Search Queries for Escort Services in Switzerland 2026

By Luca Kraus and the Gingr team, 19 October 2026

According to Semrush estimates, terms relating to escorts, erotic contacts and erotic massage are searched for on Google in Switzerland more than one million times a month, extrapolated to around 12.6 million times a year. Searches for portal names, such as xdate or and6, are not yet included in that figure. They account for a further 25 million or so a year. For the analysis, Gingr combined search engine data (Semrush, Google Trends) with population figures from the Federal Statistical Office. The study estimates demand for escort terms by canton and compares the language regions.

Key figures at a glance

• 1'052'970 search queries a month, extrapolated to around 12.6 million a year, spread across 4'248 search terms
• Of these, 796'590 (76%) are erotic contact searches, mostly following the pattern "sex + place name"
• Of these, 170'640 (16%) are escort terms, for instance with escort, escorte, callgirl or begleitservice
• Of these, 85'740 (8%) relate to erotic massage
• Not included are searches for the names of 13 industry portals. According to Semrush estimates, these account for a further 2.1 million or so a month. Together, this extrapolates to around 38 million search queries a year.
• Per capita, Ticino searches for escort terms most often: 74 search queries a month per 1'000 residents, compared with 14 in Zurich (estimate without border correction, see border scenarios)
• The first eight places in the per capita ranking are held by the seven cantons of Latin Switzerland (French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland) and Grisons (estimate, without correction for the border region)
• The canton of Geneva is the most searched-for escort destination: 26'380 escort search queries a month contain a place name from the canton of Geneva, more than for any other canton
• For places in German-speaking Switzerland, the pattern "sex + place name" dominates. Erotic contact searches naming places in the cantons of Zurich and Bern each account for more than 120'000 queries a month
• "sex inserate" loses 13 to 15 percent year on year, while "sex date" gains around 40 to 60 percent (Google Trends index, Aug. 2025 to Jul. 2026 compared with Aug. 2024 to Jul. 2025)
• For most terms, the peak falls in December or July: "sex date" is 33 percent above the annual average in December, "escorte" 18 percent above it in July
• Around 21'000 search queries a month relate to escorts in the border region abroad, above all in Como (8'670) and Annemasse (6'420)

All figures are monthly averages unless stated otherwise. Semrush, Switzerland database: search terms as at 24.07.2026, additional massage and accompagnatrici terms 14.10.2026, portal names 21.09.2026. Google Trends: 01.08.2024 to 31.07.2026, retrieved 14.10.2026. Population: FSO STATPOP, 31.12.2025. Published on 19.10.2026. Citation when used: Gingr, Search Demand Study 2026.

How large demand is

The 4'248 search terms add up to 1'052'970 queries a month. This total is made up of three parts of very unequal size.

The largest part, by a wide margin, has nothing to do with the word escort. 796'590 queries a month are erotic contact searches, mostly following the pattern "sex + place name" (for instance sex bern, sex basel, sex chur). Those who search in this way mostly land on erotic classified adverts in Google. We checked this using eleven search terms of this pattern, which together account for around 137'000 queries a month. The selection deliberately ranges from large cities such as Bern and Zurich to smaller ones such as Solothurn and Baden. Of the first ten results for each, 110 in total, 89 lead to classified-ad portals or to the erotic sections of general classifieds sites. That is four out of five (Semrush, as at 30.09.2026).

Escort terms in the narrower sense account for 170'640 queries a month, among them escort, escort girl, escort zurich or escort lugano. Erotic massage accounts for 85'740. Year on year, search interest (Google Trends index) in "escort" grows by 7 percent and in "sex in" by 9 percent.

Searches for portal names are not counted in this figure. According to Semrush estimates, 13 platform names in the industry, Gingr included, together account for around 2.1 million queries a month (as at 21.09.2026). At the top are xdate with around one million and and6 with 544'000. A substantial share of these brand searches is likely to come from returning users who open a familiar website via Google rather than via a bookmark. This is not the same as generic demand.

