Business · 2026-11-03

ChatGPT Catches Up to Google in Search: One-Fifth of Its Query Volume

OpenAI says ChatGPT now handles search queries that lead to web searches at about one-fifth the volume of Google, and it is considering ads in the chatbot.

✨ What OpenAI said

Adam Fry, OpenAI's consumer product lead for ChatGPT, said at a press event on Monday that the volume of search queries run through ChatGPT now equals 20% of the volume run through Google. OpenAI counts a search as any query that results in a web search. Questions like defining a term or a simple how-to explanation do not count.

Fry did not name the source of the Google search volume figure.

📌 How big that is

Even 20% of Google's volume is still far from overtaking it. For comparison, during Google's 2023 antitrust trial, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Bing had about 3% of the search market after more than a decade of effort. During that trial, Google itself described AI as a potential disruptor, arguing ChatGPT could seriously compete with it. Now, OpenAI says that is happening.

OpenAI likely uses Microsoft Bing for a significant part of its searches, along with its own search index. There is still speculation that some queries are routed through Google.

🔹 What is happening in search

Google is sending fewer conventional referrals to third-party sites and investing heavily in AI features, including AI Overview and personalized results with visualizations and charts. Other companies are building similar AI-focused search experiences, even if they use different names.

OpenAI calls its approach "Intelligent UI," meaning a visual, interactive interface inside a chatbot response. "That's where the future of this technology goes. You're talking to a canvas," Fry said.

🔸 Ads and money

Like Google, OpenAI sees a potential path to profit through ads, especially as it approaches a possible IPO, potentially slated for early next year. Fry told reporters the ads have not produced a lasting backlash: "Ads have not negatively impacted the product or the usage of the product, and most people do not seem to mind ads in the product."

Last month OpenAI announced it would begin showing images of sponsored products and services in ChatGPT, not just a company's name, logo, and a link as before. "Ads have maybe shown us that we could be doing this more, actually," Fry said.

Sources: 🔗 The Verge — AI