OpenAI says ChatGPT search volume has reached 20 per cent of Google

OpenAI announced that search queries processed through ChatGPT have reached 20 per cent of Google’s total search volume, marking a rapid shift in how users seek information online.

Speaking at a press event on Monday, Adam Fry, consumer product lead for ChatGPT at OpenAI, said the business defines a search as any prompt that triggers an online web lookup rather than a simple definition or task. Fry did not specify how OpenAI calculated Google’s total query volume. Still, the metric reflects swift growth for conversational search. By comparison, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella testified during Google’s 2023 antitrust trial that Bing held roughly 3 per cent of search engine market share after more than ten years of development.

Interface merger and usage allowances

Alongside its search metrics, OpenAI outlined plans to streamline its desktop application by merging its separate Chat and Work tabs into a single view. Chat currently handles brief prompts and conversational queries, while Work manages intensive tasks such as researching, drafting documents, and generating websites. OpenAI told users in an email that combining both functions will allow people to move directly from exploring concepts to executing projects in one place. The dedicated Codex coding tool will remain separate.

Paid subscribers face further changes starting in December. OpenAI updated its support documentation to state that Plus, Pro, and Business accounts will share a single monthly pool of tokens across ChatGPT and Codex. Complex tasks and advanced models will consume more tokens, although standard Instant chat queries will not count towards the shared limit. Users will be able to track remaining capacity under settings.

OpenAI is also continuing to test monetization through sponsored product images inside chatbot responses. Fry told reporters that early commercial tests had shown no negative impact on user retention or daily engagement.