Adding the two together and subtracting the few overlaps (see Methodology) gives around 3.2 million search queries a month, extrapolated to around 38 million a year.

Which canton searches for escort terms most often

The answer depends on how the question is asked. The study therefore uses two methods that assign searches to the cantons in different ways.

The first method asks where the searchers are located. For this, the 170'640 monthly queries for escort terms are distributed across the cantons using regional Google Trends data and calculated per capita. The result is an estimate. Ticino leads with 74 search queries a month per 1'000 residents, followed by Jura (32), Valais (28) and Geneva (27). Zurich sits mid-table at 14, and Appenzell Ausserrhoden brings up the rear at 8.

Some of the searches from Ticino are likely to relate to escorts in the Italian border region, for instance in Como. Such searches are not included in the keyword basket, but they are likely to push up Ticino's Trends value. If all 9'180 queries for the Italian border region are attributed to Ticino and subtracted, its value falls to 48 per 1'000. In this scenario Ticino remains in 1st place. Instead of a good five times the Zurich value, it is then just under three and a half times.

The same applies to the other border cantons, most strongly to Geneva. If all 8'570 queries for places in the neighbouring French departments of Haute-Savoie and Ain, such as Annemasse or Annecy, are subtracted from the Geneva value, it falls to 11 per 1'000. Geneva would thereby drop to 18th place. The Geneva value therefore depends heavily on where these searches originate. In the least favourable case examined, all searches for the border region abroad are subtracted from the adjoining canton, and for Ticino additionally all 6'080 searches for Milan. Where a neighbouring region borders several cantons, the assignment is an assumption, for instance Domodossola to Ticino, Pontarlier to Neuchâtel and Mulhouse to Basel-Stadt. Even then, Ticino stays in front (31 per 1'000, ahead of Valais at 28). In this scenario Jura falls from 32 to 24, with 660 queries for Belfort, Audincourt and Delle subtracted. No border location is assigned to Valais, so its value remains at 28.

Border scenarios for method 1 (estimate). The deductions assume that all searches for the respective border region originate from the adjoining canton. The attribution of the 9'090 Italian queries to Ticino also includes 90 queries for places on the Grisons border.

Method 1, escort terms (total across all cantons: 170'640 queries a month). Estimate derived from Google Trends values per canton, population (FSO, 31.12.2025) and Semrush volumes, without border correction. The cantonal values are model estimates. Searches for destinations abroad may affect the regional distribution; the border scenarios above show possible effects. Absolute values rounded to the nearest hundred. Equal values share a rank. For Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Glarus, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schwyz, Uri and Zug the data basis is thin, and their values should be read with caution.

The second method turns the question around: which places are searched for? Every escort search term containing a place name (escort zurich, escort geneve) is assigned to the canton in which the place is located. Searches for "sex + place name" are left out here. The canton of Geneva leads with 26'380 place-related queries a month and is also in front relative to its population (49 per 1'000 residents), ahead of Ticino (40), Neuchâtel (36) and Jura (30).

The two calculations do not measure the same thing. The first shows where searches are made, the second which places are searched for. Nevertheless, both arrive at the same picture: Latin Switzerland is in front. By the first method, escort terms are searched for two and a half times as often per capita there as in German-speaking Switzerland. By the second, places in Latin Switzerland attract, relative to population, as many as four and a half times the queries of places in German-speaking Switzerland. In the least favourable case examined for the border cantons (see above), the lead by the first method shrinks to 1.8 times.

However, this measures only searches for escort terms, not the total search demand of the keyword basket. That makes a considerable difference, as the next section shows.

How the language regions search

German-speaking Switzerland and Latin Switzerland use different words when searching. This is shown by the Google Trends values per canton, which indicate where searches are made (index, highest canton = 100). For "escort", Ticino is at 100, the other cantons of Latin Switzerland are at 24 to 37, and most cantons of German-speaking Switzerland at 11 to 19. For "sex in" it is the reverse: the German-speaking cantons are at 38 to 100, the cantons of Latin Switzerland at 7 to 19.

