After a particularly poor fourth-quarter earnings performance, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready tried to compare the digital billboard site favorably to the popular AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT.
In an effort to highlight its potential as a unique search destination, Ready claimed that the site sees more search volume than ChatGPT. According to third-party data, ChatGPT records 75 billion monthly searches, while Pinterest records 80 billion searches and generates 1.7 billion monthly clicks, he said.
“That makes us one of the biggest search destinations in the world. And importantly, over half of those searches are commercial in nature, compared to I think… around 2% (of ChatGPT searches),” added Ready.
Pinterest missed expectations for both revenue and earnings per share in the fourth quarter, reporting revenue of $1.32 billion versus expectations of $1.33 billion and earnings per share of 67 cents versus estimates of 69 cents. It also forecasts first-quarter 2026 revenue of between $951 million and $971 million, down from expectations of $980 million.
The company blamed its shortfall on larger advertisers pulling back on spending, particularly in Europe, and a new furniture tariff introduced in October that caused problems in the home category. It said these trends could worsen in the first quarter.
Surprisingly, Pinterest missed earnings despite a faster-than-expected user base. The company reported monthly active users rose 12% year-over-year to 619 million, beating Wall Street’s forecast of 613 million users.
Shares fell 20% in after-hours trading.
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Pinterest has long struggled to translate its platform’s high usage into ad dollars because its users often come to Pinterest to plan and dream, not shop and buy. This challenge could become even more pressing in the AI era, especially if advertisers shift their dollars to platforms where purchase intent is clearer — such as chatbot requests that ask for product recommendations.
When asked how Pinterest will move toward AI shopping, Ready pointed to the company’s visual search, discovery and personalization features, which he says will direct users to relevant products when they open the app.
“We’re helping them complete those commerce journeys without having to enter a single challenge,” he said, also noting that Pinterest benefited from an easier payment process that came from its partnership with Amazon. He said customers aren’t yet ready to let AI make a purchase on their behalf, but said Pinterest will be ready when that time comes.
“It’s actually going to be one of the easiest parts of the commercial journey to sort out,” he claimed.