OpenAI: ChatGPT Searches Have Reached 20% of Google Query Volume

According to OpenAI, the number of searches conducted through ChatGPT has reached 20% of Google queries. Adam Fry, ChatGPT’s head of consumer products, announced this at a company event. Every user query that results in an online search for information is counted as a search. Requests for word definitions and simple tasks that do not require an internet connection are not included in this calculation.

However, OpenAI did not disclose which Google data it used for the comparison. It is also unclear how many ChatGPT queries were counted as searches. Assuming that Google processes approximately 16 billion searches per day, this would amount to 3.2 billion interactions per day for ChatGPT. This is not an official daily figure, but an estimate based on the 20% ratio. Because the measurement methods differ, the figure should not be regarded as traditional market share. Google’s share of the traditional search engine market exceeds 90%.

ChatGPT has 1.2 billion weekly active users. Their number has increased by approximately 200 million over the past 2 months. Users generate approximately 1.5 billion images per week. ChatGPT Voice, which is designed for voice conversations, is used by 250 million people. According to the most recently disclosed figure, the service had 50 million paying subscribers. Although Adam Fry said the number had increased, he did not share a new figure.

These figures are not enough to surpass Google, but they show the scale of the competition. For comparison, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella said in 2023 that Bing’s market share was approximately 3%. OpenAI uses Microsoft Bing and its own search index for a large share of searches. It has not been confirmed that some queries are sent to Google. According to Adam Fry, users particularly appreciate personalized answers and the chatbot’s ability to understand them.

Google is increasing its investment in artificial intelligence features for its search service. These include AI Overview, personalized results, visual materials and charts. Through an approach it calls “Intelligent UI,” OpenAI also wants to turn chatbot responses into visual pages that users can interact with. Adam Fry believes the future lies not only in text responses, but also in such interactive pages.

OpenAI is devoting more space to advertising to increase its revenue. In particular, there is discussion that the company could go public in early 2027. Adam Fry claims that ads do not negatively affect the product or the user experience and that most people do not object to them. Last month, the company announced that it would begin displaying images of sponsored products and services in ChatGPT. This means ads will not consist solely of a name, logo and link. Fry said this approach would allow the company to increase the number of ads.

OpenAI’s former standalone search service, SearchGPT, was later integrated into ChatGPT. The ChatGPT Atlas browser, which was developed as a rival to Google Chrome, is also said to have been discontinued earlier this year because of low interest. Although those projects were unsuccessful, internet searches within ChatGPT are said to be increasing. At the same time, OpenAI has not fully disclosed how the 20% figure was calculated. It would therefore be incorrect to treat that figure directly as market share.