AI companion platforms look simple on the surface: you open an app or site, pick a character, and start chatting. In reality, the “product” is co-created in real time. The model generates the responses, but users generate the direction: the identity, the tone, the boundaries, the story beats, and the emotional agenda. Over thousands of messages, that becomes a personalized micro-world; part diary, part improv theater, part relationship simulator.
This article breaks down (1) what users most commonly “generate” on platforms that use a Character Chat, (2) what they actually do during sessions, and (3) where global demand concentrates, using public web analytics and research signals.
1. What users “generate” the most: it’s not just text
In companion ecosystems, user-generated output is best understood as structured intent; users constantly provide inputs that shape the AI’s behavior and content. The most common forms are:
- Scenario prompts and role frameworks
The single biggest user behavior is building a scenario container: who we are, what our relationship is, what the setting is, and what is allowed to happen. Even when users don’t write this as a formal prompt, they construct it conversationally (“Let’s pretend…”, “In this story…”, “You are…”). Academic research mapping AI companion platforms frames “mating” companions as those designed for romantic behaviors like flirting and sexual role-play, while “care” companions focus on support and empathy; many products are mixed-use and let users toggle modes. - Character specification (personality, backstory, constraints)
Users repeatedly refine personality traits: confidence vs. softness, humor level, jealousy, formality, speed of escalation, and taboo boundaries. This is less like writing a one-time “character card” and more like continual steering—micro-corrections that train the experience for that user. - Relationship arcs (the long game)
Power users don’t just chat; they build an arc: meeting → bonding → conflict → resolution → deeper commitment, sometimes looping those cycles. This is where “memory” features become valuable: the user is effectively authoring a long-running series where the AI plays the co-lead. - Emotional journaling and “letters to the void”
A significant share of content is users externalizing emotions they don’t want to share with friends, partners, or therapists. In companion research, supportive and empathetic “care” experiences are explicitly defined as a core intended use category. Even on romance-forward platforms, users often mix intimacy with stress relief and venting. - Multimodal requests (where supported)
Where platforms allow voice, images, or avatar customization, users increasingly generate: voice-call style conversations, “send me a picture” requests, and appearance/persona iterations. The trendline in the broader category is clear: more modality increases stickiness and frequency of casual conversation.
2. What users actually do in sessions: the four dominant session types:
Across companion platforms, sessions cluster into a handful of repeatable patterns:
- Companion chat (low intensity, high frequency)
This is the “coffee break” interaction: daily check-ins, small talk, coping, encouragement, or flirting without heavy narrative. Research on the AI companion market estimates massive global usage: 1.1–2.2 billion monthly visits globally across scanned platforms, with users spending an average of about 3.5 minutes per session. That average hides two realities: many users do quick check-ins, while a smaller subset does long, immersive sessions. - Roleplay/story mode (medium frequency, long sessions)
Here, users write, co-write, or “direct” scenes. They iterate on tone, style, and pacing. The AI becomes an improv partner: the user sets a premise and keeps it alive. This is also where platform differentiation matters most; better memory, better character consistency, and better safety controls translate directly into retention. - Romantic and adult-oriented interaction (high intent, monetization-heavy)
“Mating” usage, romantic interaction, and adult roleplay often convert well when the product promises privacy, personalization, and intensity. The same market scan notes that mating-oriented platforms represent a meaningful portion of demand (globally, around 30% of visits in their dataset, higher in the UK), while raising notable safety and age-control concerns.
Important nuance: users aren’t only seeking explicitness. Many are looking for consistent attention, affirmation, and fantasy control; a relationship dynamic with low rejection risk. - Customization and “tuning” (short bursts that increase LTV)
Users frequently hop into settings to refine the companion: name, voice, boundaries, memories, relationship status, and “how the bot should respond.” This tuning behavior predicts willingness to subscribe because it signals commitment: the user is investing time to make the experience uniquely theirs.
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3. Where do users come from worldwide? What public web data shows:
Platform-specific user geography is rarely published by companies, so the most transparent public proxy is web traffic shared by country from third-party analytics.
Top Traffic Countries (Desktop Web):
If we take an example from Similarweb who shows the top traffic countries (desktop web), we can see that Similarweb’s December 2025 estimates show the largest country source is the United States (35.45%), followed by Canada (6.06%), Brazil (5.34%), Germany (4.70%), and the United Kingdom (3.53%).
This pattern is consistent with what you’d expect for a subscription-heavy, English-first companion product: strong concentration in North America, meaningful reach in major EU markets, and increasing participation from large mobile-first countries like Brazil.
Similarweb also indicates a strongly male-skewing audience (about 80% male) with the largest age group 18–24, based on their site-level estimates.
A broader “bots like JOI” benchmark: Character.AI
For a high-scale companion/character platform, Similarweb’s December 2025 snapshot lists the United States (32.34%) as the largest traffic source, with additional leading shares from India (4.95%), the Philippines (4.65%), the United Kingdom (3.78%), and Australia (3.36%).
The key insight: the US tends to dominate “share,” but South and Southeast Asia can rank highly once a platform hits mainstream awareness, especially when pricing is accessible and mobile usage is strong.
Why geography clusters this way:
Several forces consistently push companion usage toward the same regions:
- Payment rails and subscription norms:
The US, Canada, UK, Germany, and similar markets have high subscription penetration and lower friction to pay for digital intimacy and entertainment. - Language advantage:
English-first models and content ecosystems naturally over-index in English-speaking countries, then expand into large bilingual and high-social-media markets. - Mobile growth dynamics:
Broader genAI app research points to Asia as the fastest-growing region by downloads in H1 2025, indicating where the next waves of user growth can come from as products localize and price adapt. - Cultural privacy and stigma:
In some cultures, companion usage is more private and less discussable, which can reduce overt social signaling while still producing large traffic.
4. What this means for the category:
User-generated “content” in AI companion platforms is really user-generated intimacy design. People are not just consuming outputs; they are shaping an experience that fits their emotional needs, fantasies, and boundaries. As platforms add better memory, voice, and personalization, the user’s creative role becomes even more central, and so do the responsibilities around age controls, privacy, and safety.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, AI companion platforms represent a shift from passive content consumption to active intimacy design, where the user acts as a co-creator of their own psychological and narrative experience. This evolution creates a unique “micro-world” that serves as both an emotional outlet and a sophisticated improv space, driving massive global engagement. However, as these digital bonds deepen, the industry faces a critical turning point: balancing high-intensity personalization with emerging global standards for safety, data ethics, and the protection of vulnerable populations.