The places searched for show the same picture. For searches naming places in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino, the search word is usually simply "escort". Nine out of ten escort searches with a place name from western Switzerland use "escort" (escort geneve, escort lausanne), one in ten "escort girl". The French "escorte" hardly occurs. For Ticino place names, the word "escort" appears in more than 99 percent of searches, for instance in escort lugano or escort locarno. The Italian "accompagnatrici" can only be measured in Google Trends in Ticino, and even there it remains small: search terms containing it account for 140 queries a month.

The word is also known in German-speaking Switzerland. For places there, however, the pattern "sex + place name" dominates, and that reverses the picture. In erotic contact searches, the largest volumes fall on places in the cantons of Zurich and Bern, each with more than 120'000 queries a month. They are followed by Aargau, St. Gallen, Lucerne and Basel-Stadt. Places in Ticino account for 10'470 queries, 1.3 percent of this segment. Relative to population, places in German-speaking Switzerland attract a good four times as many of these queries as places in Latin Switzerland.

Depending on which keyword basket is used, the ranking therefore tips one way or the other. What differs above all is the vocabulary. It seems plausible that actual demand is spread more evenly across the country than a single ranking would suggest. With search data alone, however, this cannot be proven.

Demand across the border

Around 21'000 search queries a month from Switzerland relate to escorts in the border region abroad. 11'280 of these are directed at France, above all at Annemasse on the border with Geneva (6'420) and at Annecy (1'090). 9'180 are directed at Italy, almost all of them at Como (8'670). "escort como" alone accounts for 8'100 queries a month, more than any search term with a Ticino town. Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein together account for 600 queries.

Proximity to the border, for instance among cross-border commuters, or price differences with the neighbouring countries suggest themselves as reasons. This is no more than a supposition, as search data reveal no motives. These searches are not included in the 1'052'970 queries of the keyword basket, nor in the cantonal calculation, because they would distort the values of the border cantons.

When searches are made: December and July

Over the 24 months of the survey period, the peak for most of the terms examined falls in December or July.

In December, "sex in" is 16 percent above the annual average, "sex date" as much as 33 percent (Google Trends index, monthly averages). For "escort girl", "sex in" and "sex date", the strongest single week of the entire period falls, in both retrievals, within the Christmas season, in the weeks beginning 21, 22 or 28 December.

In July, "escort" is 9 percent above the annual average, the French "escorte" 18 percent. For both, July was the strongest month in both years examined; for "sex in" and "sex date" it was December in both years. Which months are quietest depends on the term.

From classified ad to date: how search language is shifting

The terms themselves are changing too. Words from the era of classified adverts are losing ground: "sex inserate" declines by 13 to 15 percent year on year, "sexkontakte" by 8 to 13 percent. "sex date", by contrast, gains around 40 to 60 percent (Google Trends index, August 2025 to July 2026 compared with August 2024 to July 2025). The ranges arise because the data were retrieved twice and the values for rarely searched terms fluctuate.

This can be read as a shift: away from browsing through adverts, towards arranging a meeting directly. It is no more than one reading, however. "sex date" may also reflect a search for an unpaid date; the term is not clear-cut. The decline of the classified-ad terms, though, is shown by both retrievals.

Methodology

Data basis

The study draws on three sources:
 

• Search volumes from Semrush (Switzerland database, broad match, from 10 queries a month). The values are averages over twelve months. As at: search terms 24.07.2026 (individual terms added or confirmed by a query of 30.09.2026), additional massage and accompagnatrici terms 14.10.2026, portal names 21.09.2026, Google results 30.09.2026.
• Regional and temporal distribution from Google Trends (region Switzerland, 01.08.2024 to 31.07.2026, all categories, web search, each term queried individually and without exclusion filters, retrieved 14.10.2026; for the year-on-year ranges, an additional retrieval from July 2026). The terms queried were escort, escort girl, escorte, begleitservice, callgirl, accompagnatrici, sex in, sex date, sex inserate, sexkontakte and erotische massage.
• Permanent resident population according to the Federal Statistical Office (STATPOP, as at 31.12.2025).

