because its users often go to Pinterest to plan and dream, not to shop and buy. That challenge could become even more acute in the AI ​​era, especially as advertisers shift their dollars to platforms where the intent to buy is clearer – such as chatbot requests asking for product recommendations.

When asked how Pinterest will navigate the shift to AI-powered shopping, Ready pointed to the company’s visual search, discovery and personalization features, which he said would point users to relevant products when they open the app.

“We help them complete those commerce journeys without having to type a single command,” he said, also noting that Pinterest had benefited from an easier checkout process as a result of its partnership with Amazon. He said customers don’t seem ready yet to have an AI make a purchase on their behalf, but said Pinterest would be ready when that time comes.

“That will actually be one of the easiest parts of the commercial journey to resolve,” he claimed.