OpenAI Says ChatGPT Search Volume Is Roughly One-Fifth of Google's
Nicole Wang · Customer Development Manager
OpenAI says ChatGPT now handles roughly one-fifth as many search-style queries as Google. Adam Fry, OpenAI’s ChatGPT consumer product lead, made the claim in an interview with Alex Kantrowitz published by Big Technology on November 3, 2026. It is a company estimate, not an audited figure, but it is the clearest scale signal OpenAI has given for search.
What happened
In the interview, Fry said: “ChatGPT’s volume of search-like queries is now roughly one-fifth the volume of queries of Google.” He described search-like use as “anything that a user would have traditionally gone to a traditional search engine for.”
Fry also gave growth numbers. According to Big Technology, he said “ChatGPT has gone from one billion to 1.2 in just the last two months,” which he described as “roughly 100 million users in 30 days, and another 100 million in another 30 days.”
Search Engine Roundtable covered the interview on November 4, 2026, citing posts from Glenn Gabe and Kantrowitz on X. The report quotes Fry’s definition of a search as “Every time you ask a question and go search the web, that’s a search,” and notes that Google says its own search volume is at an all-time high. Kantrowitz also wrote on X that Bing holds about a 5% search share, which puts OpenAI’s claim in context.
Two caveats matter:
- It is OpenAI’s number. The method for counting “search-like” queries is only partly visible outside the paywall, and no third party has verified it.
- Google is not shrinking. Alphabet said on its October 28, 2026 Q3 earnings call that Search query growth was the highest in five years, according to Search Engine Roundtable’s earnings coverage. ChatGPT growth appears to be additive, not a straight swap.
Why it matters for B2B marketers
B2B software research is question-heavy: “best SIEM for a mid-size bank,” “Terraform vs Pulumi for multi-cloud,” “how to evaluate SOC 2 automation tools.” Those are exactly the open-ended, comparison-style questions that people now type into ChatGPT instead of a search box.
If ChatGPT’s search-style volume is even close to one-fifth of Google’s, three things follow:
- Shortlists are forming in a channel most teams do not measure. A buyer can read a ChatGPT answer, pick three vendors, and arrive at your site already decided, or never arrive at all.
- Rankings do not transfer automatically. ChatGPT cites pages it can retrieve and trust for a specific question. Ranking #1 on Google for a head term does not guarantee a mention. See how AI engines choose what to cite.
- Reporting gaps get bigger. Classic SEO dashboards track Google clicks and positions. They say nothing about whether your brand appears in AI answers, which is now a material share of discovery.
| Signal | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT search-like volume about 1/5 of Google | OpenAI (Adam Fry), Big Technology | Nov 3, 2026 |
| ChatGPT users grew from 1B to 1.2B in two months | OpenAI (Adam Fry), Big Technology | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Google query growth highest in five years | Alphabet Q3 2026 earnings call | Oct 28, 2026 |
What to do now
Use this as a prompt to treat ChatGPT as a measured channel, not a curiosity:
- Build a prompt set. List 30 to 50 questions your buyers ask at each stage: problem, category, comparison, pricing, integration.
- Benchmark presence. Run those prompts in ChatGPT and record whether your brand appears, where, and which URL is cited. Repeat monthly. A free starting point is the AI visibility checker.
- Fix the cited pages. Where competitors are cited and you are not, compare the cited page to yours: does it answer the question in the first paragraph, include specifics, and stay current?
- Make sure ChatGPT can reach you. Confirm robots.txt and your CDN do not block OAI-SearchBot, the crawler OpenAI uses for search.
- Add AI answer presence to reporting. Put it next to Google rankings so leadership sees both channels. Our guide to GEO metrics and KPIs covers what to track.
Teams that already monitor several engines (GrackerAI tracks ChatGPT alongside Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode and others) can use this moment to re-weight ChatGPT in their prompt sets.
Sources
- Big Technology, “OpenAI: ChatGPT Search Is About 20% of Google’s…” (Nov 3, 2026): https://www.bigtechnology.com/p/openai-chatgpt-search-is-about-20
- Search Engine Roundtable, ChatGPT search volume at 20% of Google (Nov 4, 2026): https://www.seroundtable.com/chatgpt-20-percent-google-42451.html
- Search Engine Roundtable, Alphabet Q3 2026 earnings (Oct 28, 2026): https://www.seroundtable.com/google-earnings-q326-42403.html
Frequently asked questions
Who said ChatGPT search is 20% of Google?
Adam Fry, OpenAI's ChatGPT consumer product lead, in an interview with Alex Kantrowitz published by Big Technology on November 3, 2026.
Is the 20% figure independently verified?
No. It is OpenAI's own estimate. The public part of the interview does not explain the full counting method, and Google says its own query volume is at an all-time high.
