OpenAI says ChatGPT already handles 20% of Google's search volume
Adam Fry, who runs consumer products at OpenAI, didn't say where his Google figure came from. He also revealed that ChatGPT now has 1.2 billion weekly active users.
OpenAI claims ChatGPT already accounts for 20% of Google's search volume. The claim comes from Adam Fry, head of the company's consumer products division, in an interview with Big Technology, where he also shared the latest usage numbers for the tool.
The story was reported by Notícias ao Minuto on November 4. According to the report, Fry did not disclose where he got the data on Google's search volume.
What OpenAI counts as a search
Fry explained the yardstick behind the comparison. To him, a search is "basically anything that would lead a user to a traditional search engine, but that they now choose to look up in ChatGPT."
He added: "every time you ask a question and it searches the web, that's a search." In other words, the count includes every question where ChatGPT goes out to the web to find the answer.
The report notes that the shift in how people look things up online began with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022.
The usage numbers
Fry also said ChatGPT has 1.2 billion weekly active users, including roughly 200 million added in the last two months.
- ChatGPT's models generate about 1.5 billion images a week.
- Around 250 million people use ChatGPT Voice, which lets them talk to the tool out loud.
- On paid subscriptions, he pointed to the 50 million subscribers OpenAI disclosed recently. He said that number has grown but gave no update.
What this means for brand teams
The 20% figure comes from OpenAI itself, and the source of the Google data was not disclosed. Even so, it shows how the company sees its own product: every question answered with a web search counts as a search that would once have gone to a traditional search engine. For anyone working on brand, SEO or AEO, it's a sign that, according to the company, part of the hunt for information already runs through ChatGPT's answers.
Key questions
Where does the figure of 20% of Google's search volume come from?
The claim comes from OpenAI's Adam Fry, who did not disclose where he got the data on Google searches.
What does OpenAI count as a search in ChatGPT?
According to Fry, any question where ChatGPT searches the web counts as a search, as does anything that would previously have sent the user to a traditional search engine.
How many people use ChatGPT each week?
Fry said ChatGPT has 1.2 billion weekly active users, including roughly 200 million added in the last two months.
Source: Google Notícias (português).