One in three Saudi and UAE online adults research purchases with AI.
More than one in three online adults in Saudi Arabia (33.8%) and the UAE (33.4%) say they use AI tools to research potential purchases, DataReportal's Digital 2027 data shows. Worldwide the figure is 26%, which puts both Gulf markets well above the global level.
The numbers come from GWI's survey of more than 235,000 online adults aged 16 and over in 53 economies, carried out in the second quarter of 2026, and are analysed by Simon Kemp in 'Digital 2027: AI Use Around the World', published on 21 October. Egypt is higher still at 37.0% and Nigeria leads at 51.3%, while Japan is at 10.7% and use is relatively subdued across most of Europe and North America. Kemp also finds that AI users in Saudi Arabia are more than twice as likely as those in Denmark to use AI to monitor or improve their health and wellbeing, at 29.1% against 13.6%.
The wider picture is rapid growth. Manochi, the analysis firm Kemp co-founded, estimates that 83.5% of internet users aged 16 and over now use AI every month, more than 4.1 billion people, and that monthly users of generative AI platforms grew by more than 1.2 billion in a year. Worldwide, 26% of online adults use AI to research brands, up from 24.4% in the first quarter of 2026, but search engines (45.3%) and social networks (41.8%) are still used far more for this. Only 17% say they have discovered new brands, products or services through AI.
The written report gives no overall AI-use rate for Saudi Arabia or the UAE. The figures are self-reported, they do not show which assistants Gulf users rely on, and Kemp's view is that most people are not yet handing purchase decisions over to AI.
For brands in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, AI is already part of purchase research for about a third of online adults. That makes it worth asking ChatGPT, Gemini and other assistants about a brand's products in Arabic and English, correcting gaps in the information they draw on, and tracking the results alongside search and social.
Why it matters
A larger share of online adults in Saudi Arabia and the UAE research purchases with AI than the global average. Brands should check what assistants say about their products, in Arabic and English.
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