Is someone else logged into your ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity account?
AI accounts can be broken into just like any other online account. Here's how to check for uninvited sessions on the three most popular AI platforms, and how to kick intruders out.
Key points
- ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity all let you check for active sessions: logged-in devices you didn't authorise.
- ChatGPT and Perplexity offer multi-factor authentication; Claude doesn't use passwords at all.
- Perplexity is the only one of the three that won't show you which specific devices are logged in.
- Security experts recommend a unique password for every account, stored in a password manager, an app that remembers strong passwords for you.
Your ChatGPT account holds your conversation history, any documents you've uploaded, and possibly a paid subscription. Someone who breaks in can read all of it. Claude and Perplexity carry similar risks. These platforms are targets for exactly that reason.
The good news is that all three services give you a way to find and remove suspicious logins. The steps are quick, and you don't need to be technical.
How do you check for uninvited logins on each platform?
ChatGPT: Open ChatGPT in a desktop browser. Click your username in the bottom-left corner, choose Settings, then go to Security and Login and click Active Sessions. You'll see every device currently logged in. Click the X next to any you don't recognise, or hit "Log out all" to clear every session at once. To change your password, log out, click Log In, enter your email and choose "Forgot password." ChatGPT will email you a six-digit code to confirm the change.
Claude: Open Claude in a desktop browser. Click your username, choose Settings, then Account. Active Sessions are listed there. Hover over any session you don't recognise, click the three-dot menu and choose Log Out or Terminate. There's no password to change because Claude never uses passwords: it emails you a login link each time. Remove a bad session and the intruder is locked out immediately.
Perplexity: Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine that answers questions by searching the web in real time, doesn't show you individual devices. If you suspect a problem, click your username, go to All Settings and choose "Sign out of all sessions." That logs out every device including yours, so you'll need to log back in with your email and a fresh six-digit code.
What should you do right now to stay safer?
Three steps cover most of the risk. Use a different password on every account, store them in a password manager, and turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) wherever it's offered. MFA adds a second check to the login process, usually a code sent to your phone, so a stolen password alone isn't enough to get in.
ChatGPT and Perplexity both offer MFA. Claude skips it because the email-link system already acts as a built-in second check. We first covered MFA and password safety together on 17 August 2026, when account security for AI platforms was just starting to get attention.
What should you watch for?
Four warning signs suggest your account may be compromised: unfamiliar session locations or device names in your active sessions list; AI responses that reference conversations you never had; a sudden change to your subscription or billing details; and login emails you didn't request. If you spot any of these, clear all sessions immediately and change your password.
The honest read on this: account takeover on AI platforms isn't a novel attack, it's the oldest trick applied to a new target. What makes it sting more than a hacked social account is that your AI conversation history is often far more personal than anything you'd post publicly. Lock it down before someone else reads it.