Keyword basket

4'248 search terms were analysed, almost all in German, English, French or Italian, with a combined 1'052'970 queries a month, divided into three segments. The examples are not exhaustive.
 

• Escort terms, 170'640 queries a month: escort, escort zurich, escort geneve, escort girl lausanne, escort lugano, begleitservice, callgirl basel, accompagnatrici ticino
• Erotic contact searches, 796'590 queries a month: sex bern, sex in zürich, sexkontakte, sex inserate, sex date, sexe delemont, incontri sesso ticino
• Erotic massage, 85'740 queries a month: erotische massage, erotische massage zürich, tantra massage, nuru massage, massage erotique lausanne, massaggi erotici

Not included were terms with no erotic connotation (among them the Ford Escort with 247 search terms of its own), searches for porn and videos, informational searches (for instance about meaning, prices or jobs), searches for destinations abroad and terms with fewer than 10 queries a month.

Terms with a clear reference to pornography, such as “sex video” or “porno sex”, are not in the keyword basket. For some terms it is impossible to separate whether someone is looking for a paid service or for pornography, for example “sex massage”. Such terms are included.

Place names that also exist abroad, such as Freiburg or Rheinfelden, are assigned to Switzerland. Since the search data originate from Switzerland, the Swiss places are likely to be meant in most cases. Places were identified using the official index of localities of Switzerland (swisstopo).

Searches containing the names of the 13 industry portals are, as a rule, not in the keyword basket, including in combination with a place or service (such as "xdate basel" or "xdate sex"). For context, the study reports them separately: the 13 brand names, summed per brand across all spellings and word combinations (broad match), account for around 2.1 million queries a month according to Semrush estimates. Other platform and classifieds names in combination with a service or place, such as "anibis escort lausanne", count towards the keyword basket, as do searches for the review platform Escort Advisor (2'420 queries a month). The exception is eight search terms that combine one of the 13 portal names with a service word and usually a place, such as "sex zürich xdate". These are contained in both figures. Together they account for 1'040 queries a month, less than 0.1 percent of the total. In the overall figure of around 38 million a year they are counted only once.

Searches for escorts in the border region abroad are reported separately. The border region comprises places in the departments, provinces and districts that border Switzerland, plus Lake Constance and Liechtenstein. Milan is not part of it.

Cantonal calculation

Google Trends does not provide absolute figures per canton, but an index for a term's share of all search queries in the canton. The study weights these indices by cantonal population, thereby distributing the national Semrush volume of each term across the cantons, and sums over six term groups (escort, escort girl, escorte, begleitservice, callgirl, accompagnatrici). Each search term is assigned to exactly one group; no volume is counted twice. The approach assumes that a similar amount of Google searching per capita takes place in all cantons. The result is an estimate, not a measurement.

Where Trends values are missing for a canton, the term counts as 0 there. In Google Trends, a missing value does not necessarily mean zero searches, but too few for an evaluation. Three alternative assumptions were therefore tested: missing values as half the smallest value of the term, omitting the three small term groups (begleitservice, callgirl, accompagnatrici) and distributing their volume proportionally across the others, or distributing their volume in the same way as "escort". Under these, the cantonal values shift by less than half a point per 1'000 residents, and the order of the first ten cantons remains the same.

The second method assigns escort search terms containing place names to the canton of the place. It draws on the same keyword basket but assigns differently, and complements the first method with a second perspective. It shows which places are searched for, not where the searchers live. It therefore does not confirm the estimates of the first method. Place names that occur in several cantons count towards the total, but not towards any individual canton.

