ChatGPT receives approximately one-fifth as many search-like queries as does Google, according to ChatGPT person merchandise guide Adam Fry.
The item he made concerning the quantity of search-like queries was shared alongside Alex Kantrowitz in an open conversation during a Monday evening meal in New York hosted by OpenAI. The copy was afterward posted by Big Technology on Tuesday.
OpenAI counts a hunt all period a inquiry sends ChatGPT to the web, Fry said. The visits ChatGPT sends to websites are a distinct measure, and exterior data on that traffic puts ChatGPT far rearward Google.
How OpenAI Counts A Search
Alex Kantrowitz of Big Technology asked Fry whether a conversation that includes a hunt counts as one, or whether all inquiry requiring a web hunt counts separately. Fry replied:
“Every period you ask a inquiry and go hunt the web, that’s a search.”
He stated group archetypal came to ChatGPT mostly for penning and coding help, which they wouldn’t have searched for. Over the former year, he said, they’ve brought questions concerning people, places and things that need up-to-date information, affirmative backing and health questions, anywhere ChatGPT does a web search. He described the category as item users would have taken to a traditional hunt engine.
Fry, in the published interview, did not disclose which Google fig was referenced; for how lengthy the difference is based on; nor does he province which regions are covered. He has additionally been asked if one-fifth of Google’s size makes ChatGPT multiple times bigger than Bing. The study by Big Technology indicates that the figure of weekly energetic users of ChatGPT grew by 20% (from 1 milliard to 1.2 billion) complete the final two months.
What Outside Data Shows
In February, Ahrefs had estimated the hunt quantity of ChatGPT to be about 12 percent that of Google’s hunt quantity using a definition of hunt that was distinct from that used by OpenAI. It began alongside 2.5 milliard regular ChatGPT prompts in July 2025 (from a study by Harvard University and OpenAI) and resolute that about 65 percent were the category of query users would have earlier looked up on Google.
Using this data, it compared those numbers alongside the complete 5 trillion searches per twelvemonth Google announced in March 2025. The author stated that 65% was higher than the portion the researchers had classified as search. That method sorts prompts by the benevolent of request, during Fry’s fig counts web searches.
Ahrefs additionally tracks anywhere traffic to websites comes from throughout sites that use its liberated Web Analytics tool. In October, throughout 118,671 sites, Google accounted for 24.74% of tracked traffic and ChatGPT for 0.36%, according to the tracker’s Nov. 3 update.
What Google Reports
Alphabet’s third-quarter release, which I covered on Oct. 28, gives Google’s hunt query growth as a charge fairly than a count. In the release, CEO Sundar Pichai stated AI investments are driving general hunt query growth and that Google’s “year-over-year query growth charge is the highest it’s been in the final five years.”
Why This Matters
OpenAI’s data comparing search-like queries by users of ChatGPT versus those using Google indicates the approximate 1/5th ratio. Fry’s counting regulation includes lone the hunt requests made by ChatGPT users in command to dispatch a inquiry to the Web. Ahrefs’ referral tracker tracks the figure of visitors that are directed to websites. In this data set, Google has an overwhelming amount of referrals compared to ChatGPT.
Neither Fry’s figure nor Google’s year-over-year growth charge illustrates if ChatGPT searches are replacing searches on Google. If ChatGPT’s size is included in a conduit plan, afterward whenever reporting hunt it have to be accompanied by the definitions of query quantity and referral traffic, which volition provision two distinct metrics.
Looking Ahead
Ahrefs’ tracker reports referral shares duration by month, giving you a regular exterior viewpoint on the traffic ChatGPT sends. OpenAI’s approximately one-fifth proportion is difficult to difference alongside another estimates until the business clarifies which Google fig it used.
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