45% of Saudi Internet Users Now Use AI Tools: What the CST Internet Report 2025 Means for Marketers

Saudi AI adoption more than doubled in a single year. The Communications, Space and Technology Commission’s Saudi Internet 2025 report puts AI tool use at 45.2% of internet users, up from 21.5% in the 2024 edition. Women lead at 52.8% against 39.4% of men, and 80.8% of AI users use it to search for information.

We read the full 57-page English PDF on cst.gov.sa on 1 October 2026 and cross-checked the headline figures against the Saudi Press Agency. Below are the AI findings, the other numbers a marketer can use, why the Saudi Center for Opinion Polling reports a different figure, and what each finding changes in a 2027 plan.

What does the CST report say about AI use in Saudi Arabia?

The CST Saudi Internet 2025 report, issued in July 2026, finds that 45.2% of internet users in Saudi Arabia use AI tools, against 21.5% in the 2024 report. Use is highest among people aged 20 to 29 (55.7%) and lowest among those aged 60 to 74 (14.8%). Women use AI tools more than men.

The Saudi Press Agency announced the report on 19 July 2026 and ran a second story on the AI section on 9 August 2026. That SPA AI story repeats the 45.2% headline and the gender and age splits shown in the table below.

Source: CST, Saudi Internet 2025 and Saudi Internet 2024 reports (English editions, cst.gov.sa). Age figures are confirmed by SPA, 9 August 2026.

One limit matters before you quote any of this. The report lists its references as “CST Data”, Sensor Tower and Ookla, but it does not publish a sample size, fieldwork dates or the exact survey question. We cannot tell from the PDF whether non-Saudi residents are included.

Which AI apps do Saudis download most?

ChatGPT leads: the CST report ranks it the most downloaded AI app in Saudi Arabia in 2025, followed by Google Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok and Microsoft Copilot. The Saudi-built HUMAIN app is tenth. ChatGPT is also the most downloaded app of any kind in the Kingdom, ahead of NAFATH, TikTok and Absher.

Source: CST, Saudi Internet 2025, “Most Downloaded AI Applications”.

Gemini’s second place matches what referral data shows. In September 2026, Gemini sent 16.54% of AI chatbot referrals to Saudi websites, against 2.27% in August 2025, per StatCounter. Our analysis of AI assistant usage across the Gulf in 2026 breaks that down by market. Downloads tell you who installed an app. Referrals tell you who sends visits to your site.

HUMAIN Chat launched on 25 August 2025, so 2025 covers only its first four months. Tenth place among AI apps is a start, but it does not yet make HUMAIN a channel to plan around.

Why does SCOP report a higher number than CST?

The two bodies measure different people at different times. CST reports 45.2% of internet users aged 10 to 74 for 2025. The Saudi Center for Opinion Polling reported 49% of Saudi citizens aged 18 and over in February 2025, and 64% in a survey published in September 2026. Neither number is wrong.

Sources: CST Saudi Internet 2025; SCOP AI survey, 10 February 2025; SCOP AI in Saudi Arabia 2026, 3 September 2026.

Three things drive the gap. First, age: CST includes users aged 60 to 74, whose 14.8% rate pulls the average down, while SCOP starts at 18. Second, timing: SCOP’s latest survey was published in September 2026, while CST describes 2025, and adoption was rising fast across that gap.

Third, definition: SCOP’s 2026 report finds 60% of Saudi AI users use AI built into other apps, such as Meta AI inside WhatsApp or My AI inside Snapchat. Whether a respondent counts those as “AI tools” changes the answer. For planning, use CST for the national picture and SCOP for adult citizen behaviour.

AI now sits in the research phase of the Saudi buying journey

Information search is the main reason Saudis use AI. In the CST 2025 report, 80.8% of AI users search for information with it, double the next use, idea generation at 40.1%. Work tasks (17.3%) and writing (14.3%) trail far behind. For marketers, that puts AI answers in the research phase, before a shortlist exists.

Source: CST, Saudi Internet 2025, “Usage of Artificial Intelligence Tools”.

Research-phase questions look like “which lab does this test”, “how much does braces treatment cost in Riyadh” or “best family car under SAR 120,000”. If an AI answer to that question names three brands and yours is missing, the buyer’s first shortlist forms without you.

The fix is content written to be quoted: direct answers, prices and specifics, in Arabic as well as English. Our guides to getting cited in Google AI Overviews and appearing in ChatGPT answers cover the mechanics. One Saudi example: Delta Medical Labs had 5,570 pages cited by AI engines in July 2026, per the VOCTOS case study.

Not sure where your brand stands? Tell me which research questions in my category AI answers without us.

Women lead AI adoption, and that changes targeting

Saudi women use AI tools at 52.8% against 39.4% for men, a 13.4-point gap in the CST 2025 report. The gap was already there in 2024 (27.7% against 17.0%). Women also shop online more, at 85.6% against 70.2%, so more than half of the most active online shoppers now use AI tools.