The study counts the cantons of Fribourg, Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel, Ticino, Vaud and Valais as Latin Switzerland, and the remaining 19 cantons as German-speaking Switzerland. The division is simplified: the bilingual cantons of Bern, Fribourg and Valais and the trilingual Grisons are each assigned wholly to one group.

Google results

For the statement on Google results, eleven terms of the pattern "sex + place name" were analysed: sex bern, sex in bern, sex basel, sex luzern, sex zurich, sex winterthur, sex chur, sex in chur, sex thun, sex solothurn and sex baden. Together they account for around 137'000 queries a month (Semrush, as at 24.07.2026), between 2'900 and 27'100 per term. The four most searched-for terms of this pattern are among the eleven. For each, the first ten organic results were analysed (Semrush, Switzerland database, as at 30.09.2026), classified by domain and URL path.

Time series

For the year-on-year comparison, the average of the weekly values from August 2025 to July 2026 is compared with that from August 2024 to July 2025. The seasonal index sets the average per calendar month in relation to the average of all months (100). The analysis covers the 104 weeks beginning between 01.08.2024 and 31.07.2026, with each week counted towards the month of its first day. Google Trends works with samples, and for rarely searched terms the values fluctuate between two retrievals. For these terms, the study gives the range from two retrievals (July and October 2026), rounded to the nearest ten for "sex date" (43 and 63 percent). All other time series values come from the October retrieval.

Limitations

The keyword basket measures searches, not the intent behind them. Not every search for "sex + place name" or "sex date" is aimed at a paid service.

Google Trends works with samples. For Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Glarus, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schwyz, Uri and Zug, values for "escort girl" or "escorte" are missing, and their results should be read with caution. For the small term groups, Google Trends provides values in only a few cantons: begleitservice in three, callgirl in five, accompagnatrici only in Ticino. Together they account for 1'610 queries a month, less than 1 percent of escort terms.

The Trends queries capture all searches containing the respective term, including those excluded from the keyword basket. For "escort" this is around a third of the Semrush volume of all search terms containing this word, above all searches for destinations abroad and in the border region. Ford Escort accounts for around 3 percent. The cantonal calculation assumes that the excluded searches are distributed across the cantons in a similar way to the others. The time series for "escort" also contains these searches.

For the border region, this assumption hardly holds. Search queries for the border region abroad are excluded from the cantonal calculation, but they are likely to push up the Trends indices of the border cantons, above all in Ticino and Geneva. Ticino keeps its first place in all scenarios examined. The Geneva value, by contrast, depends heavily on where the searches for the French border region originate (see the section on the cantons).

Semrush exports are limited to 10'000 terms. For the term "sex", search terms with 10 to 20 queries a month are therefore missing. As a result, the total is estimated to be 1 to 2 percent too low. The estimate transfers the distribution of search volumes from complete exports (such as "escort" and "sex in") to the "sex" export and applies the share of terms in its lowest recorded tiers that were included in the keyword basket. The range results from different reference tiers.

The cleaning of the keyword basket was rule-based. Individual borderline cases, such as places abroad or price searches, were not detected in the process. Together they account for less than 0.1 percent of the total.

The Semrush values come from queries made between July and October 2026. Because they are twelve-month averages, the terms added in October cover a period shifted by just under three months. They account for around 6 percent of the total. The annual figures are extrapolations from these monthly averages, not totals for a calendar year.

Semrush values are estimates and are reported in tiers. Search volumes count search events, not people. A term may also be searched for very often by a small number of people.

Short-term local events such as the WEF or Art Basel could not be measured in the data.

About the publisher

The study is published by Gingr (G-IT AG). Gingr itself operates a platform in this market and is therefore one of the providers examined. The analysis draws exclusively on data from Semrush, Google Trends and the Federal Statistical Office. No platform data from Gingr were used.

Citation and contact

The figures in this study may be quoted freely with attribution. Citation: Gingr, Search Demand Study 2026, gingr.ch.

Media enquiries and raw data for editorial teams: info@gingr.ch. On request, we will send editorial teams the complete ranking tables and the underlying data for the charts.