How DeepSeek lists brands
An open weight challenger with a fast global spike and open governance questions.
At a glance
Sep 2026DeepSeek drew worldwide attention in early 2025 with strong, low cost models. Its open weights mean its behaviour can differ between the official app and third party deployments.
- Developer
- DeepSeek (China)
- Chat app and R1 model
- January 2025
- Models
- DeepSeek V and R series, released with open weights
- Access
- Web, mobile app, API and third party hosting
What DeepSeek is and how it answers
How DeepSeek answers depends on whether search is on and where the model is running.
A person asks in the app or on the web
The official app offers a reasoning mode that shows its working.
Search is optional
With search off, the answer comes only from training knowledge. With it on, the reply can cite web pages.
Open weights spread the model
Because the weights are public, other companies run DeepSeek models inside their own products.
Behaviour differs by deployment
The same model can answer differently in the official app than in a third party service.
How brands are listed on DeepSeek
Brand visibility in DeepSeek depends heavily on whether search was used and on the language of the question.
Mention from training knowledge
Brands with a large public footprint are more likely to be named without search.
Cited source
When search is on, pages can be linked as sources.
Recommendation
Suggested for comparison and "best" questions, with less regional tailoring than some rivals.
Comparison
Structured comparisons, including step by step reasoning in reasoning mode.
Omission
Brands with little public coverage may not appear at all, which is a visible gap.
What tends to influence whether you appear
- The size and clarity of your public web footprint
- Whether the person switched search on
- Language of the prompt, since coverage varies by language
- Whether the answer came from the official app or a third party service
Keep in mind
DeepSeek usage around the world
DeepSeek's share of chatbot web traffic has slipped since its early 2025 surge.
Share of AI chatbot web traffic, worldwide
August 2026. The tick marks August 2025.
- ChatGPT55.5%-17.8 pts
- Gemini25.6%+12.7 pts
- Claude9.3%+7.4 pts
- DeepSeek3.4%-0.6 pts
- Grok2.4%-0.2 pts
- Copilot1.6%-0.4 pts
- Perplexity0.9%-1.1 pts
Website traffic only. It leaves out mobile apps and system-level entry points such as Android or Windows, so it understates assistants that live inside other products.
Traffic share covers website visits only and excludes the mobile app and third party services that host DeepSeek models.
DeepSeek usage across India
Public information about DeepSeek in India is mostly about policy, not usage.
How people use it
Individual users
Private citizens can still use DeepSeek. There is no nationwide block on it.
Official work
India's Finance Ministry advised employees to avoid AI tools such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek on office devices for official work.
What we could not verify. No reliable public figure for DeepSeek usage or traffic share in India was found. We show none instead of estimating one.
BrandWater and DeepSeek
DeepSeek is not part of the current plan. We will reconsider if customer demand shows it is needed. This is what we plan to measure once it is supported.
Not on the current roadmap. DeepSeek is not part of the current plan. We will reconsider if customer demand shows it is needed. BrandWater observes the answers each engine returns through its provider API, which can differ from what a person sees in the consumer app. It has no private access to any model, its training data or its internal retrieval, and it never claims to.
Search on or off
Recorded with each observation so the two modes are never mixed.
Mention rate
Presence across a defined prompt set, by language.
Competitors named
Which alternatives appear for your category.
Sources shown
Pages cited when search is used.
Common questions
Is DeepSeek banned in India?
Not for the public. A government advisory told employees to avoid such tools on official devices, which is different from a nationwide ban.
Why track DeepSeek at all?
Its open weights power other products, and its users are global. It is a distinct source of AI answers about brands.
Why is there no India percentage?
No reliable public number exists in the sources we reviewed, so we do not invent one.
Sources and data notes
Source 1
Similarweb, Gen AI website traffic share, August 2026 (via The Decoder)Published 7 Sep 2026
Source 2
Similarweb on X: GenAI traffic share update, May 2025May 2025
Source 3
Exploding Topics: which governments restrict DeepSeek, and how2026
Read the numbers carefully
Other AI platforms
See how DeepSeek describes your brand.
Start with a first audit. We show where you appear, who is named instead, and what to fix first.