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About the Author

Will Tombs is the Founder of Buried. He’s an award-winning growth marketing specialist and expert in SEO and GEO. With over 12 years’ experience in industry, Will has led digital strategy for: Startups that have gone on to be acquired, international enterprise retailers, and his own e-commerce businesses.

Launching the UK AI Curiosity Map

  • Writer: Will Tombs
    Will Tombs
  • Feb 19
  • 2 min read

19 February 2026

Tracking AI interest and tool adoption across 35 major towns and cities across the UK


Today, we have published the UK’s first AI Curiosity Map, analysing AI interest across 35 major UK towns and cities.


Our interactive map ranks locations based on relative public interest in generative AI tools, using per-capita search data (searches per person, not total searches). We’ll update the study quarterly to reflect the latest trends in AI adoption and curiosity.


Key findings


  • Leeds ranks as the most AI-curious city in the UK.

  • South Coast cities, including Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Plymouth, rank higher than many traditional tech hubs.

  • Bristol confirms its early-adopter reputation, ranking strongly for AI curiosity in line with its established status as a leading UK tech hub.

  • Leicester, Northampton and Coventry show strong AI interest relative to population size.

  • London, while high in total search volume, ranks mid-table on a per-capita basis.

  • Major cities, including Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Edinburgh, rank lower than expected.


The data suggests AI curiosity is widely distributed across the UK, rather than concentrated in London or established tech centres.


Methodology


We ranked cities by comparing AI-related search volume to local population size.

For each city, we calculated:


Average monthly Google search volume (Google Keyword Planner data) for “ChatGPT” + “Gemini” ÷ Population (Q4 2025)


This creates a per-capita curiosity score, allowing fair comparison between cities of different sizes.


Why this map matters


This map shows which UK cities are adopting AI the fastest.


If your city ranks highly, more people around you are using AI tools. That changes how customers search, discover and choose businesses.


In high-adoption cities:

  • The opportunity is bigger.

  • The risk of being invisible in AI results is higher.


For businesses in these locations, being discoverable by AI systems is becoming more important, more quickly.


The map helps UK businesses understand where that shift is happening first.


Explore the map


The full interactive AI Curiosity Map, leaderboard, and methodology can be viewed here.


Will Tombs

Director & Founder - Buried



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