OpenAI Says ChatGPT Is Catching Up to Google in Search

OpenAI says ChatGPT is now handling approximately 20% of Google’s search query volume, highlighting how quickly AI-powered search is gaining ground against traditional search engines. Adam Fry, OpenAI’s consumer product lead for ChatGPT, revealed the figure during a company event on November 2, 2026.

The comparison suggests that ChatGPT is becoming a significant alternative for people looking for information online. However, Google remains considerably larger, and OpenAI has not disclosed the exact source or methodology used to calculate Google’s search volume. The figure measures search-triggering queries on ChatGPT, not total chatbot conversations or traditional search market share.

ChatGPT Reaches 20% of Google’s Search Volume

According to Adam Fry, ChatGPT’s search volume has grown to approximately one-fifth of Google’s total search query volume.

The announcement represents a significant development for OpenAI because ChatGPT initially became popular as a conversational AI assistant rather than a traditional search engine.

Users originally relied on ChatGPT primarily for writing assistance, coding, brainstorming and answering general questions. However, the introduction of web search capabilities has expanded its role into finding current information about people, businesses, products, financial developments and other topics.

OpenAI now counts a search whenever a user’s question triggers a web search through ChatGPT.

The company has not disclosed the precise source of Google’s comparison figure, making it difficult to independently verify the comparison.

Search Metric	Reported Figure
ChatGPT search volume	Approximately 20% of Google’s
Relative search volume	1:5
Announcement date	November 2, 2026
OpenAI executive	Adam Fry
Google comparison methodology	Not disclosed

The figure does not mean ChatGPT has captured 20% of the traditional search engine market. It compares estimated query volumes rather than market share measured through a standard industry methodology.

ChatGPT’s Weekly Active Users Reach 1.2 Billion

The search milestone comes alongside rapid growth in ChatGPT’s overall user base.

In an interview with Big Technology, Adam Fry said ChatGPT had increased its weekly active users from approximately 1 billion to 1.2 billion over two months.

This represents an addition of approximately 200 million weekly active users.

Metric	Reported Figure
Previous weekly active users	1 billion
Current weekly active users	1.2 billion
Additional users	200 million
Growth period	Approximately 60 days
Weekly image generation	1.5 billion images
Weekly voice users	250 million combined users

The figures demonstrate the scale of ChatGPT’s expansion beyond conventional chatbot usage.

Its growing user base also creates opportunities for OpenAI to expand search, shopping, advertising and other services within the platform.

Why People Are Using ChatGPT Instead of Google

One of the major differences between ChatGPT and traditional search engines is how they deliver information.

Google generally provides a list of links, websites, advertisements and increasingly AI-generated summaries.

ChatGPT, on the other hand, allows users to ask questions in natural language and receive conversational responses that can incorporate information from multiple sources.

Users can also ask follow-up questions without starting a completely new search.

Adam Fry highlighted personalization and the ability to maintain context across conversations as important reasons people are increasingly using ChatGPT for information discovery.

For example, someone planning a trip to Paris might initially ask about the Eiffel Tower.

Instead of treating the question as an isolated search, ChatGPT can use the surrounding conversation to provide information relevant to the broader travel plan.

This ability to maintain context could make AI-powered search more useful for complicated research tasks.

ChatGPT Is Expanding Beyond Traditional Search Queries

OpenAI says users are increasingly using ChatGPT for information that traditionally required a search engine.

Some important categories include:

• Business and finance: Researching companies, financial developments and market information.
• Technology: Finding information about products, software and new technology.
• People and businesses: Looking up individuals, organisations and companies.
• Travel: Researching destinations, attractions and travel arrangements.
• Health information: Understanding medical topics and finding current information.
• Product research: Comparing products and exploring purchasing decisions.

The ability to combine web search with conversational assistance allows ChatGPT to handle more complex information requests.

ChatGPT’s Search Growth Creates a New Challenge for Google

Google remains the dominant search engine, but the growth of AI-powered alternatives is changing the competitive landscape.

