Citing third-party data, Ready said ChatGPT sees about 75 billion searches per month, while Pinterest sees roughly 80 billion searches and generates 1.7 billion monthly clicks. He added that more than half of Pinterest searches are commercial, compared with about 2% for ChatGPT.

Despite those claims, Pinterest missed Wall Street expectations. The company reported $1.32 billion in revenue and earnings per share of 67 cents, both slightly below forecasts. It also projected first-quarter 2026 revenue of $951 million to $971 million, under the expected $980 million.

According to TechCrunch, Pinterest attributed the weaker results to reduced ad spending, particularly in Europe, and to a new furniture tariff that hurt its home category. The company warned those pressures could continue.

The miss came even as monthly active users rose 12% year over year to 619 million, topping expectations.

Pinterest has long faced challenges converting strong user engagement into ad revenue, as many users browse for inspiration rather than to make immediate purchases. That pressure could intensify in the AI era if advertisers shift spending to platforms with clearer buying intent.

Ready said Pinterest’s visual search, discovery, and personalization tools position it well for AI-driven shopping, adding that its partnership with Amazon has streamlined checkout. While consumers may not yet be ready to let AI complete purchases for them, he said Pinterest would be prepared if that changes.