Research Report · April 2026

Romania
AI Search &
GEO Report 2026

The definitive data brief on the state of AI-powered search, generative engine optimisation, and digital adoption in Romania — drawing on 50+ verified sources.

103
Data Points
50+
Verified Sources
2026
Reference Year
01 /

AI Adoption in Romania

Headline Statistic · Reveal Marketing Research 2026
68%
of Romanians have used AI tools at least occasionally in 2026 — up from 47% in 2025, a +21 percentage point surge in a single year.
44%
Use AI for work-related tasks (up from 31% in 2025)
Reveal MR · 2026
39%
Apply AI tools for education & learning
Reveal MR · 2026
30%
Use AI for personal planning (up from 19% in 2025)
Reveal MR · 2026
83%
Use AI primarily for general information search
Reveal MR · 2026
Trust in AI Output
55% ↓
Romanians expressing high/very high trust in AI-generated info — down from 65% in 2025. AI maturity is growing faster than AI trust.
Perceive AI as risky
53% ↑
View AI as useful but risky — up from 49% in 2025. Critical engagement with AI is rising alongside adoption.
02 /

AI Platform Landscape in Romania

ChatGPT
83%
83%
Gemini
35%
35%
MS Copilot
15%
15%
Claude / Perplexity
growing
↑
4 million monthly searches for ChatGPT in Romania in November 2025 (Mixtazure / Ahrefs). ChatGPT holds >85% market share of AI chat tools throughout 2025.
60% of Romanian AI chat users now use AI tools more often than traditional search engines for information discovery (Mixtazure, Dec 2025).
03 /

Romania vs EU: Generative AI Usage

Denmark
48.4%
Estonia
46.6%
EU Avg.
32.7%
Italy
19.9%
🇷🇴 Romania
17.8%
Youth Gen AI Use (16–24)
44.1%
Romania — lowest in EU. EU average: 64%. Greece leads at 83.5%
Eurostat · Feb 2026
Enterprise AI Adoption
5.21%
Lowest in the EU. EU average: 19.95%. Denmark leads at 42%
Eurostat · Dec 2025
e-Gov Service Usage
25%
Last place in EU DESI. EU average is 75% — a 50-point gap
DESI 2024
04 /

Romania's Digital Infrastructure

94%
Internet penetration rate — 17.7M users as of end-2025
DataReportal · 2026
135%
Mobile connections vs. population — 25.5M active SIM cards
DataReportal · 2026
98.6%
Mobile connections classified as broadband (3G/4G/5G)
GSMA · 2025
68.3%
Social media penetration — 12.9M user identities in Romania
DataReportal · 2026
13.03M
Facebook users in Romania — 68.8% of total population (Feb 2026)
NapoleonCat · Feb 2026
6.54M
Instagram users — 34.5% of population; majority women 25–34
NapoleonCat · Feb 2026
5.48M
LinkedIn users — 28.9% of population; key B2B discovery channel
NapoleonCat · Feb 2026
05 /

Zero-Click & AI Search Impact

Global Zero-Click Rate · 2025
60%
of all global Google searches now end with no external click. On mobile, this rises to 77%.
CTR Drop When AIO Appears · Ahrefs Feb 2026
-58%
Organic CTR falls 58% when Google AI Overviews are triggered. But brands cited in AIOs see +35% CTR vs non-cited competitors.
27.4%
Of Google queries trigger AI Overviews as of Nov 2025 — up from 3.93% in Jan 2025 (near-7× growth)
Superprompt · Nov 2025
88.1%
Of AI Overview-triggered queries are informational — the content type most B2B strategies depend on
Onely · 2025
76.1%
Of URLs cited in AI Overviews also rank in top 10 — traditional SEO still matters for GEO
Ahrefs · 2025
AI Traffic Landscape
Traditional organic traffic share 25%
AI referral traffic share 1.08%
AI referral growth YoY (Jun 2025) +357%
AI-referred traffic conversion premium 23×
Sources: Conductor (Nov 2025) · Similarweb (Jun 2025) · Onely (2025)
06 /

GEO Market & Optimisation Signals

GEO Global Market Size
$7.3B
Projected by 2031. From $886M in 2024 — a 34% CAGR. GEO is a fast-institutionalising market category.
Onely · 2025
Enterprise SEO Teams Using AI
86%
of global enterprise SEO teams have integrated AI into strategies. 82% plan to increase AI investment in 2026.
Onely · 2025
Content Signals for Higher AI Citation (AirOps 2026 / Ahrefs)
+25.7%
More ChatGPT citations for comparison pages with 3+ data tables
+20%
Citation likelihood for content with 5–7 statistics vs. no data
+327%
More AI Overview visibility for translated vs. untranslated pages
6.5× — Brands are 6.5 times more likely to be cited in AI answers through third-party sources than their own domains. For Romanian brands, PR, industry publications, and external mentions are now primary GEO investment channels.
07 /

Romania eCommerce & AI Commerce

€8.5B
Romania's projected e-commerce market size in 2026 — 5% YoY growth expected, down from 6% in 2025
MerchantPro Insights · 2026
4×
Higher conversion rates from AI-personalised e-commerce experiences, based on MerchantPro platform case studies
MerchantPro · 2026
19%
Romanians frequently using ChatGPT/AI to compare products & make purchase decisions
easySales · Sep 2025
16%
Romanians trust AI for product purchase recommendations vs. 77%+ trusting family/friends
easySales · Sep 2025
1.2M
AI-generated product recommendations by eMAG in January 2025 alone
eMAG · Jan 2025
08 /

EU AI Act & Romania's Regulatory Position

August 2024
EU AI Act enters into force
February 2025
Prohibited AI practices & AI literacy obligations take effect — applies to all EU operators including Romania
August 2025
General-purpose AI model obligations apply (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot) · National authority designation deadline passed
⚠ Romania missed authority designation deadline
August 2026
High-risk AI system rules & transparency obligations take full effect — maximum fines: €35M or 7% of global turnover
August 2027
Rules for high-risk AI embedded in regulated products apply
Romania's AI Act gap: As of January 2026, Romania had not officially designated a national AI Act enforcement authority, despite the August 2025 EU deadline. Two draft AI laws remain unapproved by parliament. Businesses must self-assess against the EU AI Act framework directly.
09 /

Romania's Tech Ecosystem & AI Talent

250K+
Tech specialists — 3rd largest ICT talent pool in Europe
Alcor BPO · 2025
10K+
STEM graduates added to workforce annually from 59 specialised institutions
DevsData · 2025
7,930
IT businesses operating in Romania, plus R&D offices of Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Intel & others
Alcor BPO · 2025
7%
Of university graduates specialise in ICT — 6th in the EU on this indicator
EC / McKinsey · 2025
Romania AI Search Report 2026
Data compiled April 2026 · All figures verified against primary sources
Key sources: Eurostat · DataReportal · Reveal Marketing Research
McKinsey · MerchantPro · Mixtazure/Romania Insider · Ahrefs
EU AI Act Service Desk · OECD · Superprompt · Onely · AirOps