For years, Google’s search business has relied on connecting users with websites through ranked results and advertising.

ChatGPT introduces a different experience in which users can receive a direct answer instead of visiting multiple websites.

This shift could influence how people discover information and how businesses attract online traffic.

Google has already responded by expanding AI-powered features across its search products.

These include AI Overviews, AI-powered search experiences and personalised results that incorporate visualisations and charts.

The competition is therefore no longer limited to which company provides the best list of search results. It increasingly involves which platform can understand user intent and deliver the most useful answer.

OpenAI’s Search Volume Compared With Bing

The reported 20% comparison is particularly interesting when viewed alongside Microsoft’s earlier statements about Bing.

During Google’s 2023 antitrust trial, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified that Bing held approximately 3% of the search market after years of competition with Google.

ChatGPT’s reported search query volume is substantially larger relative to Google under OpenAI’s comparison.

However, the figures are not directly comparable because one measures relative query volume while the other refers to market share.

There is another important connection: ChatGPT’s search infrastructure has historically relied significantly on Microsoft’s Bing alongside OpenAI’s own search technology.

This means OpenAI’s growth as a search destination does not necessarily represent a complete replacement of traditional search infrastructure.

Instead, it shows how users may increasingly access search technology through conversational AI interfaces.

OpenAI Sees Advertising as an Important Revenue Opportunity

The growth of ChatGPT search could also create new advertising opportunities for OpenAI.

Google generates a substantial portion of its revenue through advertisements displayed alongside search results.

OpenAI is exploring a similar commercial opportunity within ChatGPT.

The company has already introduced advertising experiences and announced plans to display images of sponsored products and services rather than relying only on company names, logos and links.

Adam Fry said advertisements had not negatively affected product usage and suggested that the company could potentially expand its advertising activities.

For OpenAI, advertising could become an important revenue stream as the company serves a growing global user base.

However, monetising conversational search presents different challenges from traditional search advertising. OpenAI must ensure that sponsored content does not undermine user trust or interfere with the usefulness of its answers.

OpenAI Wants Search to Become More Interactive

Another important part of OpenAI’s strategy is its vision for what it calls an Intelligent UI.

Instead of presenting users with a conventional list of links or a block of generated text, ChatGPT could increasingly deliver interactive interfaces within conversations.

These experiences could include:

• Interactive charts and visualisations.
• Product comparison interfaces.
• Personalised research summaries.
• Context-aware recommendations.
• Visual tools for exploring complicated information.

Adam Fry described this direction as a conversational experience built around a canvas.

The idea is to make AI search more interactive, allowing users to explore information and complete tasks without repeatedly switching between websites and applications.

This could create a different competitive advantage compared with traditional search engines.

The Bigger Picture

OpenAI’s reported 20% search volume milestone highlights a major change in how people discover information online. ChatGPT is no longer being used only as a writing assistant or coding tool. It is increasingly becoming an alternative destination for questions that users would traditionally enter into Google.

However, the comparison should be interpreted carefully. Search query volume does not establish that ChatGPT has captured one-fifth of Google’s market share, and Google continues to maintain a substantial lead. The more important development is the growing acceptance of conversational interfaces as a way to search, research and discover information.

For Google, the challenge is to make traditional search more useful in an AI-driven environment without weakening its advertising business. For OpenAI, the opportunity is to turn ChatGPT’s growing search usage into a sustainable business through better discovery tools, interactive experiences and advertising.

Looking Ahead

OpenAI is likely to continue expanding ChatGPT’s search capabilities as it competes for users who increasingly prefer conversational answers over traditional search results. Its investments in personalised responses, interactive interfaces and advertising could help transform ChatGPT into a broader information and discovery platform.

Google’s response will also shape the future of the search industry. As both companies invest in AI-powered discovery, the competition will increasingly depend on answer quality, accuracy, personalisation and the ability to connect users with reliable information. The reported milestone suggests that AI search is becoming a serious competitor, even though Google remains far ahead in overall search activity.