Companies are pouring money into customer service chatbots, but their customers are increasingly turning to third-party generative AI tools instead, according to new research from Gartner. A survey of 3,566 business and consumer customers conducted in February and March 2026 found that customers are about three times more likely to use third-party AI tools than a company's own chatbot when trying to resolve a service issue. The findings point to a widening gap between where organisations are spending their AI budgets and how their customers actually behave.
"Customers are embracing generative AI in both life and work, but so far, that has not translated into growth in the use of company-provided customer service chatbots," said Eric Keller, senior director analyst in the Gartner customer service and support practice. "Instead, generative AI is shifting some service interactions outside of company-owned channels."
Use of third-party generative AI tools during service and support interactions has nearly doubled in the past year. Use of company-provided chatbots has remained statistically unchanged since 2022.
Disappointing returns on AI spending
The research firm said this may help explain why few customer service organisations see a payoff from their AI investments. A separate Gartner survey of 1,303 senior leaders across industries, fielded between January and April 2026, found that service and support leaders allocated a median of 12% of their 2025 budgets to AI - the highest among the 10 business functions assessed. Yet only 24% of those leaders showed positive financial returns across their AI use cases.
"The disappointing impact of customer-facing gen AI investments has less to do with technology limitations and more to do with misalignment with customer expectations," Keller said. "Rather than investing primarily in standalone chatbots, organisations should focus on AI-enabled service journeys that help customers resolve issues across digital and voice channels."
Three shifts in customer behaviour
The survey identified three clear changes: customers favour third-party generative AI tools over company chatbots; they use AI to complete tasks and take action, not just to get answers; and they expect a path to a human agent when companies deploy AI in customer service.
The task-completion trend is especially strong. Among customers who use generative AI, 58% said they have used it to complete a task on their behalf, a figure that rises to 74% in business-to-business environments.
"Many company-provided chatbots are still designed primarily to answer questions, but customers increasingly expect AI to help them take action, such as booking an appointment, submitting documents or updating their account," said Keller. "Service and support leaders should redesign digital support around conversational, action-orientated experiences, rather than treating gen AI as a standalone chatbot."
The findings build on earlier Gartner research: a survey published in July 2025 found that more than half of customer service journeys now start on third-party platforms.
The research is pertinent to South Africa, where major organisations are betting heavily on their own AI channels. The South African Revenue Service, for example, deployed its Ask Lwazi chatbot with an ambition for AI agents to handle the bulk of taxpayer interactions - commissioner Johnstone Makhubu noted that China's tax authority already uses AI to field 80% of incoming call queries. Gartner's data suggests the harder task lies ahead: building AI channels that customers actually choose over the third-party tools already in their pockets.
Why this matters for Customer Support
Deploying a chatbot is no longer enough. Customer support teams must align AI investments with how people actually want to interact - focusing on action-oriented experiences that span multiple channels and keeping a clear route to a human agent. For supervisors and leaders, understanding these shifts is critical. Training resources like the AI Learning Path for Call Center Supervisors can help teams adapt by building skills in AI automation, chatbot management, and workforce optimization.
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