The purchase data sharpens that: among online shoppers, 79.1% of women bought cosmetics against 15.9% of men, and 91.6% of women bought apparel and footwear. For beauty, fashion, women’s health and family categories, more than half of the core audience now uses AI tools. That is where we would start with cited, Arabic, answer-first content.

Men lead in other categories. Male online shoppers bought travel services at 46.2% against 25.9% for women, and computers and smartphones at 43.2% against 30.1%. With male AI use at 39.4%, we expect classic search and social to carry more of the research in these categories for now.

Social habits differ too: Snapchat reaches 88.2% of female internet users against 80.2% of men, while YouTube reaches 81.1% of men against 68.8% of women. If your audience skews female, Snapchat and AI answers both belong in the same research-phase plan.

Other CST findings marketers should use

Beyond AI, the CST 2025 report gives Saudi marketers a current baseline: 99.6% internet penetration, 61.3% of users online for seven hours or more a day, 76.9% shopping online, and mobile phones used by 99.6% of users. Most of these figures rose from the 2024 report, and they are free to cite.

Source: CST, Saudi Internet 2024 and Saudi Internet 2025 reports.

• Timing: internet use peaks between 9pm and 11pm, on Fridays, and in March.
• Devices: 99.6% of users go online by phone, 47.4% by computer and 39.2% by tablet; 84% go online on the move.
• Social reach: WhatsApp 92.7%, Snapchat 83.6%, TikTok 77%, YouTube 75.8%, Instagram 40.8%, X 34.9%.
• Shopping: 95.3% of online shoppers buy from local websites and 55.4% from international ones; Trendyol, SHEIN, noon, Amazon and Haraj lead shopping app downloads.
• Search: Google is the most used search engine, followed by Bing; chatgpt.com is the eighth most visited website in the Kingdom.

The local-website figure deserves attention. Nearly every Saudi online shopper buys from local websites, so local retailers’ own Arabic product and category pages are the ones worth making citable first.

Our read

Treat 45.2% as a reason to rebuild content for the research phase, not as a reason to move ad budget. The CST report measures adoption, not buying influence; it does not say how many purchases start in an AI answer. What it does show is where Saudis look things up, and that is a content question first.

We disagree with two common reactions. The first is buying “AI visibility” as a vanity metric with no link to the questions buyers ask. The second is ignoring AI because its referral traffic is still small. Both miss the point of the 80.8% figure: AI is where Saudi users look things up, which is where shortlists start.

Our order of work for a Saudi brand is simple. List the 30 to 50 research questions your buyers ask, in Arabic and English. Check which brands Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT and Gemini name for each. Then write the pages that answer those questions better, using our notes on GEO for Arabic content for the language side.

FAQ

What percentage of Saudis use AI in 2025?

The CST Saudi Internet 2025 report puts it at 45.2% of internet users in Saudi Arabia, up from 21.5% in the 2024 report. A separate Saudi Center for Opinion Polling survey, published in September 2026, found 64% of Saudi citizens aged 18 and over use AI tools, up from 49% in 2025.

Why do CST and SCOP give different AI usage numbers?

They count different people. CST covers internet users in age bands from 10 to 74, including a 60 to 74 group at 14.8%. SCOP surveys Saudi citizens aged 18 and over, with samples of 1,084 in 2025 and 814 in 2026. Timing and the definition of an AI tool also differ.

Which AI app is most popular in Saudi Arabia?

ChatGPT. The CST 2025 report ranks it the most downloaded AI app and the most downloaded app overall in Saudi Arabia, with Google Gemini second among AI apps. SCOP’s 2026 survey found 87% of Saudi AI users use ChatGPT and 54% use Gemini. HUMAIN ranks tenth among AI app downloads.

Do Saudi women use AI more than men?

Yes. In the CST Saudi Internet 2025 report, 52.8% of female internet users use AI tools against 39.4% of male users. The 2024 report showed the same direction, at 27.7% against 17.0%. SCOP’s 2026 survey of adult Saudi citizens also found higher AI use among women than among men.

Where can I download the Saudi Internet Report 2025?

The CST publishes the Saudi Internet 2025 report as a free PDF on cst.gov.sa, in Arabic and English editions of 57 pages each. The AI section starts on page 32. The Saudi Press Agency summarised it on 19 July 2026 and covered the AI findings separately on 9 August 2026.

What to ask instead of “how many use AI”

The 45.2% headline answers a national question. Your question is narrower: when a Saudi buyer researches your category, which answer do they read, and does it name you? The CST data says nearly half of internet users, and more than half of women, now use AI tools, and 80.8% of them use those tools to search for information.

If you already know which AI answers cite you for your top buyer questions, use the CST age and gender splits to decide which questions to fix first. If you have never checked, start there; adoption figures do not help much until you know whether AI engines see your brand at all.

I want an Arabic content plan built around how Saudis research before they buy