iPullRank analyzed 13.1 cardinal hunt events from 9.1 cardinal opted-in users, covering October 2024 done December 2025, to understand really Google users behave erstwhile they hunt and wherever their clicks yet go.
One of the standout findings for paid hunt marketers was ChatGPT’s unusually precocious stock of paid traffic.
By the numbers. ChatGPT was the sixth-most-clicked destination from Google Search successful the dataset, trailing only YouTube, Google’s ain properties, Reddit, Facebook and Wikipedia. Millions of searches for ChatGPT occurred each week wrong the panel.
More importantly for advertisers, iPullRank recovered ChatGPT drew a greater proportionality of paid clicks than immoderate of the different starring Google destinations it analyzed.
That suggests OpenAI isn’t relying solely connected integrated visibility aliases nonstop postulation to pull users. Paid hunt is besides playing a domiciled successful moving group from Google to ChatGPT.
Why we care. This investigation suggests paid hunt is holding up moreover arsenic Google sends less integrated clicks, while ChatGPT itself is becoming a important paid-search destination. It besides shows that AI and Google Search aren’t needfully abstracted customer journeys — users are moving betwixt them, creating caller opportunities for advertisers to deliberation astir really paid hunt fits into an progressively AI-driven find landscape.
The bigger picture. ChatGPT besides appears comparatively difficult for Google to switch pinch its ain hunt features.
Only 11.1% of searches that would different lead toward OpenAI were intercepted by a zero-click Google experience, 1 of the lowest rates among the awesome destinations iPullRank studied.
That is partially because galore ChatGPT searches are navigational. Google tin reply a actual mobility straight successful Search, but it can’t afloat fulfill personification whose volition is simply to unfastened ChatGPT.
Paid clicks are holding up. The investigation besides contained different perchance important awesome for Google Ads advertisers.
Google’s wide zero-click complaint roseate astir 2.6 percent points during the 15-month study period, while the stock of searches producing an integrated click fell astir 2.8 points.
Paid clicks, however, showed nary meaningful alteration during that period, according to iPullRank.
That doesn’t mean paid hunt is immune to changing hunt behavior. But wrong this dataset, the maturation of zero-click searches appears to person travel chiefly astatine the disbursal of integrated clicks alternatively than ads.
Brand bidding still matters. The study besides recovered paid clicks were much communal connected branded searches.
When branded searches resulted successful a click, 4.4% were paid, compared pinch 3.3% for non-branded searches. iPullRank describes this arsenic grounds of brands paying to take sides their ain names successful hunt results.
That discourse is peculiarly applicable to ChatGPT. People searching Google specifically for “ChatGPT” correspond highly valuable navigational traffic, making salient paid placement perchance useful moreover erstwhile the marque already has beardown integrated visibility.
The investigation does not, however, uncover which queries OpenAI bids connected aliases really overmuch it spends, truthful it can’t found really overmuch of ChatGPT’s paid postulation comes specifically from protect marque bidding.
Search is still a find engine. Another notable uncovering is that only astir 14% of Google clicks went to a website explicitly named successful the user’s query. The remaining 86% were classified arsenic find clicks, wherever Google sent users to destinations they hadn’t specifically requested.
For advertisers, that’s important because it suggests Google’s worth isn’t constricted to capturing existing marque demand.
A ample mostly of clicks stay perchance contestable territory wherever ads, rankings and different hunt experiences tin present users to a destination.
Bottom line. ChatGPT’s position arsenic some a Google competitor and a important recipient of paid Google postulation shows really intertwined accepted hunt and AI find are becoming. For paid hunt marketers, that suggests the emerging AI travel isn’t simply Google versus ChatGPT. Increasingly, it could beryllium Google to ChatGPT — pinch an advertisement helping users get there.
Dig deeper. What 13 Billion Google Searches Reveal About Zero-Click Behavior
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