A ChatGPT product executive revealed that search volume via ChatGPT has reached about one-fifth that of Google, but did not disclose the source of these figures.
Adam Fry, consumer product executive for ChatGPT, said at an OpenAI event in New York City, USA, that search volume on ChatGPT has risen to roughly one-fifth, or about 20 percent, of Google’s search volume.
However, OpenAI did not disclose the source of the Google data used for comparison.
Fry told Alex Kantrowitz at the event that the figure counts queries that resemble traditional searches—meaning questions users might have previously asked a traditional search engine (i.e., Google) but now ask ChatGPT instead, such as inquiries about people, places, finance, and health requiring up-to-date information. He explained that each time a user asks a question and the system retrieves information from the web, it counts as one search, so a single conversation may be counted multiple times.
Since OpenAI has not revealed how the comparison was made, it is unclear whether both sides use the same criteria. The latest official Google figure cited comes from 2025, indicating over 5 trillion searches annually.
Fry also disclosed that ChatGPT’s weekly users have grown from 1 billion to 1.2 billion in the past two months, with users generating 1.5 billion images weekly and 250 million weekly users engaging with voice features including voice input and conversations.
Regarding differences from traditional search engines, Fry said users appreciate ChatGPT’s ability to tailor answers to individuals and understand ongoing context. He gave the example of a question about the Eiffel Tower’s height, noting ChatGPT can respond considering that the user might be planning a trip to Paris.
Fry added that advertising has not negatively affected the product or user experience, and most users do not seem bothered by ads in the product. He also indicated that advertising might demonstrate OpenAI’s potential to expand this area further.
Certainly, Google has long been the leading internet search provider, but that dominance has been challenged by chatbots like ChatGPT, prompting Google to release similar products such as Google Gemini.
Around the same time, Google executive Philipp Schindler acknowledged that AI Mode is a rapidly growing feature. Although it generates less advertising revenue than traditional search, ad experiments are promising. Google plans to expand advertising in both AI Overviews and AI Mode to more users and search queries.
/source:9to5Google