OpenAI says ChatGPT search volume is now 20% of Google's

OpenAI says the volume of search queries run through ChatGPT now equals 20 percent of the volume run through Google. Adam Fry, OpenAI's consumer product lead for ChatGPT, announced the figure at a press event on Monday, according to The Verge.

Fry said OpenAI defines a search as any time a user enters a query that results in a web search, as opposed to tasks such as defining a term or a simple how-to explanation. He did not specify the source of the Google search volume number used for the comparison.

Fry also described where OpenAI wants the product to go. The company calls its approach Intelligent UI, meaning a visual and interactive interface inside a chatbot response. "That's where the future of this technology goes. You're talking to a canvas," he said.

One-fifth of Google's volume is still far from overtaking it, but The Verge notes the scale of the challenge has changed. During Google's 2023 antitrust trial, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Bing had about 3 percent of the search market after more than a decade of trying. Google argued then that ChatGPT was poised to compete seriously with it, and OpenAI now appears to agree.

The comparison comes with caveats. OpenAI's definition counts only queries that trigger a web search, and the Google figure was not sourced, so the two numbers may not measure the same thing. The Verge also reports that OpenAI likely uses Microsoft Bing for a significant part of its searches alongside its own index, though there is speculation that some queries route through Google.

Money is part of the story. Like Google, OpenAI sees a path to profitability through ads, particularly as it approaches an IPO potentially slated for early next year. Fry told reporters ads have not produced a lasting backlash, and OpenAI said last month it would show images of sponsored products and services rather than only a name, logo and link.

The main open questions are whether OpenAI will publish more detail on how it measures search volume and where the Google comparison comes from, and whether usage keeps growing as ads become more prominent.

The timing of a possible IPO, which The Verge says could come early next year, will also shape how aggressively OpenAI expands advertising in ChatGPT.