OpenAI says ChatGPT now handles a fifth of Google's search volume
The claim is unverified and based on a definition that counts only queries triggering a web search, but it is a sharp shift in how users may look for information.
At a Monday press event, OpenAI's consumer product lead Adam Fry said ChatGPT now handles search queries equal to 20 percent of the volume Google processes, counting only inputs that trigger a web search rather than definitions or simple how-to answers. Fry did not say where the Google figure came from. The gap remains large, but it compares with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's testimony in Google's 2023 antitrust trial that Bing held about 3 percent share after more than a decade. OpenAI is also steering toward ads, which it hopes will help it reach profitability ahead of a possible IPO next year, and Fry told reporters the ads have not hurt usage. The company says it is moving from plain text ad placements toward sponsored images, and it is pushing a visual, interactive response format it calls "Intelligent UI."
Why it matters
If the figure holds, people who rely on search for finding information now have a second major entry point, and advertisers and publishers may need to reconsider where queries are answered. OpenAI's push toward sponsored images and ads ties that shift directly to its funding plans ahead of a possible IPO, and Fry said the ads have not hurt usage so far. The comparison to Bing's roughly 3 percent share underlines how much ground ChatGPT would have gained, but the Google baseline is not sourced, so the scale of the change remains uncertain.
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