OpenAI says ChatGPT search reaches one-fifth of Google query volume

OpenAI defines a search as a user query that results in a web search, excluding requests such as defining a term or getting a simple how-to explanation.[1] Fry did not specify the source of the Google-volume figure, so the basis for the comparison is not clear from the report.[1]

OpenAI said ChatGPT had 1.2 billion weekly active users, up from 1 billion two months earlier, and said it had added 200 million users over that period.[2] Those figures describe ChatGPT’s user base, while the 20 percent comparison concerns search-query volume.[1][2] The Verge said one-fifth of Google’s search volume still leaves ChatGPT far from overtaking Google.[1] The available figures therefore indicate scale, but do not establish that the two services are being measured on the same basis.[1]

Fry said ChatGPT search is used for queries about people, places and things that require up-to-date information.[2] He also said users turn to it for finance and health questions when they want current, factual information.[2] Fry characterized the feature as addressing questions users traditionally would have taken to a search engine.[2]

For comparison, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Bing had about 3 percent of search-engine market share during Google’s 2023 antitrust trial.[1] That figure is market share, while OpenAI’s new comparison is about query volume, so the two numbers are not directly interchangeable.[1] The Verge reported that Google was reducing conventional referrals to third-party websites while investing in AI search tools.[1] Fry also called OpenAI’s effort to create visual, interactive interfaces within chatbot responses “Intelligent UI” and described conversational interaction with a visual canvas as the technology’s future.[1]