OpenAI says ChatGPT now handles a fifth as many searches as Google

OpenAI says the volume of search queries handled by ChatGPT now equals 20% of the volume handled by Google, The Verge reported on 3 November 2026.

What was said

• The figure was given by Adam Fry, OpenAI’s consumer product lead for ChatGPT, at a press event on Monday.
• OpenAI counts a “search” as any user query that triggers a web search, not tasks such as defining a word or a simple how-to explanation.
• Fry did not specify the source of the Google volume used for the comparison, so the number cannot be independently checked.

Context

For comparison, The Verge recalls that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during Google’s 2023 antitrust trial that Bing had about 3% of the search market after more than a decade of effort. The Verge notes that OpenAI likely relies heavily on Microsoft Bing, alongside its own index, for web results.

Fry described OpenAI’s push for “Intelligent UI” — visual, interactive interfaces inside chatbot answers. He also defended advertising in ChatGPT, saying ads “have not negatively impacted the product or the usage of the product”. Last month OpenAI said it would start showing images of sponsored products in ChatGPT.

Caveat

The 20% figure is OpenAI’s own claim and has not been independently verified; Google has not been quoted on it.